:23:00
-Dame Iris?
-Yeah.
:23:03
It's this way.
:23:05
She's written philosophy and plays and poetry...
:23:08
...but her novels are her lasting literay legacy.
:23:11
Iris Murdoch is acknowledged
as the foremost English novelist...
:23:15
...of her generation.
:23:17
A little excessive, don't you think?
:23:20
What do you reckon, shall I take that again?
:23:25
Her novels embrace the subjects of freedom...
:23:27
...and what it means to be good.
:23:30
And they're all studies
in the successes and failures of love.
:23:34
She's written philosophy and plays and poetry...
:23:37
...but her novels are her lasting literay legacy.
:23:41
People, ofcourse,
are very secretive and for many reasons...
:23:44
...want to appear what they call 'ordinary'.
:23:48
Everybody has thoughts they want to conceal.
:23:53
Perhaps even
quite simple aspects of their lives.
:23:56
People have obsessions and fears and...
:24:00
...and passions which they don't admit to.
:24:03
I think any character
is interesting and has extremes.
:24:10
it's a novelist's privilege to...
:24:13
...see how odd everyone is.
:24:15
In your novels you yourself...
:24:17
...were very exacting your use of language...
:24:20
...but in general terms, do you think
the language is becoming debased?
:24:26
Reading and writing...
:24:27
...and the preservation of language
and its forms...
:24:31
...and...
:24:33
...the kind of eloquence
and beauty that language is capable of...
:24:40
...is something terribly important
to human beings...
:24:42
...this is connected to thought.
:24:48
If children are not taught...