Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts
by Samuel Beckett
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Max by:
the list of works to readrecommends it for: those who can take a little absurdity (not anyone in class, for certain)
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
People who've already read "Endgame"
There's really nothing that I can write about this book that hasn't already been written. So, confident in the knowledge that nobody will ever read this, I'm going to jot down a few thoughts for posterity (my own personal posterity, as I intend never to have children).
The play is shot through with a cultural amnesia, and even the straight man (I would, incidentally, throw my lot in with Vladimir as best candidate for that particular title) seems to be on the knife's edge between amnesiac an...more
The play is shot through with a cultural amnesia, and even the straight man (I would, incidentally, throw my lot in with Vladimir as best candidate for that particular title) seems to be on the knife's edge between amnesiac an...more
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Read in January, 1999
recommends it for:
Matthew Pilarski: My Goodreads Hero!!!!
I read this book while hang-gliding over the coast of Lichtenstein. It was difficult to grip the jacket of the book, not only because I was airborn, but because the night before I was in Moscow having vodka and gasoline with Luis San Baptista Rodolfo Sr., a ex-foot soldier for the Revolutionary FALN, and my head was POUNDING! I told Luis over a dinner (red cabbage over braised Skeletor Dolls) I had never seen the last episode of Family Ties, and he instantly grew furious, and cried out, "Ma...more
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The two stupid, bantering main characters try their best to keep the conversation going at all costs and have to constantly remind themselves what they are doing: waiting for godot, of course.
They seem to be in constant wait, yet have no clear idea of what godot will bring. one gets the impression that were it not for godot to wait for, the characters would have nothing to do, nothing to talk about, no reason to keep showing up every evening and kill time waiting.
The tree, the only d...more
They seem to be in constant wait, yet have no clear idea of what godot will bring. one gets the impression that were it not for godot to wait for, the characters would have nothing to do, nothing to talk about, no reason to keep showing up every evening and kill time waiting.
The tree, the only d...more
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The more I read it, the more I see it performed, the more I love it. Beckett, I hear, was famous for refusing to comment on his work. About Godot, all he would say was, "It means what it says." It's not nihilist. It's not existentialist. It just is. And, when physically performed on stage by good actors, it's pretty funny, too.
That, however, doesn't stop me from drawing a few conclusions. I believe the play's most important accheivement is its multi-layered commentary on the...more
That, however, doesn't stop me from drawing a few conclusions. I believe the play's most important accheivement is its multi-layered commentary on the...more
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Read in June, 2008
I had heard many people complain about the plot of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot before I read it, so I was prepared for nothing to happen. (It then started with the line, "Nothing to be done," to utterly confirm my view.) Waiting for Godot is just going to be one of those books that I admire without enjoying. A play depicting passive characters futilely waiting for the arrival of something as their lives become as bare as the set is clever. But I'm not searching ...more
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REACTION: I found this play to be very interseting in many ways. It had moments that were funny and then parts that would peak my interest in a different manner. The concept of the story itself is very unique and takes an entirely new perspective when compared to many other works. Much of the meaning of the play is rooted deep into either metaphors or some alternate meaning to the action that is taking place. I felt that Beckett created one of the more intellectual plays of the time and it i...more
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recommended to Eric by:
Megan Mandell
recommends it for: People that hate themselves
recommends it for: People that hate themselves
I was told that this play was brilliant and that Beckett was the best Irish playwright out there.
I disagree wholeheartedly with the first half of that statement: The only thing I found this existential mess to be was irritating. As for the second half of the above statement, I will admit I have never read another Irish playwright, so I cannot say whether Beckett is the greatest or not, but I hope he isn't for the sake of every other Irish playwright and everyone that goes to see Irish pla...more
I disagree wholeheartedly with the first half of that statement: The only thing I found this existential mess to be was irritating. As for the second half of the above statement, I will admit I have never read another Irish playwright, so I cannot say whether Beckett is the greatest or not, but I hope he isn't for the sake of every other Irish playwright and everyone that goes to see Irish pla...more
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Read in January, 2000
'Esperando a Godot' es uno de mis libros favoritos. Me lo releo siempre que necesito recordar que incluso en las situaciones más desesperadas se puede encontrar el humor y no olvidar que el mundo es absurdo y que no conviene preocuparse demasiado por esto, sino que se debe procurar pasar el tiempo lo mejor que una pueda. Me encanta 'Esperando a Godot' por su humor absurdo, aparentemente estúpido pero que en realidad deja caer grandes verdades. Y es desconcertante. Y desconcertante siempre es b...more
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Read in January, 1970
I first read this play while working on the stage crew for an amateur performance.
It was the year we performed Rhinoceros by Ionesco, Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, and Man of La Mancha. Even with that "hip" background, at first the play was too strange to comprehend and enjoy. Later, the absurd became an effective strategy to study, but I question whether it is rather not more a passing fashion. The myth of Sisyhus comes in many guises and perhaps needs new clothing with e...more
It was the year we performed Rhinoceros by Ionesco, Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, and Man of La Mancha. Even with that "hip" background, at first the play was too strange to comprehend and enjoy. Later, the absurd became an effective strategy to study, but I question whether it is rather not more a passing fashion. The myth of Sisyhus comes in many guises and perhaps needs new clothing with e...more
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Read in January, 1979
recommends it for:
Those who really love theatre (or work at LottaBurger)
Definitely not for everybody but by God (if he shows up) it's brilliant. But I wouldn't blame anyone for disagreeing with me. Still it's more accessible than you might think -- a student who studied this play with me in one of my university classes had the assignment of memorizing the quite surrealistic Lucky and Potzo monologue. Problem was she was a single mother and between that and her manager's job at the local Lotta-Burger she didn't have much time for home study. Her solution? She gave a ...more
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"We all are born mad. Some remain so." so simple, and truth at the same time.
or:
Didi: We have to come back tomorrow.
