this is an unpopular opinion to voice on substack but i tried reading this recently and hated it, only made it about 150 pages before giving up; the evocative title had me dreaming of a very different book; instead of moby dick-esque confrontation with the sublimity of the sea was given instead a petty and boring protagonist who enjoys eating onions and reminiscing about his cruelty to past girlfriends; kept thinking it would turn but never did; was my first murdoch too, might have put me off for life; don’t know what you’re all on about; awful