This is my first time reading anything by Samuel Beckett, I didn't know what to expect. The man walks around for days trying to find lodgings but is unsuccessful. They are generally defined only as a result of actions you carry out and that enable you to make use of the services we offer (definition of your privacy preferences, connection, filling in forms, etc. This is my first time reading anything by Samuel Beckett, I didn't know what to expect. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. The man stays in this cabin and returns to the city to beg. It is a story (yes, I do believe the two stories of the book constitute one totality) you should immerse yourself in. :X. I think many reviewers here may be missing the point: the drive behind much of Beckett's prose is the desire to produce in the reader feelings of boredom, frustration and anger that serve as an allegory for modernity. First Beckett I've read and I can say at least that it's good to have done that. Especially books. There are no tricks, no sophisticated twists and turns in this story. I personally much preferred ‘the end’ to ‘the calmative’. The man observes rats and toads around him. Start by marking “The End” as Want to Read: Error rating book. by Penguin Classics. Reading it requires surrendering oneself to the flow of the text without trying too hard to understand what’s going on, since the understanding itself negates what Beckett is about. ). I didn't hear a great deal either. The Calmative is definitely more surreal in nature compared to The End, and perhaps slightly more bleak. They are necessary for the proper functioning of the website and can not be switched off. But I never expected the surreal, rambling, and at times absurd, story lines that run through the two short stories 'The End' and 'The Calmative' in this Penguin Modern Classic book dedicated to Beckett. Maybe Waiting for Godot really is the best thing ever written and Beckett literally can't top it. After the man is discharged, he walks into the city. The fruits of this insight are certainly relevant here, both literally in the choice of vagrants (if indeed there are two) as protagonists, and literarily in the relative poverty of detail in "The End" and of logic in "The Calmative". Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published February 22nd 2018 Strictly speaking I wasn't there. It doesn’t need to make sense tho, isn’t that the point of Beckett? if you try to understand you’ve already fundamentally misunderstood. ©2020 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. 'To contrive a little kingdom, in the midst of the universal muck, then shit on it, ah that was me all over. Some of the sentences in the book were so thought provoking. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour. He comments, "they usually slammed the door in my face, even when I showed my money and offered to pay a week in advance, or even two." Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this The End study guide. I liked how those worked, though I'm not sure I would seek out more of the same. He observes the sounds of the river nearby: water lapping and birds "screaming with hunger and fury." The man has a miserable but "comfortable enough" time living in this basement: he tries to grow a crocus, but it wilts and never flowers; he is visited by a policeman and a priest who disparage him; and he is vexed by the noise of the street outside his window. But I never expected the surreal, rambling, and at times absurd, story lines that run through the two short stories 'The End' and 'The Calmative' in this Penguin Modern Classic book dedicated to Beckett. Samuel Beckett is an author whom I have not historically enjoyed; I read both. “The End” is a good example of the subject on which he has concentrated in much of his work: the gritty, sometimes offensive experience of the last days of an old man, struggling to survive and, at the same time, willing to die. Both are end of life tales. You'll get access to all of the Refresh and try again. "The End" provides a chaotic mixture of sensations beyond the boundaries of language. I love Beckett I really do. Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet, who lived in France for most of his adult life. I didn't pay attention. If readers expect the contemporary short story to concentrate on a “slice of life,” it must be said that Samuel Beckett is inclined to take his cut at the far end of the loaf. Waiting for Godot is brilliant, but these two short stories were very underwhelming and the definition of "meh". I realized that my own way was in impoverishment, in lack of knowledge and in taking away, in subtracting rather than in adding." Some paragraphs sounded poems. Strictly speaking I believe I've never been anywhere." There are plenty of books waiting to be read. "The End" by Samuel Beckett is a short story which tracks a man's decline in physical and mental health from his release from an institution to his eventual lonely death. It is simply the tale of an old, unnamed man, thrown out of some kind of public institution (probably a charitable hospital) with a bit of money and not much else. Strangely, the next scene has the man moving into his friend's cabin. Log in here. I realized that my own way was in impoverishment, in lack of knowledge and in taking away, in subtracting rather than in adding." The friend offers the man use of his cabin in the mountains, but the man refuses. Das französische Original wurde vom Autor selbst ins Englische übertragen. Still, I thought this was fine, just not “fun“. Glad the reviews didn’t hold me back from reading this beautiful small book. Diverse voices and sparkling debuts dominate today's contemporary short story collections. Beckett had a revelation on a visit home to his mother in Dublin at age 39, of which he stated: "I realized that Joyce had gone as far as one could in the direction of knowing more, [being] in control of one's material. Endspiel (französisch Fin de partie, englisch Endgame) ist ein Drama von Samuel Beckett aus dem Jahr 1956. Arguably not his best but I still enjoyed these stories (is enjoy the right word?). Well when the ratings of the book is pretty low but you loved it nonetheless. Already a member? Great stuff. The man then details imagery which alludes to his suicide: a man chaining himself to his rowboat bed and removing the plug from the bottom, causing the boat to sink. The cabin is in disrepair, the "floor strewn with excrements, both human and animal, with condoms and vomit." The second story didn't even make any sense ! - The End. Thoroughly appeals to lovers of absurd nihilism - this is a real treat! ', "The End" provides a chaotic mixture of sensations beyond the boundaries of language. He wrote in both English and French. While these are a bit slight and even sometimes tedious, there is some real life in them, the focusing of a talent in a certain shade of sadness. It is a story (yes, I do believe the two stories of the book constitute one totality) you should immerse yourself in. Beckett's wise choice of vocabulary, never too verbose, distinctive grammar (or lack thereof), combined with his signature style of narration conveyed to me complex emotions that urge me to pick up another Beckett book as soon as I can. The man finally finds a woman who will let him sleep in her basement. "One day I witnessed a strange scene. First short story was 3 stars, second was 2. The man recalls standing "on a height" as a child with his father watching lightships. Where 'The End' deals with an elderly vagrant's journey towards death, 'The Calmative' deals with another elderly vagrant's (possibly the same one, who know? This mini-book, part of the Penguin Modern series, consists of two stories: The End and The Calmative. I might not be able to give an accurate account of a clear meaning, a tangible storyline or a comprehensible summa. This was okay, but it was also kind of forgettable. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers.