Elegy for Iris - Softcover

Bayley, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312421117 ISBN 13: 9780312421113

Publisher: Picador, 2001

Synopsis

With remarkable tenderness, John Bayley recreates his passionate love affair with Iris Murdoch--world-renowned writer and philosopher, and his wife of forty-two years--and poignantly describes the dimming of her brilliance due to Alzheimer's disease. Elegy for Iris is a story about the ephemeral beauty of youth and the sobering reality of what it means to grow old, but its ultimate power is that Bayley discovers great hope and joy in his celebration of Iris's life and their love. In its grasp of life's frailty and its portrayal of one of the great literary romances of this century, Elegy for Iris is a mesmerizing work of art that will be read for generations.

About this title

Review:

In one of literary history's ghastlier ironies, Iris Murdoch, the author of such highly intellectual and philosophical novels as A Severed Head and Under the Net, was diagnosed in 1994 with Alzheimer's disease, which slowly destroys reasoning powers, memory, even the ability to speak coherently. Her husband, English literary critic John Bayley, unsparingly depicts his wife's affliction in prose as elegant and accessible as hers always was. Readers may wince at the spectacle of Murdoch glued to the TV watching the Teletubbies program, unable to perform tasks as simple as dressing herself and prey to devastating anxiety as the world becomes less and less comprehensible to her. We understand Bayley's occasional fits of rage when his caretaking chores overwhelm him. Yet in the end his memoir is touching, even inspiring. As he recalls their first meetings and marriage in the 1950s, it becomes clear that theirs was always an unconventional union, in which solitude was as important to each of them as togetherness and Bayley was content to let Murdoch keep her inner life to herself. He loves Iris, the woman, not the intellect, and he conveys an essential sweetness about his wife that endures even as her mental faculties deteriorate. This totally unsentimental account of their life and her illness is nonetheless a heartbreaker. --Wendy Smith

From the Publisher:

"This splendid book enlarges our imagination of the range and possibilities of love." --Mary Gordon, The New York Times

"Without a hint of sentimentality, treats hopelessly sad things in a manner that celebrates eternal human verity...Magnificently, hauntingly humane." --Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun

"Bayley's restrained and elegant love song to his wife of 42 years...is beautiful and heartbreaking. Full of spirit, generous and resilient." --Gail Caldwell, The Boston Globe

"A heart-melting love story and an erudite inquiry into the nature of personality, memory, and invention. Wise and full of grace." --Shelby Hearon, The Chicago Tribune

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0312421117
• ISBN 13: 9780312421113
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 275