Demented particulars : the annotated Murphy

264 Pages·2010·4.17 MB·English

by  Ackerley

$20 1-892770-03-2
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Demented Particulars: The Annotated Murphy is a com- h e
Demented Pparrethiceunlasirvse o rfeffeerrse nac dee gtauiildeed faonr nnoetwa taionnd oefs tSaabmlisuheeld B reecakdeetrts’ sa fis rwste lpl uabslished noveyl, An A
Murphy. The book includes an extensive Introduction, which outlines the compositional and
seasoned Beckett scholars. In its expanded and corrected second edi- nn
publishing htiiostno irty c oanf tlhaey cnloavimel ,t oth bee cinrgit itchael dmeobsat tceo, manp raechceonusnivte o gfu Bideec ktoe tSta’sm rueealding that went on
into the book, and a sophisticated discussion of the “Cartesian catastrophe” at the heart of to
this comic caBonescdmk terotats’c.si nT1gh9 et3hr8ee niinso taveelrstleo ixn ta unpa rlei nxwtt,e eapnvrsoeivv oiedf ibnsoigbu ldiroceegtasr ialaspn hodyf atohllfeu wsniooonvresk ls’b spo mtehra ttkirniivneiganlt to Murphy,C. and atta
a thematic aInndde xp.rofound. As S. E. Gontarski noted in the “Preface” to the first edi- J. edte
tion, this book “. . . will form the starting point of all Murphy and much A d
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The main thBreucskte ott fs cthheo lbarosohikp cwoenlcl einrtnos tthhee t wpaegnety -bfiyr spt acgeen taunryn.o”tations of the novel itself, k M
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with close reference to the range of Beckett’s reading (literary, philosophical, theological, rle ru
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is a com- hp
importance of the study lies not simply in the discovery of many new facts, but equally in yh
prehethnes aivssee srsemAfeebnorute t onthfec h aeou wthgo utr:h iCeds. eeJ. lAafCoidKr Et RhnLeEe Yfo wisu tnhaed nafotdriom neers s hfteoaardb soolfi stmhheu eDcedhp aorrftem Baeendtc okefe rEtsntg’ slai slhast ewr ewlol rak.s The y
seasobnoeokd p Bayesc tMarkt aitbehlcueto ttlUm ens tiLcvooehw rtsroihyty’es l oa Uaf rnsOtdsote.ar ug tInohn,ed NiVnieotgwslc r aZaenenoaxgl(pa1en9 ado8.n f4H )dB ea eenhcdadk sS e watamrtit’nutsee ndlr eBa eanccdnkooienttratg’rtse e idnM c gutturhepidehde y1s (9tfsoir3set0 cesd,o ia-nndd ine sdoi -doing
documents with precision the extent to which Beckett’s later writings, and his dramatic
tion it can layti ocn l1a9i9m8), atond mboesti nrecge nttlhy hea s mpuoblisshte dc (owimth Sp. rEe. Ghoenntarsskivi) eTh eg Guroidvee to Samuel C
pieces in paCrotmicpualanrio, na rtois Sea mouuetl oBefc tkhetet: mA Raetraidxe ro’sf G thuied ee taor Hlieisr W woorkrs,k Lsi.fe, and Thought.
Beckett’s 193H8e isn courvreentlly icnom pplretiinngt ,b opokr-olenvgitdh iannngot adtioentsa toi lBse cokeftt ’st hWeat t,n foortvhceoml’isng making .
and tCra. Jc. iAncgk etrhlferoeym i istnh Pet reJoorfuterensasxlo tourf aaBnelcd kw eftote rSamtudveieers HBooeofa kdss oion fu2 E0r0nc5ge.lissh a ant Od taaglolu Usnioivnerss itby,o Nthew t rZiveiaalalnd. C. J. A
His publications include extensive commentaries on Samuel Beckett and Malcolm Lowry. His J
and profound. As S. E. Gontarski noted in the “Preface” to the first edi- .c
speciality is annotation, and he is (with S. E. Gontarski) author of the Companion to Samuel k
tion, this book “. . . will form the starting point of all Murphy and much Ae
Beckett. He has recently edited Watt for Faber. He is writing a monograph on Beckett and cr
BeckeScttie sncceh aonlda arnsnhoipta twinge slle vienrtaol wthorek st wbye Lnotwy-ryf.irst century.” kl
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Cover design: Lindsay Manger le

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Cover image © Beckett International Foundation

