The Philosopher’s Pupil (post 2) by Iris Murdoch (post 4): Both Kirkus Reviews and NY Times quoted “justified sinner” passage, but missed multiple personality.

Times: “But the narrator warns us early that people ‘are in fact more randomly made, more full of rough contingent rubble, than art or vulgar psychoanalysis leads us to imagine’ “ (1).

Kirkus: “George, Rozanov’s former irritating pupil, hounds Olympus for salvation as a ‘justified sinner’ " (2)

Both reviews quoted from the same passage that I did in yesterday’s post, so the passage was, evidently, noticed and memorable. But neither review understood the reference to James Hogg’s The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner and multiple personality.

1. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, Books of the Times, The Philosopher’s Pupil, June 29, 1983: http://www.nytimes.com/1983/06/29/books/books-of-the-times-books-of-the-times.html

2. Kirkus Reviews The Philosopher’s Pupil 1983: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/iris-murdoch-2/the-philosophers-pupil/