num_pages: 324
description: Iris Murdoch's first novel is set in a part of London where struggling writers rub shoulders with successful bookies, and film starlets with frantic philosophers. Its hero, Jake Donaghue, is a drifting, clever, likeable young man who makes a living out of translation work and sponging on his friends. A meeting with Anna, an old flame, leads him into a series of fantastic adventures. Jake is captivated by a majestic philosopher, Hugo Belfounder, whose profound and inconclusive reflections give the book its title - under the net of language.
language: English
title: Under the Net
titlecomplete: Under the Net
characters: Dave Gelman, Sadie Quentin, James Donaghue (Jake), Hugo Belfounder, Mrs Tinckham, Magdalen Casement (Madge), Samuel Starfield (Sammy), Anna Quentin, Lefty Todd, Peter O'Finney (Finn)
genres: Fiction, British Literature, Philosophy, Literature, Classics, Novels, Irish Literature, 20th Century, Literary Fiction, Modern Classics
ratings_count: 14685
places: Paris, London, England
publisher: Vintage Books