The Time of the Angels by Iris Murdoch

After a series of unsatisfactory encounters with various novels, it was such a joy to read this piece of absolute perfection. I've probably mentioned that Iris Murdoch is one of my literary deities at least fifty thousand times, I never get tired to her novels, which is a good thing as she's written so many. I never fail to be amazed by how many of her works are rather similar to one another in terms of plot, thematic structure and characters, but they never feel repetitive. And I'm always left with the feeling that there is so much to understand that I probably never will, that what I have taken away is merely scratching the surface and there are enormous depths underneath. The Time of the Angels stands out for its Gothic themes that are consummately blended with a seemingly modern setting. A crumbling church in bombed-out London becomes as dark, twisted, and isolated as any abandoned castle. Like many of Murdoch's novels, this has many religious themes (but they are more about morality than religion) and I was very surprised that she uses Eastern Orthodox ideas and imagery in this novel. Eastern Orthodox tradition is mostly ignored by western Christianity, and its use is an instance of what I mean about the extraordinary depth of Murdoch's writing. For example, there is an icon of the Trinity belonging to a Russian character, and most of the other characters assume that it is the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and the Holy Ghost), when actually it is the Old Testament Trinity (three angels who appeared to Abraham in Genesis), which is a recurring image in Orthodox iconography. There is no way an casual reader in a western European country could know this (the only reason I know is that I'm from Russia), and the distinction adds an important dimension to the idea of the absence or loss of God. How many other layers of meaning are there?? Oh, and of course the atmosphere and writing is flawless. As usual, I'm just in awe.