Finished: Under the Net (Murdoch). This was one of those books that has to settle with me a bit, but I think it will be one that I am glad I read. It has a few little gems like this running through it's protagonist's head: The quenching of thirst is so exquisite a pleasure that it is a scandal that no amount of ingenuity can prolong it. It is really not about anything much but struggling, British writer, Jake Donoghue...his loves, his adventures, his misadventures, and basically his growing up. He pretty much lives rent free off his friends while putting off his own writing, while he earns what little money he does translating other author's works from French to English. He has a best friend, Finn, and another friend, Dave, who he interacts with mostly. The current woman in his life throws him out of her flat in the first pages of the story...but that's ok with him because they weren't even in a relationship, though she would have liked it. In his comings and goings he comes across a bookie, Sammy...and a left-wing politician, Lefty...a wise shop owner, Mrs. Tinckham...and an awesome former animal actor, an Alsatian dog (basically a German Shepherd) named Mars. He "rescues" Mars from Sammy the bookie..more like kidnaps him...but he gets him into a better situation and ends up keeping the dog in the end, so that's a nice part of the story. Jake also runs into the former love of his life, Anna, who he would like to start back up with again, but she is evasive and tells him to go to her sister, the beautiful actress, Sadie, for a place to live. Sadie always loved Jake, but Jake always loved Anna. Now, Sadie is being pursued by one of Jake's old friends, Hugo. But, Jake has lost touch with Hugo and never realized that Anna had actually fallen in love with Hugo while Hugo was in love with Sadie. It's all a bit convoluted, but mostly...it's all about Jake's introspection. We hear all of Jake's thoughts and motivations in this short book and it's rather interesting. :-)

Jake's dreamy reminiscence of Paris was one passage I really liked:

     Arriving in Paris always causes me pain, even when I have been away for only a short while. It is a city which I never fail to approach with expectation and leave with disappointment. There is a question which only I can ask and which only Paris can answer; but this question is something which I have never yet been able to formulate.

This was my second Iris Murdoch book and I may be interested in putting another one on the list!