The Sea, the Sea (1978)

Charles Arrowby retires from the theatre but has more difficulty giving up the habit of directing other people's lives. His seaside memoir turns observation into interpretation with extraordinary speed. Let his lively descriptions entertain you while testing how much freedom his account allows the people around him. Murdoch makes self-absorption comic, alarming and emotionally consequential; the narrator's performance remains fascinating after its claims to disinterested wisdom begin to fray.