Beckett’s Friendship
André Bernold
[Lilliput Press]
Reading Beckett’s Friendship by André Bernold is a lot like listening to a rambling college lecture by an old-school scholar: generally enjoyable with moments of impressive insight, but largely baffling and irrelevant to any particular purpose. Bernold is clearly a passionate admirer and avid reader of Beckett’s, and he takes tremendous pride in his friendship with the great writer. His interest here lies not in documenting their meetings, but in pursuing his memories to better understand Beckett’s nature and work. He dwells at length on Beckett’s features, mannerisms and habits, and reflects on his remarks about his own writing and opinions of other artists. None of this, however, will help most readers gain a better understanding of Beckett for themselves: Bernold is reminiscing here, not narrating.
This self-interested mode also influences the style and structure of the book. The text is framed by the barest of chronological points, with Bernold’s first encounter with Beckett near the beginning and Beckett’s death at the end. Most of the content is shaped only by Bernold’s train of thought, which floats from one point of intellectual discussion to another esoteric reference on a postcard. He often employs convoluted metaphors and omits context. At the same time, the language – masterfully translated from the original French by Max McGuinness – is quite beautiful. A pleasant, if unenlightening, read.
Words: Anna-Grace Scullion
