"Review" in 2008 from reading in 2001: Her very first published novel was set in the so-called "contemporary" 1950s London. It was about an aimless youth who somehow became philosophical. He really shouldn't have been a character one could sympathize with, and not a whole lot seemed to happen in the story. However, there was something strangely compelling about it.
Comment in 2020: It was my very first encounter with Murdoch's work. I randomly picked it up in a second-hand bookshop because I wanted to have read at least one of her novels before going with a friend to see the biopic, Iris, which starred Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, and Kate Winslet (you can check it out on IMDb). Back in 2001, I didn't truly appreciate it. But since then, I've read and reviewed a dozen other works by Murdoch, and now I consider myself a devoted fan. Some of those other reviews are more in-depth than this one. They're all available on GoodReads, HERE.