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mcmccomb's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
jamesbaxterax's review
5.0
Mind-blowingly good. As satisfying to read and more so than any short story collection.
jonathantoews19's review
3.0
Some of it is great. Some of it is way over my head. Most of it is both.
smcleish's review
3.0
Originally published on my blog here in February 2002.
Beckett has a reputation as one of the most difficult twentieth century writers, many finding even his most accessible and most famous play, [b:Waiting for Godot|17716|Waiting for Godot|Samuel Beckett|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327910301s/17716.jpg|2635502], impenetrable. As a follower of Joyce, there is certainly something in this, as is perhaps particularly apparent in the thirty or so short dramtic pieces collected here, which actually make up the bulk of his output.
They stretch the meaning of the word "play" somewhat; originally written for radio, film and TV as well as the stage, they include mimed pieces and pieces without action as well as ones where what is spoken is not in itself important in a traditional way. Some are extremely short (Breath, for example, lasting only seconds), while the longest is about an hour (radio play All That Fall).
What they share, in spite of the diversity of form, are the themes which are common to all Beckett's writing. These are also all present in Waiting for Godot, which can really be seen as the essential Beckett play. These themes are meaninglessness, decrepitude and ageing, guilt, lack of identity, and death. In some plays, this forbidding list is leavened by a Joycean fascination with language. (In fact, the precision of Beckett's use of words - and his prescription of performance practice - are among the most interesting aspects of his work, given his obsession with non-meaning. He clearly found it necessary to specify things exactly in order to get what he wanted.) One cannot help admiring Beckett's cleverness, and many of the pieces come to life in performance, but they could never be described as cheerful.
Beckett has a reputation as one of the most difficult twentieth century writers, many finding even his most accessible and most famous play, [b:Waiting for Godot|17716|Waiting for Godot|Samuel Beckett|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327910301s/17716.jpg|2635502], impenetrable. As a follower of Joyce, there is certainly something in this, as is perhaps particularly apparent in the thirty or so short dramtic pieces collected here, which actually make up the bulk of his output.
They stretch the meaning of the word "play" somewhat; originally written for radio, film and TV as well as the stage, they include mimed pieces and pieces without action as well as ones where what is spoken is not in itself important in a traditional way. Some are extremely short (Breath, for example, lasting only seconds), while the longest is about an hour (radio play All That Fall).
What they share, in spite of the diversity of form, are the themes which are common to all Beckett's writing. These are also all present in Waiting for Godot, which can really be seen as the essential Beckett play. These themes are meaninglessness, decrepitude and ageing, guilt, lack of identity, and death. In some plays, this forbidding list is leavened by a Joycean fascination with language. (In fact, the precision of Beckett's use of words - and his prescription of performance practice - are among the most interesting aspects of his work, given his obsession with non-meaning. He clearly found it necessary to specify things exactly in order to get what he wanted.) One cannot help admiring Beckett's cleverness, and many of the pieces come to life in performance, but they could never be described as cheerful.
tscott907's review
3.0
In my Directing II class this semester, we're tackling Beckett's short plays. It feels a bit unfair to spring him on some unsuspecting theatre kids who are doing this for fun, but I'm interested in the challenge of directing something for which the stage directions are so rigid. Absurdism / existentialism have never been my favorite genres (although I did enjoy Waiting for Godot after reading it the third time - it grows on you.)
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