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Waiting for Godot
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In Waiting for Godot, two wandering tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, wait by a lonely tree, to meet up with Mr. Godot, an enigmatic figure in a world where time, place and memory are blurred and meaning is where you find it. The tramps hope that Godot will change their lives for the better. Instead, two eccentric travelers arrive, one man on the end of the other's rope. The
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Paperback, 83 pages
Published
December 31st 1957
by Samuel French Ltd
(first published April 1st 1952)
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Katerina Alexopoulou
In my interpretation, they are waiting for God, basically. . with their forgetfulness being an analogy of stop believing..
Community Reviews
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Start your review of Waiting for Godot
ACT III
VLADIMIR: They've called us back.
ESTRAGON: For an encore?
VLADIMIR: No, we're supposed to say what it means.
[A pause]
ESTRAGON: What what means?
VLADIMIR: This play! We have to explain it.
ESTRAGON: And then?
VLADIMIR: [discouraged] I don't know. Maybe Godot will arrive. But again, maybe he won't. He's not very reliable. [Another pause] Still, we can try.
[They both think deeply]
VLADIMIR: Any ideas yet?
ESTRAGON: My boots don't fit. My feet hurt.
VLADIMIR: [furious] Idiot! This isn't about your ...more
VLADIMIR: They've called us back.
ESTRAGON: For an encore?
VLADIMIR: No, we're supposed to say what it means.
[A pause]
ESTRAGON: What what means?
VLADIMIR: This play! We have to explain it.
ESTRAGON: And then?
VLADIMIR: [discouraged] I don't know. Maybe Godot will arrive. But again, maybe he won't. He's not very reliable. [Another pause] Still, we can try.
[They both think deeply]
VLADIMIR: Any ideas yet?
ESTRAGON: My boots don't fit. My feet hurt.
VLADIMIR: [furious] Idiot! This isn't about your ...more
“What happened?"
“Nothing happened.”
“Why did nothing happen?
“How would I know?”
“You would know.”
“I would?”
“Yes.”
“How I would know?”
“Because you read it.”
“Did I?”
“Yes.“
“How do you know?”
“It is on your shelf.”
“So?”
“You rated it.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means you have read it.”
“Oh I have.”
“So what happened?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Why did nothing happen?”
“Because they were waiting for Godot.”
Waiting and nothing – I could take these two words and use them in as many combinations as the rules of probabili ...more
“Nothing happened.”
“Why did nothing happen?
“How would I know?”
“You would know.”
“I would?”
“Yes.”
“How I would know?”
“Because you read it.”
“Did I?”
“Yes.“
“How do you know?”
“It is on your shelf.”
“So?”
“You rated it.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means you have read it.”
“Oh I have.”
“So what happened?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Why did nothing happen?”
“Because they were waiting for Godot.”
Waiting and nothing – I could take these two words and use them in as many combinations as the rules of probabili ...more
En Attendant Godot = Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett
Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), wait for the arrival of someone named Godot, who never arrives, and while waiting they engage in a variety of discussions and encounter three other characters.
Waiting for Godot is Beckett's translation of his own original French-language play, En attendant Godot, and is subtitled (in English only) "a tragicomedy in two acts". ...
عنوا ...more
Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), wait for the arrival of someone named Godot, who never arrives, and while waiting they engage in a variety of discussions and encounter three other characters.
Waiting for Godot is Beckett's translation of his own original French-language play, En attendant Godot, and is subtitled (in English only) "a tragicomedy in two acts". ...
عنوا ...more
Apr 13, 2015
Sean Barrs
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
4-star-reads,
plays
Who wants to see a play in which nothing happens? Who wants to see a play in which the characters make little or no sense? Who wants to see a play in which the same senseless nothingness is repeated in the second and only other act? Not me that’s for sure. I honestly don’t think I could sit through a production of this, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate its artistic merit on the page.
Nothing happens, but that is the beauty of it.
A famous theatre reviewer once said “this is a play in wh ...more
Nothing happens, but that is the beauty of it.
