Samuel Beckett
1983
Around 50 pages
We have finally reached the last Samuel Beckett novel on the List. He showed up on this blog eight times, and while I never looked forward to his visits, I appreciated the fact that he kept things short. No ranking this time, as I was consistently unenthused through all his works. At least this one gives a great line to put on your tombstone: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
As this largely reads as a poem, you're not really meant to follow a plot. I try to just let the words wash over me. It's kind of like reading Shakespeare, where every sentence needs to be translated in your mind into the King's English. It's so short and choppy, it's like driving with somebody who is constantly slamming on the brakes. Still preferable to our drivers who ramble incessantly for the whole car ride, but it's a rough journey.
This might be our most poetic entry on the List since Pale Fire. And I hated that too. To quote the sage of our time, Taylor Swift, I'm the problem, it's me.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
Interesting Facts:
Title is a parody of Charles Kingsley's Westward Ho!.
UP NEXT: Shame by Salman Rushdie
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