Gogo; What for?
Didi: To wait for Godot.
Gogo: Ah! (Silence.) He didn't come?
Didi: No.
در انتظار گودو تا آنجا که به یاد دارم سه بار ترجمه شده، اولی را به گمانم سیروس طاهباز ترجمه کرد، که به همه چیز شبیه بود، جز بکت. دومی را داوود رشیدی تر...more
or:
Didi: We have to come back tomorrow.
Gogo; What for?
Didi: To wait for Godot.
Gogo: Ah! (Silence.) He didn't come?
Didi: No.
در انتظار گودو تا آنجا که به یاد دارم سه بار ترجمه شده، اولی را به گمانم سیروس طاهباز ترجمه کرد، که به همه چیز شبیه بود، جز بکت. دومی را داوود رشیدی تر...more
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Read in December, 2007
waiting for godot adalah cerminan konflik batin bagi siapapun yang membacanya. diceritakan secara lucu dan cerdas, naskah ini menawarkan optimisme di antara pemikiran skeptis. jika kita mau bersusah payah membedah karya ini, kita akan menemukan detil-detil menarik yang tidak dilewatkan oleh Beckett yang berhubungan dengan lokalitas ruang dan waktu saat karya ini ditulis.
anyway, saya membaca naskah ini pertama kali saat SMU, hanya saja dulu saya tidak dalam kapasitas bisa mencerna sebanyak se...more
anyway, saya membaca naskah ini pertama kali saat SMU, hanya saja dulu saya tidak dalam kapasitas bisa mencerna sebanyak se...more
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Read in December, 2003
recommends it for:
drama geeks, those interested in existentialism
I know there's a lot of good in here. I think several of the passages are wildly funny. There's some really clever things done here, and some really tragic things. I read it again this year to see if my impression had changed. I know I should think more about it, but I really don't care to. It's fine. I can take out the academic lessons and seperate it out from the play, and just not care. It is, objectively, a fantastic exercise in minimalist language and existentialist philosophy. Really, his ...more
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
Snobs like me
Writing about works like this always leave me divided- either I go literary snob and write a long and useless critique or I resign myself to simply saying “I liked it.” Below is an attempt at the half way point.
This is probably the best play I’ve ever read- which is to say I have never seen it performed, but I still enjoyed it and felt like I grasped the meaning of the play. The story revolves around two men waiting for salvation, which comes from a man (or being) named Godot. The ...more
This is probably the best play I’ve ever read- which is to say I have never seen it performed, but I still enjoyed it and felt like I grasped the meaning of the play. The story revolves around two men waiting for salvation, which comes from a man (or being) named Godot. The ...more
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Read in May, 2008
Lucky confused me immensely. He's a slave, right? They call him "pig" because they're mean, right? Because they also call someone else a pig at one point (one of the two main guys, who I got confused sometimes and whose names kind of confused me....especially since the one seemed to respond to "Adam" or some bland a-name and they had cutesy two-syllable nicknames for each other). I kind of wanted to see this performed...I think it'd make a good high school play, because the s...more
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Me: I don't remember reading this book.
Me: But you did.
Me: How do you know that I did?
Me: Because I remember reading it!
Me: What?
Me: I. Remember. Reading. It.
Me: You do?
Me: I do.
Me: All right, fine then.
Me: Good.
Me: Yes, good.
Me: Shall we read it now?
Me: Read what?
Me: But you did.
Me: How do you know that I did?
Me: Because I remember reading it!
Me: What?
Me: I. Remember. Reading. It.
Me: You do?
Me: I do.
Me: All right, fine then.
Me: Good.
Me: Yes, good.
Me: Shall we read it now?
Me: Read what?
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Read in May, 2008
After reading this I thought about times in my life when I was waiting for Godot too. I wasn't sure if I should be looking for a deep meaning in this play but I did. The two main characters have known each other for a very long time and briefly discuss if they should go their separate ways but alas they do not part and continue to wait for Godot.
All of it reminded me of life and relationships and how some people do not share the same road but stay with each other out of habit despite how the...more
All of it reminded me of life and relationships and how some people do not share the same road but stay with each other out of habit despite how the...more
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read this book if you enjoy existentialist philsophy. It's a really quick and fun read, that often leaves you humored or frusturated, seeped in the ridiculous, repetitive, circular and often dead-end conversations between the two main characters. What is the purpsose of life? what is the meaning of anything? do we or does anything really matter? what is power/control? do these things exist? the aforementioned are just some of the main questions/themes posed throughout this play, and whether or ...more
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Read in January, 2005
Entertaining, keeps you laughing. I think a lot of books I like from the discussions they bring up. I read Waiting for Godot for school and we had to have guided discussions afterwards. It's really interesting to hear what people think of Godot, who they think he must be, whether he's good or not, etc. One thing to keep in mind - this book was originally written in French. The title was En Attendant Godot. So, please don't make the argument that Godot must be God just because his name is similar...more
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