About the author: C. J. ACKERLEY is the former head of the Department of English
Edinburgh University Press

at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He has written annotated guides to E
22 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LF d
Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano (1984) and Samuel Beckett’s Murphy (first edi- in
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tion 19 w9w8w),. eaunpdp umbloisshti nreg.cceonmtly has published (with S. E. Gontarski) The Grove r
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Companion to Samuel Beckett: A Reader’s Guide to His Works, Life, and Thought. h
He is currently completing book-length annotations to Beckett’s Watt, forthcoming
9 780748 641505
from the Journal of Beckett Studies Books in 2005.
C. J. Ackerley
Edinburgh University Press
© C. J. Ackerley, 2004, 2010
First published by the Journal of Beckett Studies Books, 2004.
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
22 George Square, Edinburgh
www.euppublishing.com
Book design by Dustin Anderson and Jack Clifford
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7486 4150 5 (paperback)
The right of C. J. Ackerley
to be identifi ed as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Photo courtesy of Julie Campbell
Acknowledgements 2
Prefatory Statement 4
2
3
4
Prefatory Statement
Demented Particulars was fi rst published by Journal of Beckett Studies Books
in 1998, with a revised and augmented edition in 2004, which incorporated material
(e.g., Beckett’s notes from Windelband and on Arnold Geulincx) not earlier available
(the Murphy notebooks, however, are still locked away). Since 2004, other items have
appeared, including Matthew Feldman’s Beckett’s Books (Continuum, 2006) and
volume 1 of Beckett’s Letters 1929–1940, ed. Martha Fehsenfeld and Lois Overbeck
(2009), which cover the period of Murphy’s composition and thus offer small insights
into the process of composition and /or publication not previously available. J. C.
C. Mays has edited Murphy for Faber and Faber (2009), with an excellent Preface
that offers a few details I had neglected to observe; and Laura Lindgren has done
likewise for the Grove Press Centenary Edition (2006). These excellent editions have
eliminated the few previous textual problems, but the odd surprise may still arise: a
letter to Barbara Bray reveals that Black’s move 42 in the chess game, . . . K – K2,
was changed by John Calder to . . . K – Q2 (an illegal move, into check) at Beckett’s
suggestion, which confi rms my prejudice that authors, unlike annotators, should not
rewrite their texts.
Chris Ackerley, February 2010
dementedbooksm.qxd 5/26/2004 4:26 PM Page 5
Demented Particulars ~ 5
Preface to the Second Edition
I am grateful, as ever, to Stan Gontarski for the chance to offer a second and
revised edition of Demented Particulars, and to Stan and Marsha, once again, for their
hospitality. My thanks, too, to Paul Shields and Dustin Anderson for their hospitality
during my visits to Tallahassee; to Scott Kopel for his assistance with my computer; to
Pat and Yolande McCarthy for their further generosity; and to Jack Clifford for setting
the final revised text. This study reflects a growing awareness among Beckett’s schol-
ars of his “grafting techniques” and of the way that his early reading underlies the later
works. The revisions have benefited from the work Stan and I did for the Grove Press
Companion, and from the availability of John Pilling’s edition of the Dream Notebook,
which I had consulted but rather hurriedly. I also have read Windelband’s remarkable
History of Philosophy, whence so many of Beckett’s ideas and their expression were
taken, often verbatim. I have made a number of corrections, of fact and expression,
added the odd note here and there, and toned down a few overly-enthusiastic com-
ments. Because I wished to retain the original numbering where possible, partly for
scholarly continuity but (more honestly) to avoid redoing the Index, this has meant the
occasional oddity such as #94.2a. I have tried to be more orthodox in punctuation and
formatting, but have retained square brackets for editorial insertions, cross-references
and citations, and cheerfully violated the sacred principles of inclusive punctuation
when logic or sense seemed threatened. The Bibliography is slightly expanded, and
the Index rather more extensive, but, I hope, more accurate. The overall length is
about the same as I have taken the opportunity (honed by having to trim the Grove
Companionfrom 1100 pages to about 720, without losing the essentials) to rephrase
some sentiments more simply. Finally, I am grateful to have the opportunity of revisit-
ing the unfunniest joke in the previous edition, #275.2, the “infinite jest of one of my
ex-students, who thought Murphy was cremated.” Abit like Celia and the stout porter,
you might think, unamused, but an overly-enthusiastic editorial assistant had “correct-
ed” my original “cremoted” (Cremotabeing, in New Zealand, a world-famous brand of
porridge). As Winnie says in Happy Days, how better can one magnify the Almighty
than by sniggering with him at his little jokes, especially the poorer ones? Hapless as
it might be, this was my small tribute to a novel that still, after many years of demen-
tia, leaves me overcome by its toxins.
Chris Ackerley,
April 2004