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Beckett
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 19, 2018
Well, for such a short book, this took me a long time to finish... Being back at work after seven weeks' vacation didn't help, but it was heavy going. The book was highly academic, but not always in a good way. Take, for instance, the assumption that the reader needs no translation of passages in Italian, French or Latin. I got the gist of them, but it's a somewhat elitist approach, to say the least. It got bogged down in its search to interpret Beckett's precise meaning and philosophy - an impossible exercise when it comes to a writer as enigmatic and playful as Beckett. I studied 'Endgame' and 'Happy Days' at Sixth Form and was reminded here of our teachers' floundering and doomed attempts to 'explain' Beckett to us. One aspect of the book I liked was the focus on the novels rather than the plays. I admire Beckett's drama but love his novels.
Anyone with an interest in experimental literature has to come back to Beckett at some point. His contribution is too vast to be overlooked. As a reminder of the comic existential delights of 'The Trilogy', 'Watt' and 'Murphy', this book was enjoyable. And, of course, it makes you want to return to the original sources. Sometimes the attempts to explain the philosophy at work beneath the comic surface were insightful. There was much on Beckett's numerical approach, his obsession with the twin terrors of infinity and zero, and these passages were among the best.
Anyway, it was interesting to read a perspective on Beckett from half a century ago, from the year before he was cursed with the award of the Nobel Prize, in fact. He gave away all of the prize money, of course. I'm not sure I'd recommend this. I'd just suggest you read or re-read 'The Trilogy' instead.
Anyone with an interest in experimental literature has to come back to Beckett at some point. His contribution is too vast to be overlooked. As a reminder of the comic existential delights of 'The Trilogy', 'Watt' and 'Murphy', this book was enjoyable. And, of course, it makes you want to return to the original sources. Sometimes the attempts to explain the philosophy at work beneath the comic surface were insightful. There was much on Beckett's numerical approach, his obsession with the twin terrors of infinity and zero, and these passages were among the best.
Anyway, it was interesting to read a perspective on Beckett from half a century ago, from the year before he was cursed with the award of the Nobel Prize, in fact. He gave away all of the prize money, of course. I'm not sure I'd recommend this. I'd just suggest you read or re-read 'The Trilogy' instead.
October 3, 2019
Interesting but didn't really provide great insight into what make him tick, and in places almost as obscure as Beckett himself.
November 28, 2015
This is a decent little volume of lit-crit, although many of Coe's points were the direct opposite of my interpretations. For example, he says that Celia (from 'Murphy') is the only female character in Beckett who is 'delineated with love and tenderness'. I would not want to see this critic's idea of contempt, as Celia does not strike me as an object of Murphy's love.
However, I thought the chapter on words and numbers was excellent, especially considering the influence that Joyce had on Beckett's writing.
However, I thought the chapter on words and numbers was excellent, especially considering the influence that Joyce had on Beckett's writing.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews