The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch
The Black Prince is the story of Bradley Pearson, a 58-year-old novelist and self-styled artist whose meagre output has been critically praised but commercially unsuccessful. His friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, is a prolific writer of successful but--in Bradley's opinion--inferior novels. Bradley has a brief almost-an-affair relationship with Arnold's wife, Rachel. He then falls passionately in love with the the Baffins' 20-year-old daughter, Julian. Julian returns his love, and more than half the book is devoted to recounting their relationship. The story is complicated by interference from Bradley's psychotic sister, Priscilla, his ex-wife, Christian, who would like to reconnect, and Christian's brother, Francis. According to the blurb on the copy I read, "The action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and altered perspectives." That about sums it up.
Most of the story is told in the first person by Bradley Pearson. The subtitle of his account is "A Celebration of Love." Iris Murdoch was a philosopher as well as a novelist, and Bradley's account is punctuated by numerous reflections, sometimes quite long, on the intricacies of love and the connections between love and art. These are interesting and thought-provoking, but after a time we may wonder whether Bradley isn't perhaps too self-centered as he concentrates on his own inner states, whether there may be aspects of love that escape him, and whether he accurately judges the effect of his actions on others. This suspicion is reinforced by the commentaries at the end of the book by other characters in the story, all of whom claim that Bradley's version of the story is unreliable in various ways. We do not know, in the end, how far to trust Bradley's version. The Black Prince is a complex and intriguing book. I definitely recommend it.
Most of the story is told in the first person by Bradley Pearson. The subtitle of his account is "A Celebration of Love." Iris Murdoch was a philosopher as well as a novelist, and Bradley's account is punctuated by numerous reflections, sometimes quite long, on the intricacies of love and the connections between love and art. These are interesting and thought-provoking, but after a time we may wonder whether Bradley isn't perhaps too self-centered as he concentrates on his own inner states, whether there may be aspects of love that escape him, and whether he accurately judges the effect of his actions on others. This suspicion is reinforced by the commentaries at the end of the book by other characters in the story, all of whom claim that Bradley's version of the story is unreliable in various ways. We do not know, in the end, how far to trust Bradley's version. The Black Prince is a complex and intriguing book. I definitely recommend it.