Reviews

Ευτυχισμένες Μέρες by Samuel Beckett

sidharthvardhan's review against another edition

5.0

She decays into sands of time caught, struck in memories of happy days of past and the hopeless hope of a future that would resemble more to the past than the present; her hopes are of a really old bird who can no longer fly or even if it could fly it won't enjoy as much as it once did - and yet this bird looks up to skies and hopes; hopes like her too down-to-earth husband doesn't. Her surroundings like her body are just ruins of happy days of past, her hope is as depressing as her husband's pessimism and she wants to run away from it; she want to talk - talk, talk, talk herself out of it but with whom; her husband is no good at communications or may be he has just given it up as useless. And thus the two are struck in loneliness of married lives.

She is understanding or has, over the time, come to accept as the fate, her husband's inability to communicate. In their own way, they do care of each other and maybe in some depressed, degraded form of word, 'love' each other. She herself is unable to communicate her feelings. In fact, she no longer knows what she feels- does she want her husband dead? does her husband love him? does she love him? should she sing? should she dare hope?

She is scared of free time in which she may end up thinking about those things - and so she slows carry her routine activities - activities that do not involve thinking; routines she won't let herself break from -routine activities which are only religion .... and in her, in this woman crushed by time, one finds the meaning of meaninglessness of time.

Read it when you have a Disney movie at hand. Do not read it if you are middle aged housewife .... or are married ... or are human.

couuboy's review against another edition

5.0

Is the misery always proportional to your ability to overcome it? Is it that, as Beckett shows so bleakly and convincingly, time after time: to be alive is to continually shift the goalposts of tolerable sufferance?

Well, things could be worse...(?)

luna24601_'s review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bluelilyblue's review against another edition

5.0

thank you samuel beckett i am now having an existential crisis in the library!

magireads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

literaryinluv's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

tillygw's review against another edition

challenging funny sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Beckett confuses and frustrates while retaining our compassion for a woman whose voice is trivial but is the sound of a fractured desperation for freedom. 

willthesecond's review against another edition

3.0

Samuel Beckett was my first entrance into plays and playwriting and between his lines he has much to say that I admire. “Happy Days” has depth that borders on the nonsensical.

alm0ndwitch's review against another edition

2.0

As good as a story can be when there’s only on setting

pugslikemybooks's review against another edition

3.0

idk what drugs samuel beckett was on but hey. pretty good.