NUNS AND SOLDIERS [Hardcover]

IRIS MURDOCH (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Chato & Windus; First Edition edition (1998)
• ASIN: B000J4UZ84
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,439,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919 of Anglo-Irish parents. She went to Badminton School, Bristol, and read classics at Somerville College, Oxford. In 1948 she returned to Oxford where she became a fellow of St Anne's college.

Her first published novel, Under the Net, was selected in 2001 by the editorial board of the American Modern Library as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

Awarded the CBE in 1976, Iris Murdoch was made a DBE in the 1987 New Year's Honours List. She died in February 1999.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Memorable characters, masterful plotting, June 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Nuns and Soldiers (Paperback)

"Nuns and Soldiers" was the first Iris Murdoch novel I read. I've since read many others, but it remains one of the most memorable, from the very first scene when an important character is on his deathbed. (A visitor considers whether to mention to the dying man that it's raining, but then reflects on how irrelevant that would be . . . "There would be no more weather for Gerald.") In addition to the side trips into philosphy that are typical in Murdoch's novels, you have memorable characters for whom she's created detailed and interesting pasts -- this really draws you into their lives as they veer from one life-changing crisis to the next. Murdoch's plotting is amazing, as well: masterfully done. She'd be worthy of a college course in writing, for sure. I "held back" a star because the ending was a bit "happily ever after" for my taste, but it's an excellent book.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading pleasure, April 9, 2002

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nuns and Soldiers (Hardcover)

Whenever I read an Iris Murdoch novel, I am reminded how much I enjoy and appreciate her work. Her books are always a pleasure to read, and a pleasure that I would be sincerely sorry to miss.

At the moment of the death of her husband, Gertrude is reunited with her best friend from University-- Anne. Anne and Gertrude had been separated when Anne had joined the nunnery, and it is this occasion of great loss for both of them (Anne has lost the solace of the nunnery) that brings them together. Nuns and Soldiers questions both the notion of great love and the morality of the expression of love.

My book club was not overly fond of Nuns and Soldiers because they found the character of Gertrude so utterly unsympathetic. I must admit that she is truly atypical for Murdoch-- her feminine passivity and self-centeredness are not normal characteristics for Murdoch characters. However, her traits make her a good fit for the novel, even if she would make a grating person to know in real life.

Like most Murdoch novels, this is one that I would recommend.

11 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lengthy and irritating, January 4, 2000

By 

Seanna Tsung (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nuns and Soldiers (Paperback)

This is one of three Iris Murdoch books I have read, as a good friend of mine is a big fan. I have yet to see why. I found Nuns and Soldiers silly and overwrought, an extended but inexplicable love story filled with improbable and self conscious conversations. Do people experiencing a coup de foudre really sit around and dissect their feelings? I don't find the philosophical or moral underpinnings of the story to be compelling, either. Social requirements versus individual desire, I guess.