An electrifying analysis of one legendary giant of twentieth-century literature by another: Beckett on Proust.
The whole of Proust's world comes out of a teacup . . .
When he was only 25, Samuel Beckett published his first ever book: an electrifying dissection of Marcel Proust's masterpiece À la recherche du temps perdu.
Habit, memory and time: Beckett argues that these are the defining characteristics of the human condition. Involuntary memories - like those prompted by Proust's famous madeleine - are radical moments that pierce the veil of habit, and offer inspiration that soothes the existential anguish of time passing.
Through analysing Proust's technique, the young Beckett puts forth a blazing artistic manifesto for his own future works, such as Waiting for Godot, Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable. The result is a totemic meeting of literary minds that illuminates the philosophies of two creative geniuses.
An experience unequalled anywhere in the universe of words. -- Paul Auster
Beckett turns and then slaps the other cheek. -- Tom Waits
Will consume you like fire. -- Kevin Barry
Lulling and terrifying in equal measure. -- Anne Enright
My favourite. -- Vladimir Nabokov
The master innovator of them all . . . as great as Shakespeare's or Beethoven's [art]. ― Guardian
Beckett leaves no stone unturned and no maggot lonely . . . His work is beautiful. -- Harold Pinter
One of the only writers to convey both the gravity and ludicrousness of being alive. -- Lucy Prebble
A brilliant and at times moving account of the impact of a philosophical novelist on a philosophical poet. ― The Sunday Times
