Take a story's temperature by studying its tone. Is it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?
Wry and Intellectual
Imagine that Frasier Crane is a wannabe literary genius who may or may not have murdered his worst/best frenemy, a famous popular novelist. Now imagine that this alt-universe Frasier Crane wrote a novel and called it The Black Prince.
Got it? Good.
The combination of sophisticated cleverness, wry humor, and high-falutin' speech that made Frasier so famous is pretty close to the mixture of tonal elements you'll find in The Black Prince.
Want examples? You know we've got you covered.
Here's Bradley Pearson waxing philosophical about the nature of love:
Love brings with it also a vision of selflessness. How right Plato was to think that, embracing a lovely boy, he was on the road to the Good. I say a vision of selflessness, because our mixed nature readily degrades the purity of any aspiration. But such insight, even intermittent, even momentary, is a privilege and can be of permanent value because of the intensity with which it visits us. Ah, even once, to will another rather than oneself! Why should we not make of this revelation a lever by which to lift the world? (2.1.12)
And here's Iris Murdoch herself orchestrating a wry, revelatory joke at Bradley's expense:
'He killed my mother, I think.'
'Who did?'
'My father. She was supposed to have died after falling downstairs. He was a very violent man. He beat me horribly.'
'Why did I never know—Ah well—The things that happen in marriage—murdering your wife, not knowing she's Jewish—'. (1.18.18-21)
(In case you hadn't gathered, Bradley is more than a little anti-Semitic, though he would never admit this himself.)
And there you have it, folks: The Black Prince is a veritable smorgasbord of intellectual musings and witty, cerebral humor. If that sounds like your cup of tea, make yourself a cuppa in the British style and get ready to dive on in.