もう一つの白鳥の歌 : The Green Knightを読む

概要

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A masterpiece of her later years, The Green Knight, Iris Murdoch's second to the last novel, deserves the accolade of another "swan song," equal to her final work, Jackson's Dilemma. Eizabeth Dipple described The Green Knight as one of Murdoch's "most compelling books," and noted that Murdoch's words in discussing her novels are infectious and continually adopted by critics. In her book Iris Murdoch, Ms Hirai insists that readers appreciate Murdoch's novel as a novel, and not as an illustration of philosophy. In The Green Knight, Murdoch approached the worlds by Tolstoy and Austen writing an interesting story with independent and attractive characters, who exist not merely to show a certain pattern. All the main characters are sympathetically depicted and represented fully and vividly. Another strength of the book is the way in which symbols are skilfully woven into the texture and story of the novel. When the Green Knight of the book, Peter dies and his enemy, Lucas, also disappears from the stage, readers are suddenly liberated from the simple opposition between Peter (the "other") vs Lucas (ourselves), and cannot help realizing that, "the other" is in each of us. As we read in Damian's letter to Bellamy, we are made aware of the fact that we should seek God in ourselves, not anywhere else. The Green Knight lets us consider one of the great truths in life, and yet enjoy a good story. It is truly "Another Swan Song."
2001-01-20