The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (Penguin Books) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A writer of detective fiction who has not recovered from the loss of his wife becomes involved in the life of a neighbor's family.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); 1st THUS edition (March 6, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140041117
• ISBN-13: 978-0140041118
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #519,953 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Murdoch on love and betrayal, March 11, 1999

By A Customer

The Sacred and Profane Love Machine describes the spectacular unravelling of two families at the hands of Blaise Gavender. The first family is his own "legitimate" one, comprising his wife Harriet and son David. The other is his lover Emily and their son Luca. A weary and cynical novelist,the newly widowed Montague Small, is the unwilling observer and intermediary of this melange. We see a recurring exploration of the meaning of love when the faults of the lovers suddenly become overwhelming and the only options are forgiveness or alienation.As in her other books, Murdoch's characters are complex, their motivations tangled by alternating emotional currents of elation, despair, and futility.

17 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent novel, August 7, 1999

By	Richard Sleator (Neuilly France) - See all my reviews

Iris Murdoch's books aren't for everyone: they are for sensitive, intellectual, and introspective readers. I read this one a few months ago, and was very impressed with the quality of the writing, the complexity of the characters' personalities, and the pervasive exploration of their different viewpoints and feelings as the story unfolds. Not only is this book intelligent and insightful, it is also entertaining, and never slow-going. My only criticism concerns the two somewhat "fabulous" accidents which take place near the end. An excellent novel nevertheless.

12 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ruthless, perhaps evil, this is a pornography of the soul, June 14, 2002

By A Customer

No sex, no violence, but pornography in the highest artistic sense: it is about the irredeemable. The worthless, the evil, the basest and most foul, while simulteneously exalting the pure aspects of love, even as it denigrates them.

If you can keep yourself from shuddering while Pinn speaks to Monty in his bedroom, then you need serious mental attention.