Beckett Samuel: Murphy

Murphy, Samuel Becketts first novel, was published in 1938. Its work-shy eponymous hero, adrift in London, realises that desire can never be satisfied and withdraws from life, in search of stupor. Murphys lovestruck fiancee Celia tries with tragic pathos to draw him back, but her attempts are doomed to failure. Murphys friends and familiars are simulacra of Murphy, fragmented and incomplete. But Becketts achievement lies in the brilliantly original language used to communicate this vision of isolation and misunderstanding. The combination of particularity and absurdity gives Murphys world its painful definition, but the sheer comic energy of Becketts prose releases characters and readers alike into exuberance.