So Sixties

Isn't this such a Sixties cover - it just couldn't be anything else could it. 

This was the first Iris Murdoch novel I read, many years ago, and it started me on a lifelong love of her work. I have copies of all of her novels - yes all 26 of them! And have read all of them at least once. Many of the later ones are hardback and, as first editions, are apparently collectable and worth quite a bit. 

Flight from the Enchanter was her second book, published in 1956. The book was first published in paperback in 1962, but this is a 1966 reprint and I probably bought it then. It cost four and six which is 23p in New Money!

I have read it several times in the past, as can be seen by the state of the cover and the yellowing page edges. And I have just read it again. I was a little concerned, as often books you have read in the past and remember liking very much can be a bit of a disappointment on a later re-read. I was not disappointed. I still love it. It is by no means one of Iris Murdoch's best books and I recognise  its flaws, but all the  Murdoch traits are there - lots of characters are linked together in different ways,  unexpected, and often bizarre, things happen, there is always some kind of moral dilemma playing out, there is tragedy and humour and social comment, all within a fast-paced story. 

This is not the book I would recommend for anyone starting out with Iris Murdoch, there are far better ones, but I am pleased that for me it still has the magic that it did all those years ago.