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From an Abandoned Work
From An Abandoned Work, a "meditation for radio" by Samuel Beckett, was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Third Programme on Saturday, 14 December 1957 together with a selection from the novel Molloy. Donald McWhinnie, who already had a great success with All That Fall, directed the Irish actor Patrick Magee.
The work began as "a short prose piece, written about 1954-55, a step towards a novel soon abandoned" and Beckett's "first text written in English since Watt." Though initially published as a theater piece by the British publisher Faber and Faber following its performance on the BBC, it is now "generally anthologized with Beckett's short fiction".
Translated into French by Beckett with Ludovic and Agnès Janvier, it was published as "D'un ouvrage abandonné" by Les Éditions de Minuit in 1967 and included in Têtes-mortes, a collection of short stories.
The first person narrative revolves around three days in the early life of a neurotic old man. "None of the days is described clearly or coherently and few details are given for the second and third days." It is unlikely that the days are actually chronologically contiguous although the general framework does tend to be, digressions aside.
The story begins with the old man remembering back to when he was young, probably a young man rather than a child per se (based on the assumption that the man is modelled on Beckett himself who only came to appreciate Milton in his early twenties whilst at Trinity College). He begins arbitrarily; at least he maintains, "any other [day] would have done". Despite feeling unwell he rises early and leaves the house but not so early that his mother isn't able to catch his eye from her window. He appears unclear in his own head if she is even waving at him – he's already at a fair distance when he notices her – and puts forth the notion, calculated to reduce any significance that could be attributed to her actions, that she may simply have been exercising, her latest fad, and not really trying to communicate anything at all.
The young man is prone to sudden rages. As he is walking away he feels "really awful, very violent [and starts to] look out for a snail, slug or worm" to squash. Despite his propensity towards violence – or perhaps to find excuse for it – he makes a point of never avoiding things that might exacerbate it whether these be small birds or animals or simply difficult terrain.
He becomes aware of a white horse at such a distance that despite the excellent sight he boasts of he cannot tell if a man, woman or child is following it. White is a colour that has a strong effect on him and he flies into a rage simply at the thought of it (See Classical conditioning). In the past he had tried "beating his head against something" but has discovered that short bursts of energy, "running five or ten yards", works best. After this he walks on for a bit and then heads home.
On the second day, despite having had another bad night, he leaves the house in the morning and doesn't return until nightfall. He describes being "set on and pursued by … stoats" which – perhaps significantly – he refers to as "a family or tribe" rather than using the more common collective noun, pack. This is noteworthy because he specifically mentions he has a good head for facts having "picked up a lot of hard knowledge". He survives the attack but regrets that he did not let them finish him off.
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From an Abandoned Work
From An Abandoned Work, a "meditation for radio" by Samuel Beckett, was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Third Programme on Saturday, 14 December 1957 together with a selection from the novel Molloy. Donald McWhinnie, who already had a great success with All That Fall, directed the Irish actor Patrick Magee.
The work began as "a short prose piece, written about 1954-55, a step towards a novel soon abandoned" and Beckett's "first text written in English since Watt." Though initially published as a theater piece by the British publisher Faber and Faber following its performance on the BBC, it is now "generally anthologized with Beckett's short fiction".
Translated into French by Beckett with Ludovic and Agnès Janvier, it was published as "D'un ouvrage abandonné" by Les Éditions de Minuit in 1967 and included in Têtes-mortes, a collection of short stories.
The first person narrative revolves around three days in the early life of a neurotic old man. "None of the days is described clearly or coherently and few details are given for the second and third days." It is unlikely that the days are actually chronologically contiguous although the general framework does tend to be, digressions aside.
The story begins with the old man remembering back to when he was young, probably a young man rather than a child per se (based on the assumption that the man is modelled on Beckett himself who only came to appreciate Milton in his early twenties whilst at Trinity College). He begins arbitrarily; at least he maintains, "any other [day] would have done". Despite feeling unwell he rises early and leaves the house but not so early that his mother isn't able to catch his eye from her window. He appears unclear in his own head if she is even waving at him – he's already at a fair distance when he notices her – and puts forth the notion, calculated to reduce any significance that could be attributed to her actions, that she may simply have been exercising, her latest fad, and not really trying to communicate anything at all.
The young man is prone to sudden rages. As he is walking away he feels "really awful, very violent [and starts to] look out for a snail, slug or worm" to squash. Despite his propensity towards violence – or perhaps to find excuse for it – he makes a point of never avoiding things that might exacerbate it whether these be small birds or animals or simply difficult terrain.
He becomes aware of a white horse at such a distance that despite the excellent sight he boasts of he cannot tell if a man, woman or child is following it. White is a colour that has a strong effect on him and he flies into a rage simply at the thought of it (See Classical conditioning). In the past he had tried "beating his head against something" but has discovered that short bursts of energy, "running five or ten yards", works best. After this he walks on for a bit and then heads home.
On the second day, despite having had another bad night, he leaves the house in the morning and doesn't return until nightfall. He describes being "set on and pursued by … stoats" which – perhaps significantly – he refers to as "a family or tribe" rather than using the more common collective noun, pack. This is noteworthy because he specifically mentions he has a good head for facts having "picked up a lot of hard knowledge". He survives the attack but regrets that he did not let them finish him off.