The Unnamable

By: Samuel Beckett

Narrated by: Sean Barrett

The Unnamable is the third novel in Beckett's trilogy, three remarkable prose works in which men of increasingly debilitating physical circumstances act, ponder, consider, and rage against impermanence and the human condition. The Unnamable is without doubt the most uncompromising text and it is read here in startling fashion by Sean Barrett.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2005 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd. (P)2005 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd.

Critic reviews

"Beckett is one of the most positive writers alive. Behind all his mournful blasphemies against man there is real love. And he is genuine: every sentence is written as if it had been lived." (The New York Times Book Review)

superb narrator

this is one of my favorite novels, so no need to say that it's 5/5, but I came here to add that the narrator did an amazing job. he's perfectly cut out for this book.

Amazing Trilogy

These books were so full of mad sanity it can be difficult to stay "on the bycycle." Malloy was the easiest for me; he is so hysterically original. But they become more serious as they move along; the characters voices assuming a more bitter maturity. Beckett is a world class poet and I'm out of my depth without larger insights than my own to follow but I loved the adventure and will enjoy listening to them repeatedly for years to come.

I can't, I must

The dialogue, be it inner or among three minds, it's captivating, best work, great narration

Wonderful

The narration is impeccable. Each clause considered and rendered brilliantly. Reverential, at the very least, perhaps even done with love.

The No One Who is Everyone is not You or is It?

This dramatic monologue is like nothing you can ever imagine or will ever experience again. Sean Barrett gives a stellar performance that is intriguing and absolutely wonderful, incredible, and remarkable while depicting life’s tragedies interspersed with many comical elements. The mixture of delusional insanity fluctuating with moments of lucid sanity will make you question your own sanity in listening to these rambling moments of despair. The narrator’s inner voice makes him wonder, is he really the author of his own thoughts or just a convenient vehicle of how the Silence manipulates him. Did you ever wonder where you thoughts come from or where they disappear to? If you are not steeped in German Idealism and its existential enquiries into the origins of the ego’s transcendental subjectivity, you will find this confusing and nearly impossible to follow, which may be Beckett’s intention. The challenge has been proffered here; how do you make sense out of what seems total, irrational nonsense? Life’s conundrum is in full display. I found this dramatic monologue ingenious and quite entertaining.