A famous theatre reviewer once said “this is a play in wh ...more
Sep 30, 2007
C C
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Matthew Pilarski: My Goodreads Hero!!!!
Shelves:
irish,
20th-century-drama
I read this book while hang-gliding over the coast of Liechtenstein. It was difficult to grip the jacket of the book, not only because I was airborne, 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, "Matus
...more
One of the most entertaining and uplifting stories you will ever come across. Every time I get done with this read I feel wonderful and inspired. Why? Because Beckett sees the truth about being human: there is Nothing to be done. And laughter is such a potent weapon against despair.
Review revived again to mark the three month anniversary of the Top Lists being frozen....
***
As you know, the votes we strive for and crawl across barbed wire for and win oh so slowly and painfully are the only way we reviewers can tell we're still alive. We need the hit that only weekly Top Lists can give us. And yes, you could describe the inexplicable absence of up to date Top Reviewer and Best Review Lists as a "first world problem" if you were being really mean, but still, reviewers are pe ...more
***
As you know, the votes we strive for and crawl across barbed wire for and win oh so slowly and painfully are the only way we reviewers can tell we're still alive. We need the hit that only weekly Top Lists can give us. And yes, you could describe the inexplicable absence of up to date Top Reviewer and Best Review Lists as a "first world problem" if you were being really mean, but still, reviewers are pe ...more
A nice homage would be to write nothing.
*
That is what I wrote this afternoon. Before that, a friend told me to write something. He was so sure that I could. I am never sure about what I can or cannot do. But he thought so. That was nice.
Nothing much happened after that, until another kind friend paid this review a visit and said "to wait". And "if he does not show up tomorrow..." Well, what is to be done then? There are messengers that assured me he would come. I will keep waiting. Contemplating ...more
*
That is what I wrote this afternoon. Before that, a friend told me to write something. He was so sure that I could. I am never sure about what I can or cannot do. But he thought so. That was nice.
Nothing much happened after that, until another kind friend paid this review a visit and said "to wait". And "if he does not show up tomorrow..." Well, what is to be done then? There are messengers that assured me he would come. I will keep waiting. Contemplating ...more
Waiting for Godot still waits for a review. I wonder if it will ever come. While pondering on the possibility of a review, I think about whether I liked it or not. I can't even say that, so technically, ...
... I am still waiting ... for the rating ... as well ...
It is in the stars. I added some for decoration. They are quite meaningless, but yellow dots please my Scandinavian eyes.
It is about nothing, really. But Nothing was already taken by Henry Green - and also filled with so much of everyt ...more
... I am still waiting ... for the rating ... as well ...
It is in the stars. I added some for decoration. They are quite meaningless, but yellow dots please my Scandinavian eyes.
It is about nothing, really. But Nothing was already taken by Henry Green - and also filled with so much of everyt ...more
Waiting for Godot in Antarctica
An audience gathers to preview a screening of a new version of this Samuel Beckett play. The directed striped his rendition down to bare existential black and white by filming in Antarctica and using penguins as actors. The problem of dialogue is solved by the technique of voice-over.
In the first act, two penguins stand on bleak, snow-covered ice. There’s a close up of one penguin. The voice-over says, “Nothing to be done.”
The camera slowly scans to the other peng ...more
Waiting for Godot is a powerful allegory of human life and religion – we spend our time waiting and then one day we die. Waiting is a bore but it is much easier and safer to wait than to do.
Are we all thieves waiting for salvation? Or do we wait for someone who would resolve all our insignificant problems? ...more
One of the thieves was saved. It's a reasonable percentage.
