lady brains

I have been looking for this character description since I was reminded of it in Paris by my chain-smoking companions. First I thought it was Dickens (Miss Havisham, perhaps), then I was convinced she was an Orwell creation. I reread the entirety of "Coming up for Air" in search of her, to no avail. Trying to fall asleep the other night I realized- she's from that silly book by Murdoch, the one where they steal the German Shepherd acting dog. "Under the Net." I read it in Glasgow while working my way through The Modern Library's list of the 100 Best Novels. I don't own it. I told myself I'd go to the library one day and check it out. I probably would have, eventually.

I'm in the middle of "Travels with Charley" and have been trying to get my friend, Sarah, to pick it up. I've sent her a few pieces via text message and this morning I emailed her a particularly long passage, practically the whole first page. I do this a lot when I really like a book, fill journals and inboxes with bits of it. As I thought about this, that light bulb lit up.



Success! Please accept this gift of words.

From Iris Murdoch's "Under the Net"

"In the midst sits Mrs. Tinckham herself, smoking a cigarette. She is the only person I know who is literally a chain-smoker. She lights each one from the butt of the last; how she lights the first one of the day remains to me a mystery, for she never seems to have any matches in the house when I ask her for one. I once arrived to find her in great distress because her current cigarette had fallen into a cup of coffee and she had no fire to light another. Perhaps she smokes all night, or perhaps there is an undying cigarette which burns eternally in her bedroom."