Publisher Description

This a comprehensive comparison of the narrative techniques of two of the twentieth century's most important writers of prose. Using a combination of theoretical analysis and close readings of Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu and Beckett's trilogy of novels, Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable, James H. Reid compares the two novelists' use of first-person narration in constructing and demystifying fictions of consciousness. Reid focuses on the narrator's search to represent the voice that speaks the novel, a search, he argues, that structures first-person narration in the works of both novelists. He examines in detail the significant impact of Proust's writing on Beckett's own work as well as Beckett's subtle reworkings of Proust's themes and strategies. This study is an important contribution to critical literature, and offers fresh perspectives on the crucial importance of the Recherche and the trilogy in the context of the twentieth-century novel.

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"Only Helene Foley could have written this book. The combination of meticulous classical scholarship with a lifetime of accumulated experience of the US contemporary arts scene has produced a stylish, exciting, and energising read. Mandatory reading for anyone who loves either Greek or American Theatre."

Author Biography

James H. Reid is Associate Professor of French Literature at Illinois State University. He is the author of Narration and Description in the French Realist Novel (Cambridge, 1993) and of numerous articles.

Table of Contents

List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Remembering forgetting: Le drame du coucher; 2. Impressions, the instant of artistic consciousness, and history; 3. Lying, irony, and power: Proust's deceptive allegories; 4. Proust's forgetful ironies; 5. Molloy's way: the parody of allegory; 6. Moran's way: the forgetful spiral of irony; 7. Malone Dies and the impossibility of not saying I; 8. The Unnamable: the death of the ironical self and the return of history; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Review

"Proust, Beckett and Narration is a welcome addition to the literature on novelistic self-consciousness." - Derek Schilling, Rutgers University

Promotional

This is a comprehensive comparison of the narrative techniques of Marcel Proust and Samuel Beckett.

Review Quote

"Proust, Beckett and Narration is a welcome addition to the literature on novelistic self-consciousness." - Derek Schilling, Rutgers University

Promotional "Headline"

This is a comprehensive comparison of the narrative techniques of Marcel Proust and Samuel Beckett.

Description for Bookstore

This a comprehensive comparison of the narrative techniques of Marcel Proust and Samuel Beckett. This study is an important contribution to critical literature, and offers fresh perspectives on the crucial importance of the Recherche and Beckett's trilogy: Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable in the context of the twentieth-century novel.

Description for Library

This a comprehensive comparison of the narrative techniques of Marcel Proust and Samuel Beckett. This study is an important contribution to critical literature, and offers fresh perspectives on the crucial importance of the Recherche and Beckett's trilogy: Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable in the context of the twentieth-century novel.

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