How It Is

How It Is

"How It Is" is a novel by Samuel Beckett published in 1964. It consists of a monologue by the narrator as he crawls through apparently endless mud, and reminisces on his life. The mud appears to be a kind of purgatory.

The title is Beckett's translation of the original French, "Comment c'est", a pun on "commencer" or 'to begin'.

The theme may be the struggle of form to emerge from formlessness using Leopardi's sense of the world as mud ('E fango è il mondo'), as well as Dante's image of souls gulping mud in the Stygian marsh of the "Inferno" (Canto VII, 109-126, in Palma's translation):

:"Set in the slime, they say: 'We were sullen, with":"no pleasure in the sweet, sun-gladdened air,":"carrying in our souls the fumes of sloth.":"Now we are sullen in this black ooze' - where":"they hymn this in their throats with a gurgling sound":"because they cannot form the words down there." [ Dante Alighieri, "Inferno", translated by Michael Palma, W. W. Norton & Company, 2002, p. 77]

Dante's Belacqua and his foetal position also are referenced in "How It Is" and the following quotation may serve to illustrate the work's unpunctuated, dense and poetic style:

:"the knees drawn up the back bent in a hoop the tiny head near the knees curled round the sack Belacqua fallen over on his side" :"tired of waiting forgotten of the hearts where grace abides asleep" [Samuel Beckett, "How It Is", John Calder Publishers, 1964.]

The text is divided into three parts:

1. "before Pim" - the solitary narrator journeys in the mud-dark until he encounters another creature like himself thereby forming a "couple".

2. "with Pim" - the narrator is motionless in the mud-dark until he is abandoned by Pim.

3. "after Pim" - the narrator returns to his earlier solitude but without motion in the mud-dark.

In a letter (April 6th 1960) to Donald McWhinnie at BBC Radio Drama, Beckett explained his strange text as the product of a " 'man' lying panting in the mud and dark murmuring his 'life' as he hears it obscurely uttered by a voice inside him... The noise of his panting fills his ears and it is only when this abates that he can catch and murmur forth a fragment of what is being stated within... It is in the third part that occurs the so-called voice 'quaqua', its interiorisation and murmuring forth when the panting stops. That is to say the 'I' is from the outset in the third part and the first and second, though stated as heard in the present, already over." [James Knowlson, "Damned to Fame", Bloomsbury, 1996, p. 421.]

Notes and references


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • how — W1S1 [hau] adv, conj [: Old English; Origin: hu] 1.) used to ask or talk about the way in which something happens or is done ▪ How do you spell your name? ▪ How can I help you? ▪ I d like to help in some way, but I m not sure how. ▪ He explained… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • how — [ hau ] function word *** How can be used in the following ways: as an adverb (introducing a direct or indirect question): How do you spell your last name? I don t know how the system works. (introducing an EXCLAMATION): How I hate the winter!… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • how — how1 [hou] adv. [ME hwu, hu < OE, akin to OHG hweo (Ger wie), Goth hwai wa < IE interrogative base * kwo , *kwe > WHY, WHO, L quo, Sans kā] 1. in what manner or way; by what means 2. in what state or condition 3. for what reason or… …   English World dictionary

  • How — How, adv. [OE. how, hou, hu, hwu, AS. h?, from the same root as hw[=a], hw[ae]t, who, what, pron. interrog.; akin to OS. hw[=o]w, D. hoe, cf. G. wie how, Goth. hw[=e] wherewith, hwaiwa how. [root]182. See {Who}, and cf. {Why}.] 1. In what manner… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • how — ► ADVERB 1) in what way or by what means. 2) in what condition or health. 3) to what extent or degree. 4) the way in which. ● and how! Cf. ↑and how! ● how about? …   English terms dictionary

  • How — may refer to: *How (interrogative), an interrogative word in English grammar *How (greeting), a greeting in some representations by Europeans of Native American speech *How, Cumbria, a settlement in northwest England *William Walsham How (1823… …   Wikipedia

  • how so? — (archaic) How can this be so?, why? • • • Main Entry: ↑how * * * how so?/how’s that?/spoken phrase used for asking someone to explain the reason for the statement they have just made ‘If the dam is built, a lot of people will suffer.’ ‘How so?’… …   Useful english dictionary

  • how-to — how toer, n. /how tooh /, adj., n., pl. how tos. adj. 1. giving or pertaining to basic instructions and directions to the layperson on the methods for doing or making something, esp. as a hobby or for practical use: a how to book on photography.… …   Universalium

  • HOW... — HOW... (ISSN 0886 0483), called HOW Design Ideas at Work on its cover, is a monthly magazine for graphic designers. Launched in 1985, HOW... is edited by Bryn Mooth, with senior editor Megan Lane. HOW... is published by F+W Publications Inc. of… …   Wikipedia

  • how-to — Ⅰ. how to UK US adjective [before noun] ► used to describe something that provides practical advice on a particular activity: »a how to book/guide/article Ⅱ. how to UK US noun [C] (plural how tos) ► a book, DVD, etc. that gives practical advice… …   Financial and business terms

  • how|dy — how|dy1 «HOW dee, HOH », noun, plural dies. Scottish. a midwife. ╂[origin unknown] how|dy2 «HOW dee», interjection, noun, plural dies. Dialect. how do you do …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”