Murphy by Samuel Beckett
The first novel by Samuel Beckett, titled “Murphy,” was written in English and released in London in 1938. Beckett then had the book translated into French, and it was then published in France in 1947. The story follows Murphy’s humorous but tragic existence in London as he tries to make a home for himself and amass enough money to bring his fiancee with him.
Murphy by Samuel Beckett
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Murphy is a fantastic place to start if you haven’t tried any Beckett. It is true that it is one of his earlier works, but that is not the point. Compared to his earlier books, this one has a more traditional framework, followable conversation, great comedy, and exceptional writing. In all of Beckett’s works, there is profound humour and exceptional writing, but in Murphy, we see more or less realistic events written as no one else could. This kind of conventional reality doesn’t necessarily have any significance, but you learn about it in the later books, where the wit and wisdom are even more profound.
We begin with a man who has chained himself (naked) to a rocking chair as he rocks away from the physical world into the happy realm of his thoughts. When the phone rings, he is locked there on the floor and worries that his landlady will answer it because he rocks just a little bit too quickly as he enters his head and flips the item over. A decently straightforward start to an interesting portrait of life on the fringe. It’s an intense novel. This early Samuel Beckett book was a complete delight, full of humour and distinctively Beckettian elements. His characters are full of crazy, extremely Irish people; some of them even work in or are committed to psychiatric hospitals.