Are we all thieves waiting for salvation? Or do we wait for someone who would resolve all our insignificant problems? ...more
Book Review
4 out of 5 stars to Waiting for Godot, written in 1952 by Samuel Beckett. Mankind in general is made up of both passive and active people. In Samuel Beckett’s absurdist play Waiting for Godot, there are four characters who can be directly compared to universal mankind. Estragon and Vladimir are considered passive people because they sit back and let life pass them by, unlike Pozzo and Lucky, who are active people because they live new adventures from day to day. Samuel Be ...more
4 out of 5 stars to Waiting for Godot, written in 1952 by Samuel Beckett. Mankind in general is made up of both passive and active people. In Samuel Beckett’s absurdist play Waiting for Godot, there are four characters who can be directly compared to universal mankind. Estragon and Vladimir are considered passive people because they sit back and let life pass them by, unlike Pozzo and Lucky, who are active people because they live new adventures from day to day. Samuel Be ...more
The dilemma of being human:
Why does it happen at all?
Where do we go when it ends?
The perpetual struggle between hope and despair.
Sincere and heartwarming in an odd sort of way.
Why does it happen at all?
Where do we go when it ends?
The perpetual struggle between hope and despair.
Sincere and heartwarming in an odd sort of way.
Aug 26, 2012
Dave Schaafsma
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
best-books-ever,
plays
“Let's go."
"We can't."
"Why not?"
"We're waiting for Godot.”
Samuel Beckett, though known for being one of the bleakest writers ever, was a big fan of American film comedians, including the sadsack Buster Keaton. Here’s a short film, 21 minutes long, “the Goat:” (Oh, come on, just loot at it for a minute!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqQUg...
but particularly Laurel and Hardy, who I have always thought were a kind of model for the hapless and loveable Didi and Gogo. Here’s a 20 minute film, “ ...more
"We can't."
"Why not?"
"We're waiting for Godot.”
Samuel Beckett, though known for being one of the bleakest writers ever, was a big fan of American film comedians, including the sadsack Buster Keaton. Here’s a short film, 21 minutes long, “the Goat:” (Oh, come on, just loot at it for a minute!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqQUg...
but particularly Laurel and Hardy, who I have always thought were a kind of model for the hapless and loveable Didi and Gogo. Here’s a 20 minute film, “ ...more
Bulgarian review below/Ревюто на български е по-долу
In many of the film scores which he composed, Hans Zimmer includes a ticking clock motif. In “Dunkirk” he even used the so-called Shepard tone – an auditory illusion whose pitch sounds like it is constantly ascending, although it remains the same. In his play Samuel Beckett also hangs an imaginary giant clock (perhaps on that same lonely tree where the characters want to hang themselves) to tick time away for Estragon and Vladimir, but give ...more
In many of the film scores which he composed, Hans Zimmer includes a ticking clock motif. In “Dunkirk” he even used the so-called Shepard tone – an auditory illusion whose pitch sounds like it is constantly ascending, although it remains the same. In his play Samuel Beckett also hangs an imaginary giant clock (perhaps on that same lonely tree where the characters want to hang themselves) to tick time away for Estragon and Vladimir, but give ...more
Mar 11, 2018
Samra Yusuf
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
play,
existentialism-philosophy
All we’ve to do is to sit for a while with ourselves, leaving all what we’ve invented ourselves to be busy with apart, the people thronging us around, the works on due, the dates to meet, the places to reach, the days to come. Just make the life silent outside you, sit and think about all that which has gone by the wind, sit and look at ourselves real deep, at our past actions, the struggles of us that transformed into strengths, the loves we weren’t brave enough to embrace or the ones who left
...more
“Faith”, she said. “You must have faith in something. It is necessary.”
These are the exact words as said to me by a colleague a few days back. Faith. I smiled. I knew I couldn't go ahead and say anything which might upset her. I had seen that urgency in her eyes, with which she seemed to be guarding her words. Watching, lest, she might encounter something unpleasant.
By ‘Faith’ she definitely did mean God.
The conversation brought to my mind the question I have kept asking myself. It has been a se ...more
These are the exact words as said to me by a colleague a few days back. Faith. I smiled. I knew I couldn't go ahead and say anything which might upset her. I had seen that urgency in her eyes, with which she seemed to be guarding her words. Watching, lest, she might encounter something unpleasant.
By ‘Faith’ she definitely did mean God.
