Jamie’s Reviews > The Selected Works of Samuel Beckett > Status Update

I just finished the volume with the plays and dramatic works, and was left mostly disappointed. The two or three high-points don't come anywhere close to making up for some if the drivel and gibberish that was included in these selected works. Sorry, but most of these pieces were nothing more than mental masturbation, in my opinion, and their ejaculations would have been better off remaining private and unpublished.

The Unnamable - Meta existentialism. Interesting read, but the lack of paragraphs in Beckett's novels is starting to get to me. I get the urgency it creates, but it pushes me too quickly as a reader and I find myself blowing past some really fun turns of phrase because his style doesn't really give you time to come up for air.

Malone Dies - This one had me laughing aloud at points, emotionally invested at others, and I had a bunch of funny existenitialist jokes come to mind as I was enjoyingmy way through it, but then those last few pages happened, and, wow. Despite the frustrating lack of paragraph breaks, this one really hits. Five stars all day.

Molloy - I don't generally gibe with with stream of consciousness novels, but the affectation worked well with this one and was put to good use when Beckett flipped the narrative and plot on its head.

Finished Volume One

MURPHY - Too esoteric.

WATT - Too neurotic.

MERCIER AND CAMIER - Reminded me very much of an acid trip I once had back in the 80s, but not in a great way.