The Black Prince cover art

The Black Prince

Vintage Classics Murdoch Series

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Vintage Classics Murdoch: Funny, subversive, fearless and fiercely intelligent, Iris Murdoch was one of the great writers of the 20th century. To celebrate her centenary, Vintage Classics presents special editions of her greatest and most timeless novels.

Every artist is an unhappy lover. And unhappy lovers want to tell their story.

Ex-tax collector and author of two unpopular novels, Bradley Pearson wishes to devote his retirement to writing a masterpiece. But the doorbell and the phone keep ringing and every ring brings with it an ex-wife, a friend in need, a sister in trouble or a young woman seeking a teacher and so dusty, selfish Bradley is plunged into the muddles and mysteries which will end in his doom.

Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize 1973.

©1973 Iris Murdoch (P)2020 Penguin Audio Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Thriller & Suspense Fiction Funny
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the reading conveys a wonderful sense of the characters, by a versatile and sympathetic actor

well read, in every sense, thanks to the narrator.

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Excellent narrator. Quality of writing mostly great but a little overblown and heavy at times

Fantastic ending.

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Quite a long listen but very thought provoking and the conclusion will leave me thinking about this book for a while. The narrator was really excellent, I’m not sure I would have made it all the way to the end if I had been reading the book or if the narrator hadn’t been so good.

Excellent narration

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I guess I enjoyed disliking the self absorbed, anxious, arrogant protagonist as an unreliable narrator

Hmmmmmmm

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Enjoyed this fifth audio Murdoch novel for Murdoch's usual scathing insight into the human condition and philosophical enquiry. However, I found my enjoyment marred by the audio narration by Anthony Howell. He narrated as if he was a coach tour guide giving information about the interesting sights. Perhaps his tone of voice was not to my personal taste, but his deep burr felt out of keeping with the story. His rendering of the dialogue was a lot better and I was able to imagine the characters. But I was somewhat glad to reach the end of this audio book and that is an exceptional experience for me using audio books.

Reliability of the narrator

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