50th Episode Q&A Podcast

The Iris Murdoch Society podcast

In this special edition of the podcast Miles is joined by Dan Read (Kingston) to answer questions sent in by listeners. These are: Is it possible to say where Murdoch stands in relation to other ‘great’ writers? Is she on a par with Dickens, Shakespeare (or others) for example? In A Fairly Honourable Defeat Murdoch assigns astrological birth signs on several of the characters, and they discuss the subject somewhat knowledgeably. Does she give evidence of interest in the subject in other works? Do we know if de Beauvoir read Murdoch? Does she mention Murdoch anywhere in her writings? Did any other existentialists reply to Murdoch’s criticisms of their views? To what extent are changing ways of reading Murdoch novels mere fashion, and how much do they have to do with what someone might refer to as “academic work”? Iris seemed to say that philosophy and fiction were totally separate things. Is this borne out in her work or not? I'd like to know more about which of her contemporaries she admired most as a reader. (And the writers she hated reading!) Did Kierkegaard influence Murdoch's writing and thinking? What do you think is the most underrated work by Iris? Daniel Read lectures at the University of Kingston (UK). His monograph, Degrees of Evil in Iris Murdoch's Fiction and Philosophy, is due from Palgrave MacMillan later this year.