Murphy

Followed to England by a riotous collection of Irish eccentrics, Murphy ventures disastrously from the calm of his rocking chair in a Kensington mews. He falls in love with Celia, a prostitute. Fascinated by Eastern mysticism, he pursues swamis and fortune-tellers. His eventual employment as an orderly in a mental hospital leads to a devastatingly ironic conclusion.

Historically, Murphy forms a bridge between the novels of James Joyce and the new literature of the post-war world, in which Beckett's work occupies a prominent place. Murphy, though revolutionary in its perceptions, is also exuberantly readable. Though imbued with its author's characteristic pessimism, it is a comic masterpiece.

Author: Samuel Beckett

Publisher: Picador

Released Date: 1983

ISBN: 9780330234443