The conversation brought to my mind the question I have kept asking myself. It has been a se ...more
You spin me right round, baby
Right round like a record, baby
Right round round round
Still absurd. Quite ridiculous. Occasionally philosophical. However, since its completion, the comedy of Waiting for Godot has become commonplace. Because the humor could be said to be Three Stooges-esque at times, one could say this play was even behind the times. I say it could be said, not that I say it is.
Does Waiting for Godot deserve all the attention it has received? After all, it seems to state the meaning ...more
Right round like a record, baby
Right round round round
Still absurd. Quite ridiculous. Occasionally philosophical. However, since its completion, the comedy of Waiting for Godot has become commonplace. Because the humor could be said to be Three Stooges-esque at times, one could say this play was even behind the times. I say it could be said, not that I say it is.
Does Waiting for Godot deserve all the attention it has received? After all, it seems to state the meaning ...more
GODOT (sitting in the Mezzanine) - What if I were to show up on the stage? It would cause quite a stir.
DODO (lady sitting randomly next to Godot) – Oh, no, please don’t … That would be absurd… Who do you think you are?
GODOT – Please....let me…, just for a laugh.
DODO – What are you waiting for then?
...more
Samuel Beckett applied the reductionism of a modern Occam’s Razor (the KISS Principle: ‘keep it simple, stupid!’) to his belief that the universe is absurd.
Henceforth all meaning would become for his a reductio ad absurdem into blank Meaninglessness.
Now, it’s funny - but I just realized tonight that I often take a Bachelardian turn with my reviews, and turn the irreducibly hard and fractious facts of my daily life into the soft butter of rêverie through the mediation of imagination and dreaming. ...more
Henceforth all meaning would become for his a reductio ad absurdem into blank Meaninglessness.
Now, it’s funny - but I just realized tonight that I often take a Bachelardian turn with my reviews, and turn the irreducibly hard and fractious facts of my daily life into the soft butter of rêverie through the mediation of imagination and dreaming. ...more
"Waiting for Godot" is a play that merits being read about once every decade of your life. My reasoning behind this is very simple: the play deals with the ideas of God, faith, daily living, death, our interactions with those we care about (and those we don't) and about the perceived hopelessness of hope. In short, things that we deal with on a daily basis. These fundamental aspects of life are also things that we change our views on as we age and get different life experiences under our belt.
I ...more
I ...more
Feb 19, 2015
Seemita
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
nobel-laureates,
for_legacy,
conversations,
favorites,
philo,
play,
ireland,
humor,
fiction,
cult
[Curtains Fall]
Stage: I lived good, within all of you. Heck! You would not even survive a second without me. Why? I even took that wretched boot and that stinky feet on my chest!
Feet: Ha.. Stinky you say! Did you ever eavesdrop into Beckett’s mind when he was scribbling? Ah, I was the one who inspired him. Not some dumbheads as they would like to believe.
Human: Come on, now! Really? Like can someone be so obnoxiously imbecile? No wonder you both have no identity without me. Subtract my dialogu ...more
Stage: I lived good, within all of you. Heck! You would not even survive a second without me. Why? I even took that wretched boot and that stinky feet on my chest!
Feet: Ha.. Stinky you say! Did you ever eavesdrop into Beckett’s mind when he was scribbling? Ah, I was the one who inspired him. Not some dumbheads as they would like to believe.
Human: Come on, now! Really? Like can someone be so obnoxiously imbecile? No wonder you both have no identity without me. Subtract my dialogu ...more
Nothing happens in the play,but it is a true classic of the absurd and it stays in memory.There is no dramatic conflict,action or emotion.It is about boredom,and yet it is not boring.
It is a tragi-comedy,and is open to several interpretations.It puzzles,it could be a picture of human attempts to get through life,or it could be a reference to the pointlessness of life.
Whatever it is,it is brilliant.
It is a tragi-comedy,and is open to several interpretations.It puzzles,it could be a picture of human attempts to get through life,or it could be a reference to the pointlessness of life.
Whatever it is,it is brilliant.
