Product Description

The world fame of Samuel Beckett is due to a combination of high academic esteem and immense popularity. An innovator in prose fiction to rival Joyce, his plays have been the most influential in modern theatre history. As an author in both English and French and a writer for the page and the stage, Beckett has been the focus for specialist treatment in each of his many guises, but there have been few attempts to provide a conspectus view. This book provides thirteen introductory essays on every aspect of Beckett’s work, some paying particular attention to his most famous plays (e.g. Waiting for Godot and Endgame) and his prose fictions (e.g. the ‘trilogy’ and Murphy). Other essays tackle his radio and television drama, his theatre directing and his poetry, followed by more general issues such as Beckett’s bilingualism and his relationship to the philosophers. Reference material is provided at the front and back of the book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #249276 in Books
• Published on: 1994-03-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 273 pages

Review
‘An invaluable addition to Beckett criticism … an outstanding book, faultlessly edited and superbly presented …’. Independent on Sunday

Customer Reviews

Good scholarly introduction to Beckett
The preface of this collection of scholarly essays expresses the hope that the volume will fill a gap by providing the general reader with a comprehensive introduction to the many spheres of Beckett's achievement. This the book does surprisingly well, by and large. I had feared endless impenetrable argument about being and non-being and suchlike unleavened by biographical context and straightforward description of the work, but most of the chapters here strike a good balance of the three. I particularly recommend Paul Lawley's essay on 'Krapp's Last Tape', 'Happy Days' and 'Play'; Jonathan Kalb's look at Beckett's work for radio, film and TV; and Keir Elam's illuminating study of the shorter works for the stage (or 'dramaticules') which draws some fascinating parallels between these pieces and Dante's 'Inferno'. Some of the other chapters are heavier going, not surprising when the title is 'Beckett and the Philosophers', but more unexpected when it is the editor's own contribution - for me, John Pilling's chapter was the nadir of the book, maddening in its smug opacity. If I disliked his essay, however, I have to commend his editorial policy: the movement of the book chronologically through the well-defined phases of Beckett's career makes it, overall, a satisfying and thorough introduction to the work of this most inscrutable of writers.