Talk:Under the Net

Justifications we can quote?

The article's lede includes the unquestionably notable facts that the novel has been named by two highly-regarded organizations as one of the best novels of a century of English-language writing. What the article does not convey is why. Understand: I am not at all asking for original research of some editor(s)'s opinions, but rather, some quotations or paraphrases of what existing reliable sources have said about what makes the novel so good. As it stands, the synopsis — though likely done well — leaves me more with the impression of a "hot mess" than anything else. It seems like a credible and well-organized synopsis of a perfectly dreadful novel (mind you, I'm not saying it IS, only that in the absence of critical opinions, the virtues are hard to intuit), and so outside references describing what makes the novel influential and/or admired would be of great value to those of us who never have read it. Lawikitejana (talk) 05:49, 26 October 2013 (UTC)

Jake Donaghue from Under the Net by Iris Murdoch

In Murdoch’s much later book The Philosopher’s Pupil, we are told on page 99 that Jake is now a successful and known writer, and incidentally that Hugo Belfounder has died after a career in horology. ~2026-37541-19 (talk) 11:46, 30 June 2026 (UTC)