Iris Murdoch and Roma

Iris Murdoch's Philosopher's Pupil is not too complicate and metaphysical, with a certain story you could follow, at certain point, as a crime novel. John Robert Rozanov's death, for example - the character around whom all the main presences of the book are gravitating, with clear or unclear literary reasons - is something in between parody and real crime, as in the case when Rozanov's disciple George McCaffrey missed the only - psychoanalytical as well - chance of liberating himself of the power of his master : George wanted to kill his thinking master of whom he was existentially obsessed about, but in fact this one was already dead, after taking an overdose pills, soon before he thought he sunk him in the bathroom.

Shortly, it is a story loaded - and overloaded in some parts - with intellectual ideas, inserted and not always skilfully translated in a literary form through the characters. And many Freudian-interpreted couples.

What I found as well in the book, are the two characters of two Gypsies: Ruby and Pearl. Both of them are assigned the roles of servants/helpers of Alex - George's dominant mother -, respectively Hattie - Rozanov's daughter. They are portrayed as black, not very trustworthy, changing characters and with doubtful honor and morality, with bad habits acquired from the nomad camps they are frequenting from time to time. With prostitution family history. And obsessed with various superstitions, as Ruby's one related to the bad signs brought by the foxes.