(no subject)

[decemberthirty]

I'm beginning to enjoy The Sea, the Sea somewhat less than I was originally. The plot is becoming rather outlandish, full of absurd coincidences and implausiblities, which is something that I have very little tolerance for. I liked the book at first because Charles, despite all of his negative qualities, is ultimately believable. The idea of this arrogant, pompous, and self-deluded man setting out to write his autobiography and going through the process of figuring out how to begin thinking and writing about his life seemed quite realistic to me. Murdoch did such a wonderful job with this portion of the book that I was fascinated and eager to see how she would guide him through the rest of the process. I am far less interested in the bizarre mess that now seems to be developing. Murdoch's writing is still excellent, and enough to keep my interested in the book, but I think that it probably would have been a better book in the long run without all the absurdity that is now occurring.