Mar 29, 2008
Sean
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
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
It seems that in some ways we are all 'waiting for Godot', at least this is the theme that appears to come through Samuel Beckett's classic and acclaimed two act play. Part of the genius of this play is the fact that it was written as an apparent diversion from the prose Beckett had been writing at the time. To be able to sit down and write a play hailed as the greatest of the 20th Century while working on a longer volume is an act of legendary proportions.
The play itself is both minimalist and ...more
May 07, 2012
Aubrey
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
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french,
reviewed,
nobel-prize-people,
shorty-short,
r-2015,
1-read-on-hand,
think-think-think,
r-goodreads,
4-star
ESTRAGON: I tell you I wasn't doing anything.I've no idea how I'd have reviewed this had the Charleston church shooting not occurred. For those not in the US-centric know, a white man drove for two hours to reach one of the oldest black churches in the country, attended the prayer amidst the crowd for a while, and then opened fire on the congregation, killing nine people. ...more
VLADIMIR: Perhaps you weren't. But it's the way of doing it that counts, the way of doing it, if you want to go on living.
What the fuck did I just read ?
THINK!
Yes, I should. I should think about it more.
I should sit back in silence and contemplate.
WAIT!
I will. Yes, I will.
No, not for Godot.
"Godot". Haah, funny name. I hope he looks cool.
But can we see him? I don't know. Do you?
Waiting for Godot would be the most foolish thing to do. I think so.
Okay. So, What have you been doing all your life?
Don't tell me you were "Waiting for Godot." Seriously!
Aaah .. I don't know. I am not gonna wait for Godot.
Hmmm..
Uhhhh..
S ...more
THINK!
Yes, I should. I should think about it more.
I should sit back in silence and contemplate.
WAIT!
I will. Yes, I will.
No, not for Godot.
"Godot". Haah, funny name. I hope he looks cool.
But can we see him? I don't know. Do you?
Waiting for Godot would be the most foolish thing to do. I think so.
Okay. So, What have you been doing all your life?
Don't tell me you were "Waiting for Godot." Seriously!
Aaah .. I don't know. I am not gonna wait for Godot.
Hmmm..
Uhhhh..
S ...more
Nothing Happening Here
There is nothing happening in this book, so I decided to use this space to try to figure out how to use this new Kindle dictation thingie. I can’t get it to make a new
paragraph. There must be a magic word. When I say, “new paragraph,” Kindle writes “new paragraph.” The same if I say, “new line.” I am frustrated. Watch this, “new line.” She writes: “new line.” See, it is crazy. Nothing is happening. I will call Kindle. I just called Kindle. They have not figured that out yet ...more
There is nothing happening in this book, so I decided to use this space to try to figure out how to use this new Kindle dictation thingie. I can’t get it to make a new
paragraph. There must be a magic word. When I say, “new paragraph,” Kindle writes “new paragraph.” The same if I say, “new line.” I am frustrated. Watch this, “new line.” She writes: “new line.” See, it is crazy. Nothing is happening. I will call Kindle. I just called Kindle. They have not figured that out yet ...more
That passed the time.
Jul 04, 2008
Michael Kneeland
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
comic-masterpieces
As a pretentious senior in high school, I thought I would uber-sheik and take a girl a had a crush on to a play, Waiting for Godot, which I had read in the Comedy, Wit, and Satire English elective that I took the previous year with my favorite high school English teacher, Dr. Stone. How I got the tickets is inconsequential (okay, okay: my dad won them from the radio; my uber-sheik persona just took a big hit), but suffice to say, my crush and I were the youngest members in the crowd. Fortunately
...more
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Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet, who lived in France for most of his adult life. He wrote in both English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.
Beckett is widely regarded as among the most influential writers of the 20th century. Strongly influenced ...more
Beckett is widely regarded as among the most influential writers of the 20th century. Strongly influenced ...more
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“The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh.”
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“Estragon: We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we exist?
Vladimir: Yes, yes, we're magicians.”
—
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Vladimir: Yes, yes, we're magicians.”
