This is Iris Murdoch's first novel.

From the back cover:
Jake, hack writer and sponger, now penniless flat-hunter, seeks out an old girlfried, Anna Quentin, and her glamorous actress sister, Sadie. He resumes acquaintance with formidable Hugo, whose "philosophy" he once presumptuously dared to interpret. These meetings involve Jake and his eccentric servant-companion, Finn, in a series of adventures that include the kidnapping of a film-star dog and a political riot in a film-set of ancient Rome. Jake, fascinated, longs to learn Hugo's secret. Perhaps Hugo's secret is Hugo himself? Admonished, enlightened, Jake hopes at last to become a real writer.

The protagonist here thinks about things more differently than anyone else I've spent 250 pages with. What amazed me about this is that even as the narrator essentially talked about how he didn't care to think about things any more, I was right there with him instead of feeling infuriated with the novel. I feel like Murdoch tricked me somehow, but I can't quite articulate how.

This is the first Murdoch book I've read, so maybe all of her books similarly pull you into the thoughts of an anti-hero. But more than many, I liked obnoxious Jakie Donoughue. I was rooting for him even as I found him puzzling.

Great reading experience.

Chosen from Alphabet VBB round 19. Thank you!

Jake is a writer but is basically lazy, sponging off his friends and translating mediocre books rather than writing his own. When he's thrown out of the house he's living in, he goes looking for former lover Anna in the hope of somewhere else to stay for free. During the search he meets his old friend Hugo who he betrayed by writing about. Jake embarks on a hilarious adventure involving dog-napping, a midnight escapade in a hospital, involvement with a political group and a jaunt to Paris. Very amusing, I really enjoyed this.

On the book buffet at the 2023 Falkirk Convention.

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What a beautiful LFL!

Hi! How wonderful you've found one of my books! Thank you so much for checking out the journal. I would really appreciate if you can take a moment to let me know you have it now. Trust me, it'll totally make my day to hear from one of my "wild" books.

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