Book description
Molloy, the first of the three masterpieces which constitute Samuel Beckett’s famous trilogy, appeared in French in 1951, followed seven months later by Malone Dies (Malone meurt) and two years later by The Unnamable (L’Innommable). Few works of contemporary literature have been so universally acclaimed as central to their time…
Why read it?
3 authors picked Molloy as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
One of the best novels I have ever read. This doesn't mean it was enticing all the way through, but it was always compelling. In other words, it wasn't the beauty that kept me going but the rhythmic insistence. It is a novel of two equal halves. It's the second half that elevates the book for me. The first part consists of the memoirs of the title character, Molloy, and his abortive journey from a town to the sea in search of his mother. The second half consists of the search by a private investigator, Jacques Moran, for Molloy. He…
I found Molloy an impossible book many years ago. But picking it up again, I found it a swift and hilarious read.
It is a commentary on the ridiculous challenges of existence, and the associated horrors of bodily dysfunction. Molloy drags himself around with stiffening legs, although he manages a brief joyful bicycle ride before his further descent into hell. A detective called Moran searches for Molloy in the second part of the book, although Moran is transformed slowly into Molloy, I think.
Molloy is the first volume of a trio of increasingly difficult novels written by Beckett in the…
There are several Beckett books that belong on my list, as Beckett I think is one of the great authors about vagrants and castoffs, but Molloy is ground zero for me in terms of my relation to Beckett's work. The strangeness of Molloy's solitary relation to the world, and to the room he's confined in, was a big influence on my books as well.
From David's list on being a drifter or solitary wanderer at large.
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