Published in 1954 (Murdoch’s first), Under the Net is a contemporary picaresque novel of a struggling writer and translator, Jake Donaghue, as he psychologically, philosophically and literally deals with the oddball world he inhabits.
A social drifter with few roots, Jake spends time, in contemporary parlance, couch surfing between London and Paris. It’s a wry narrative with more than a hint of slapstick as Jake finds himself in a series of inexplicable situations, most of them of his own making, accompanied on most occasions by best mate and partner in crime, Finn, a man of few words.
Under the Net is a deceptively light narrative of a novel but which sees Murdoch using the opportunity to vocalise elements of current philosophies and political thoughts – in part through the actions of Donaghue himself, in part through successful businessman Hugo Belfounder, an old acquaintance, and Lefty Todd, a political activist. Many of the characters within Murdoch’s novel are based loosely on actual friends, acquaitances and public figures, written as it was in a post-war England and a time of enormous upheaval and change. She herself lectured, at the age of just 28, in philosophy at Oxford University. So Under the Net was never going to be a simple roman de gare.
It’s a frustrating read that has moments of sublime prose, and moments of sheer slapstick idiocy that go nowhere, including the stealing of an Alsatian dog and the following of a former lover (Anna) through the streets of Paris. For a pragmatist, ironically Jake always seems to make the wrong decision, leaving him unlucky in love and empty of pocket. Like Donaghue himself, Under the Net outstays its welcome.
An Opinion or Two 