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A review by joeduncan
The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett
5.0
Ok I have taken a long time to consider the gushing you're about to read if you continue. This trilogy is amazing. The whole thing. It evolves so wonderfully, taking creative leaps with each book without losing focus. The novels (in fact, all of Beckett's work) revolve around isolation and despair, the interminability of experience, and an empty hope for silence. Such heavy themes would bog most writers into unreadable whining, but Beckett's prose is overflowing with empathy. I can honestly say that I felt known reading the unnamable in a way I never have before. Let's let the work speak for itself:
"Unfortunately I am afraid, as always, of going on. For to go on means going from here, means finding me, losing me, vanishing and beginning again, a stranger first, then little by little the same as always, in another place, where I shall say I have always been, of which I shall know nothing, being incapable of seeing, moving, thinking, speaking, but of which little by little, in spite of these handicaps, I shall begin to know something, just enough for it to turn out to be the same place as always, the same which seems made for me and does not want me"
WTF right? It's hypnotic. Also, so deeply human it makes me want to cry. I do recommend starting at the beginning but each of the novels are stand-alone. All of Beckett's novels are intertwined on some level though(the Unnamable mentions all the characters from his previous novels, going all the way back to Watt). Also I do have to say, these books can be difficult to follow at times, especially the Unnamable, which will have to be a slow, deliberate read for most people (it's the shortest of the three but took me the longest to finish). I can't say anymore without ruining it, but as a last little gush I'll say that this an incredibly satisfying literary experience and I'd love to chat if you've gone through it as well.
"Unfortunately I am afraid, as always, of going on. For to go on means going from here, means finding me, losing me, vanishing and beginning again, a stranger first, then little by little the same as always, in another place, where I shall say I have always been, of which I shall know nothing, being incapable of seeing, moving, thinking, speaking, but of which little by little, in spite of these handicaps, I shall begin to know something, just enough for it to turn out to be the same place as always, the same which seems made for me and does not want me"
WTF right? It's hypnotic. Also, so deeply human it makes me want to cry. I do recommend starting at the beginning but each of the novels are stand-alone. All of Beckett's novels are intertwined on some level though(the Unnamable mentions all the characters from his previous novels, going all the way back to Watt). Also I do have to say, these books can be difficult to follow at times, especially the Unnamable, which will have to be a slow, deliberate read for most people (it's the shortest of the three but took me the longest to finish). I can't say anymore without ruining it, but as a last little gush I'll say that this an incredibly satisfying literary experience and I'd love to chat if you've gone through it as well.