First Love and Other Novellas (Penguin Modern Classics)

It came on time and I read it over two days .it's a great read the four stories are connected so it covers both novellas and novel.a must for Beckett fans

Buy this!

Just perfect :)

For any newcomer to Samuel Beckett this is the ideal introduction rather than the usual recommended works. This is Beckett being very honest before the tedious persona swallowed his output. Forget about the plays and please ignore the volumes of letters is my advice when coming to Beckett. See him as another writer not an icon to be venerated - pay no attention to the Beckettian industry. His refusal to translate De Sade to save his income from Mother May showed his weakness. Also the relationship with Miss Bray showed there was no "siege in the room" as Ms Bair spun in her biography. This was no hermit but a man who enjoyed the good things in life which I hope will be explored in the future. But all of that aside buy this to get a flavour of the raw Samuel Beckett but don't ignore his peers either. Some of those now in his shadows may in time prove to be as good or better than Beckett.

These short stories are a great starting place for anyone interested in exploring Beckett's prose, 'First Love' itself being a particular gem. They represent the start of a new creative period for Beckett, when his move to composition in French helped him to escape the anxiety of Joyce's influence. The stories in this volume are Beckett's own translations (with the help of Richard Seaver) of his original French tales. Translation has not diminished them, even if they are inescapably slightly different from their French incarnations. Overall, highly recommended. I'm sure anyone who has read any Beckett prose is desperate for more; similarly those who are as yet familiar only with the drama have a literary world which is as rich, if not more rich, still to discover. PS. MUST give it 5 stars, since the 2 star rating here accompanies a glowing review - probably a typo, but we wouldn't want this to damage Beckett's reputation!

I tread warily in submitting this review as there are clearly plenty of Samuel Beckett aficionados out there who love these novellas. My comments are directed more at those whose only previous knowledge of the author comes perhaps from seeing a production of Waiting for Godot and, like me, finding the play rather hard to enjoy. There's little doubt the four short stories presented in this very slim volume are painstakingly crafted and read beautifully considering they were all originally written in French. The streams of first person consciousness the author employs were no doubt ground-breaking in 1946 when they were first produced. But the subject matter sticks relentlessly to a same single subject: the confused musings of rather pitiable vagrants whose progressive decline and ultimate demise is seemingly inevitable. I was hoping to find out what Beckett had to say on other topics and was left a bit disappointed.

Book does not look like a real copy. The gaps in the front cover shouldn't be asymmetric.

Usually books are purchased out of passion and to own it with pride. Asking for a rating for a book like other white goods, electronics or kitchen products is embarrassing. The most that can be said is the product was neatly packed and arrived early.