Malone Dies, Part 1

I'm about halfway through Malone Dies, and I actually think I like this one better than Molloy. I would have loved to have gotten through all three books by Friday, but I still plan on finishing them just because I'm enjoying them more than I've enjoyed a book in a very long time. That's why I was hesitant to make it a goal to finish them on time; I can't stand the thought of missing a single sentence or word because I was skimming over it. The writing is too beautiful not to really pay attention to.

As a Sociology and ex-Psychology major, I find Beckett's characters fascinating. He somehow captures humanity so perfectly and so believably in a way that most writers will never be able to emulate.

I loved on page 181 when he says "there is so little difference between a man and a woman." I always very much held that belief; that, below what culture and society tells us to be and how to act, we are all pretty much the same.

Malone's maid sounds suspiciously like Moran's: "The woman came right into the room, bustled about, enquired about my needs, my wants [...] I don't know why she is good to me."

As terrible as they are, the Saposcats are a very entertaining family. If they were around now, they would probably have a reality television show! I love it when Mr. and Mrs. Saposcat forget the age of their first born child.

On page 189, I encountered my favorite line of Beckett so far: "for already from the world that parts at last its labia and lets me go." This sentence is incredibly profound; he is talking about dying and being born at the same time. And I just think it's a beautiful line, despite the mention of genitalia. Or, perhaps, because of the mention of genitalia.

On 191, he mentions "Michaelmas." I looked this up and discovered that it is a Catholic feast on the 29th of September commemorating the Archangel Michael and his defeat of Lucifer. Michael was also the administrator of cosmic intelligence, so it's interesting that Beckett would mention him. I love picking Biblical allusions out of books now that I know how to spot them!

I also really like how Beckett uses puns. Like pg 197: "Perhaps it is a lakh of rupees. Or a lock of hair."

A passage that reminded me of the stone sucking that Dr. Sexson read to us was the one on pg. 206 when he describes listening to the barking dogs at night.

That's all I have so far; hopefully I will have more to post soon!