The Unnamable

The Unnamable is a 1953 novel by Samuel Beckett. It is the third and final entry in Beckett's "Trilogy" of novels, which also includes Molloy and Malone Dies. It was originally published in French as L'Innomable.

The Unnamable consists entirely of a disjointed monologue from the perspective of an unnamed (presumably unnamable) and immobile protagonist. There is no concrete plot or setting - and whether the other characters ("Mahood" and "Worm") actually exist or whether they are facets of the narrator himself is debatable.

The novel builds in its despairing tone until the ending, which is mainly comprised of very long run-on sentences. It closes with the phrase "I can't go on, I'll go on," which was later used as the title of an anthology of Beckett works.

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