These two major novels--by one of the most influential British writers
of the twentieth century--are ferociously dark comedies that combine
playfulness with profundity.
A Severed Head (1961) is one of Iris Murdoch's most entertaining
works, tracing the turbulent emotional journey of Martin Lynch-Gibbon, a
smug, prosperous London wine merchant and unfaithful husband, whose life
is turned inside out when his wife leaves him for her psychoanalyst. The
story takes bedroom farce to a new level of sophistication, with scenes
that are both wickedly funny and emblematic of the way momentous moral
issues play out in everyday life.
The Booker Prize-winning The Sea, the Sea (1978) is set on the edge of
England's North Sea, where egotistical Charles Arrowby, a big name in
London's glittering theatrical world, has retreated into seclusion to
write his memoirs. Arrowby's plans begin to unravel when he encounters
his long-lost first love and finds himself increasingly besieged by his
own fantasies, delusions, and obsessions.
Both novels are tragicomic masterpieces that brilliantly dramatize how
much our lives are governed by the lies we tell ourselves and by the
all-consuming need for love, meaning, and redemption.
Introduction by Sarah Churchwell