The Unnamable (novel)

Infobox Book |
name = The Unnamable
title_orig = L'Innomable
translator = Samuel Beckett


image_caption = 1st edition (French)
author = Samuel Beckett
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = France
language = French
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Les Éditions de Minuit
release_date = 1953
english_release_date = 1958
media_type = Print, Paperback & Hardcover
preceded_by = Malone Dies

"The Unnamable" is a 1953 novel by Samuel Beckett. It is the third and final entry in Beckett's "Trilogy" of novels, which begins with "Molloy" followed by "Malone Dies". It was originally published in French as "L'Innomable" and later translated by the author into English. Grove Press published the English edition in 1958.

"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 protagonist also claims authorship of the main characters in the two previous novels of the Trilogy.

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.