THE RED AND THE GREEN

New York: The Viking Press, 1965. Book Club Edition. Boards. Fine/Near Fine. SIGNED by the AUTHOR on the title page & dated "1968," 8vo (8 1/2" x 5 3/4"), charcoal gray buckram boards with light gold lettering on spine, Mylar-protected pictorial dust jacket (unclipped) by Ellen Raskin depicting red civic structures & green religious buildings against a black background, red topstain by publisher, light gray endpapers, 311 pages. EXCEPTIONAL CONDITION: tight, bright, and clean with a Near Fine bright and colorful dj.<br/> <br/> Dame Jean Iris Murdoch DBE (1919 - 1999) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and philosopher, best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her first published novel, Under the Net, was selected in 1998 as one of Modern Library's 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. In 1987, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. <br/> <br/> Her books include The Bell (1958), A Severed Head (1961), The Red and the Green (1965), The Nice and the Good (1968), The Black Prince (1973), Henry and Cato (1976), The Sea, the Sea (1978, Booker Prize), The Philosopher's Pupil (1983), The Good Apprentice (1985), The Book and the Brotherhood (1987), The Message to the Planet (1989), and The Green Knight (1993). In 2008, The Times ranked Murdoch twelfth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945."--Wikipedia<br/> <br/> Set in England, the novel's main characters are Gertrude and her husband Guy (who dies from cancer); an admiring artist, named Tim, who has an affair with Gertrude then marries her after Guy's death. There is also Anne, an ex-nun, who cares for both Guy and soon-to-be wealthy Gertrude. Lots of symbolism and suggestions of Joycean verbal textures.