The Bell
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Bell for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
`a tragi-comic masterpiece... A magnificent novel'
--The Lady
--The Lady
Sunday Times
...behind her books one feels a power of intellect quite exceptional in a novelist
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a newcomer to Murdoch (despite the fact that our house is full of her books) I thought I'd pick a random one off the shelf. It would seem that fate had decreed me to pick 'The Bell'. It sounded ok from the blurb and I threw it in my bag before a train journey that I was to take later that day. I always read on the train but this time it was different. I was literally so absorbed that I didn't notice that we had been delayed for an hour along the way. It's hard to begin to describe what captivated me in my first experience with Iris Murdoch's writing. For a start it was interesting from the first page. The characters were restless and unsatisfied. They'd make up their mind that they were adamantly not going to do something and then in the next sentence do exactly what they had forbidden themselves. Most importantly they were real. Murdoch seemed to have her psychology down to such perfection. Anything that was said or done by her characters whether satisfying or annoying was thoroughly easy to comprehend. I have to say that I'm still amazed at her finesse in capturing the most specific of human foibles. But this is just character. The plot of 'The Bell' is magnificent in its sinister glory. The story is relatively simple but is spiked with a growing sense of unease and malice that ticks away like a timebomb waiting to explode. However this atmosphere is mellowed by the presence of innocence and untainted youth. I do not want to go into the finer points of the narrative as they have to be seen within the context of the novel but I can assure you that in no way does the story disappoint.
Iris Murdoch sadly suffered a great decline with the onset of Alzheimer's disease. However at the height of her powers she was one of Britain's greatest writers. Dark, beautiful, meditative and reflective are all words that could be used to describe 'The Bell' but none can really do justice to its subtle power. In fact such is its magic that it is only when you go on to read something else that you realise how profoundly it has affected you. Find it, read it, treasure it and fall under its spell.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A lay community of thoroughly mixed-up people is encamped outside Imber Abbey, home of an enclosed order of nuns. A new bell is being installed and then the old bell, legendary symbol of religion and magic, is rediscovered. Dora Greenfield, erring wife, returns to her husband,. Michael Meade, leader of the community, is confronted by Nick Fawley, with whom he had disastrous homosexual relations, while the wise old Abbess watches and prays and excercises discreet authority. And everyone, or almost everyone, hopes to be saved, whatever that may mean..... Iris Murdoch's funny and sad novel is about religion, the fight between good and evil and the terrible accidents of human frailty..... [From the back cover]
24 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I had always been afraid of reading Iris Murdoch novels, imagining that an Oxford philosopher's fiction would be far too high-brow for me. However - I was wrong, and I would recommend this book as a good starting point for others who have yet to taste the delights of her work.
The Amazon review is a fair summary of the plot - the interest lies in watching how a newly-formed community, where the members have different levels of commitment, deal with challenges. I felt that Murdoch's sympathies lay with those who were somewhat outside the boundaries of the community, and I think she portrayed them beautifully.
The chief note of caution I would insert, however, is that the book is of its time (1958, I think - the year after the Wolfenden report recommended the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales), and I was left wondering how Murdoch would have treated her subject in 2001. But perhaps the stimulus to thought was valuable in itself!
I hope others are also tempted to try reading this novel - I imagine that anyone who has enjoyed Muriel Spark, for example, would also enjoy this author.
The Amazon review is a fair summary of the plot - the interest lies in watching how a newly-formed community, where the members have different levels of commitment, deal with challenges. I felt that Murdoch's sympathies lay with those who were somewhat outside the boundaries of the community, and I think she portrayed them beautifully.
The chief note of caution I would insert, however, is that the book is of its time (1958, I think - the year after the Wolfenden report recommended the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales), and I was left wondering how Murdoch would have treated her subject in 2001. But perhaps the stimulus to thought was valuable in itself!
I hope others are also tempted to try reading this novel - I imagine that anyone who has enjoyed Muriel Spark, for example, would also enjoy this author.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Introspection
This is above all a very English book of its time. Emotions are buttoned up and characters behave like cardboard cutouts rather than flesh and blood. Read more
Published 5 months ago by marionq
A fine novel about personal morality, sexuality and religion
This book focuses on a small lay religious community and the nunnery to which it is attached. The action revolves around the nunnery's plan to install a new bell to replace one... Read more
Published 8 months ago by James
The Bell
Full of symbolism and complex character development this is a novel worth reading - probably several times. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Chally
A wonderful book
Like some other reviewers, I was new to Iris Murdoch's books. What a wonderful discovery!
Murdoch manages to sustain a brooding, almost scaring tension throughout the... Read more
Murdoch manages to sustain a brooding, almost scaring tension throughout the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by P. Burnard
Breathtaking
There is no need to go into why this is so good - other reviewers have done this quite eloquently. The only problem is... what on earth can i read to follow it? Read more
Published 15 months ago
This book rings a bell
I remember reading this book way back at school and finding it haunting and resonating. So much so that it's on my list to read again. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mrs. Sarah Crabtree
worth avoiding...
I was curious to read Iris Murdoch - reputedly, the wizard of words, a brilliant story teller. Not so here: poor use of language, weak story, pathetic characterisation, limpid... Read more
Published 21 months ago by counsellor
A Delightful Surprise
The Bell is the first novel of Iris Murdoch that I have read. Part of the reason for my late coming to Murdoch's work was a concern that like many British novelists I would find... Read more
Published on 18 April 2010 by Herman Norford
It's a Madhouse!
I have to say there was an element of farce at the end of this meticulous examination of the religious, sexual and moral feelings of a bunch of folk in a small community. Read more
Published on 21 Nov 2009 by Gargoyle
Interesting read but a bit dated and academic
I enjoyed reading the Bell. It depicts such a variety of human lives and mentalities it can't be but interesting. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2008 by the
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
