Scan barcode
A review by annakarlien
The End by Samuel Beckett
2.0
But in vain I raised without hope my eyes to the sky to look for the Bears. For the light I steeped in put out the stars, assuming they were there, which I doubted, remembering the clouds.
This small book consisted of two short stories, The End and The Cumulative.
I would have loved to be able to say right now that I love Beckett and everything about him, as that was what I had kind of expected. But though the bare, pointless, nihilistic themes do appeal to me, and in spite of me liking the writing style and the very dark humor which had me giggling on multiple occasions, it was just a bit too much.
I did not feel that there was any point, which is the point, and therefore these stories have the point of not having a point. But that's not what a good reading experience consists of. Most people are just generic and do not have the interesting events turn up in their lives that often happen to the main characters of exciting thrillers, mysteries or even romances, but the reason that these people are the main characters is for the simple reason that otherwise, a story would be very boring. And I do think that plot is definitely not the only thing that matters in a book. However, even with a point such as "there is no point", I still think that a book should be made interesting and entertaining in some way. These stories, however, were just a bit too extreme in their pointlessness.
Nevertheless, I am curious to read more of Beckett's work, particularly his plays, but also, maybe, his famous trilogy, for the simple reasons that his writing and themes definitely have something to them. I just think that it could have worked better than it did in these short stories.
This small book consisted of two short stories, The End and The Cumulative.
I would have loved to be able to say right now that I love Beckett and everything about him, as that was what I had kind of expected. But though the bare, pointless, nihilistic themes do appeal to me, and in spite of me liking the writing style and the very dark humor which had me giggling on multiple occasions, it was just a bit too much.
I did not feel that there was any point, which is the point, and therefore these stories have the point of not having a point. But that's not what a good reading experience consists of. Most people are just generic and do not have the interesting events turn up in their lives that often happen to the main characters of exciting thrillers, mysteries or even romances, but the reason that these people are the main characters is for the simple reason that otherwise, a story would be very boring. And I do think that plot is definitely not the only thing that matters in a book. However, even with a point such as "there is no point", I still think that a book should be made interesting and entertaining in some way. These stories, however, were just a bit too extreme in their pointlessness.
Nevertheless, I am curious to read more of Beckett's work, particularly his plays, but also, maybe, his famous trilogy, for the simple reasons that his writing and themes definitely have something to them. I just think that it could have worked better than it did in these short stories.