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Dante and the Lobster: Faber Stories by Samuel Beckett

By Pamelascott

'Dante and the Lobster' is the first of the linked short stories in Samuel Beckett's first book, More Pricks Than Kicks. Published in 1934, its style was recognisably indebted to that of his mentor, James Joyce, and crammed with linguistic texture and allusion that Beckett later shed. The book baffled many critics and sold so few copies that several batches were pulped. Decades later, this story was hailed as the Nobel Prize-winner's earliest important work.

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It was morning and Belacqua was stuck in the first of the canti in the moon.

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(@FaberBooks, 3 January 2019, e-book, 18 pages, bought from @AmazonKindle)

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I enjoyed this story a lot. It's quite short story so was easy to absorb and digest. It's not the easiest story to read the style and tone took a few pages to get used to. I liked the surreal, almost bizarre humour of the piece. I've read some James Joyce and his influence is clear in the tone and language of the story.

Dante Lobster: Faber Stories Samuel Beckett


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