What do You think about Bruno's Dream (1976)?
This is the first Iris Murdoch novel I've read. My history with Iris Murdoch involves watching the film Iris at least twice, and watching my year 13 English teacher read Iris Murdoch all through my senior high school year of English rather than teaching us English. He was obsessed. I picked up an Iris Murdoch novel around that time just to see what he was so interested in, but failed to get anything out of it. Now that I'm the age my English teacher was then, I can finally get through one. I'm not sure how Bruno's Dream stacks up against the others, or if it was the best place to start, but the introduction to this Vintage edition says that Murdoch's novels are full of partner swapping, so I suppose this one is typical enough.
—Lynley
If your primary emotional reaction to a book is that you find you want to beat the author about the head and neck with a dead possum (wearing elbow length rubber gloves to avoid getting dead possum juice on yourself, while spraying it all over the author), is that a good enough reason to stop reading?I think Iris Murdoch is just not my kind of author, the way gin and tonics are not my kind of beverage.Stopping at p. 77, I have the sneaking suspicion that the worst parts of the novel are ahead of me. Prior to p. 77, it was annoying enough that Murdoch switched to the present tense for one character only (Nigel) who apparently is some kind of lunatic. I don't do present tense. So when you're slogging along in the past tense - and the fact that the book is written in the past tense is the only thing allowing you to move forward - and suddenly crazy Nigel surfaces, it is a bridge too far.Also I can only tolerate the word "counterpane" so much in a novel. Once is really too much.
—Lobstergirl
¡Mi primera novela de Murdoch! Sólo había visto la conmovedora película "Iris" con Kate Winslet y Judi Dench pero no había tenido en mis manos un libro de su amplia obra. Intensos y ágiles retratos de los sentimientos y cambios ¿drásticos? de perspectiva y emociones en sus personajes en esta novela. Me queda de este primer acercamiento a Iris Murdoch la certeza de que su arte es complejo y de muchos caminos, por ello me quedo pensando en Bruno, en su relato ensoñador, crudo, brumoso, irreal y muy humano, que camina hacia el momento de la muerte física; y cómo el pequeño elenco de personajes tan cercanos a él también mueren de algún modo y se transforman, o sencillamente florecen en formas inesperadas e impactantes para ellos mismos. Los eventos aquí suceden por dentro, en la mente... Y aún así te enganchan como lector. Espero tener oportunidad más adelante de leer Bruno's dream en el idioma óriginal de su autora, el inglés.
—Ginette González
