Samuel Beckett
1938
Around 290 pages
Only five more novels to go until the big 400! But first we must suffer through the insufferable Samuel Beckett. I've been dreading his approach for awhile.
Okay, I didn't enjoy this novel, but I'll admit this novel has one of the best opening lines I have ever read: "The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new." Brilliant. We start the novel with Murphy naked and tied to a rocking chair because that is how he practices self care. Then we're stuck reading the downward spiral of a deeply philosophical crazy person.
Why are Irish authors always making things so hard on their reader? I hate this style of novel, I don't need to know the notations from your chess game. It's a novel, not your nerd scrapbook. Unfortunately, there is a lot more Beckett to go.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
It was written in English, rather than the French of Beckett's later writing.
After many rejections, it was published on the recommendation of Beckett's friend Jack Butler Yeats.
UP NEXT: U.S.A. by John Dos Passos
No comments:
Post a Comment