{"product_id":"under-the-net","title":"Under the Net","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublished in 1954, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUnder the Net\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is Iris Murdoch’s first novel, a witty, philosophical and wonderfully unconventional portrait of post-war London. Its narrator, Jake Donaghue, is an aspiring writer and translator whose precarious existence is disrupted when he and his companion Finn are unexpectedly evicted from their lodgings. What follows is a lively series of encounters, romantic complications and improbable adventures involving old friends, former lovers, philosophers and film stars. From the streets of London to the cafés of Paris, Jake moves through a world in which almost nothing goes according to plan.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBeneath its comic, picaresque surface, the novel explores the difficulties of love, the limits of language and the impossibility of ever fully understanding another person. Murdoch draws upon her philosophical training to question the human desire to impose order and meaning upon an unpredictable world, while keeping her characters vividly alive and frequently absurd. Already displaying the intellectual curiosity and moral complexity that would define her later fiction, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUnder the Net\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e remains one of the most distinctive comic novels of twentieth-century British literature.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“When caught unawares I usually tell the truth, and what's duller than that?”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Iris Murdoch, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUnder the Net\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUnder the Net\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Miss Iris Murdoch's first novel, Under the Net, reveals a brilliant talent.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— The Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64213525365066,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1028\/0389\/8698\/files\/under-the-net-iris-murdoch-english-bookstore-paris_30990f54-5ebb-423c-a580-9dd97720703c.png?v=1793743214","url":"https:\/\/thelamppostparis.com\/products\/under-the-net","provider":"The Lamp-Post Library \u0026 Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}