Samuel Beckett is Closed

Samuel Beckett is Closed

Author: Michael Coffey

Publisher: OR Books

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 9781944869595

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A powerful, genre-defying meditation, with Beckett at its origin, that touches on mysteries as varied as literary celebrity, baseball, and why we feel the need to be cruel to one another Following the schema of Samuel Beckett's unpublished "Long Observation of the Ray," of which only six manuscript pages exist, poet and critic Michael Coffey interleaves multiple narratives according to an arithmetic sequence laid out by Beckett in his notes. This rhythm of themes and genres--involving personal memoir, literary criticism, Beckett studies, contemporary political reportage and accounts of state-sponsored torture in appropriated texts, plus an Arabian Tale and even a baseballplay-by-play--produce a work at once sculptural, theatrical, mathematical and above all lyrical, a new form of narrative answering to a freshened rule set. In executing Beckett's most radical undertaking--one scholar referred to "Long Observation of the Ray" as a "monument to extinction"--Coffey gives readers access to an open field in which ruminations on writing mix with an engagement with Beckett scholarship as well as the unsettling chaos in today's world. Although Beckett, like any writer, had his share of abandoned works, he was in the habit of "unabandoning" on occasion. Coffey's effort here salvages a Beckett project from a half-century ago and brings it to the surface, with the contemporary markings of its hauling.


On Beckett

On Beckett

Author: S. E. Gontarski

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2012-12-15

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 0857285807

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“On Beckett: Essays and Criticism” is the first collection of writings about the Nobel Prize–winning author that covers the entire spectrum of his work, and also affords a rare glimpse of the private Beckett. More has been written about Samuel Beckett than about any other writer of this century – countless books and articles dealing with him are in print, and the progression continues geometrically. “On Beckett” brings together some of the most perceptive writings from the vast amount of scrutiny that has been lavished on the man; in addition to widely read essays there are contributions from more obscure sources, viewpoints not frequently seen. Together they allow the reader to enter the world of a writer whose work has left an impact on the consciousness of our time perhaps unmatched by that of any other recent creative imagination.


On Beckett

On Beckett

Author: S. E. Gontarski

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2014-01-15

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 1783081546

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“On Beckett: Essays and Criticism” is the first collection of writings about the Nobel Prize–winning author that covers the entire spectrum of his work, and also affords a rare glimpse of the private Beckett. More has been written about Samuel Beckett than about any other writer of this century – countless books and articles dealing with him are in print, and the progression continues geometrically. “On Beckett” brings together some of the most perceptive writings from the vast amount of scrutiny that has been lavished on the man; in addition to widely read essays there are contributions from more obscure sources, viewpoints not frequently seen. Together they allow the reader to enter the world of a writer whose work has left an impact on the consciousness of our time perhaps unmatched by that of any other recent creative imagination.


Critique of Beckett Criticism

Critique of Beckett Criticism

Author: Peter John Murphy

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9781879751934

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A survey of Beckett criticism in English, French and German. Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) is an important figure in 20th century literary history: his plays, such as Waiting for Godot and Endgame, have acquired a world-wide reputation, and his novels have proved important touchstones for the critical debates in contemporary literary theory. Born in Dublin, Beckett spent most of his writing life in France and wrote equally well in French and English; his German was also fluent, allowing him to direct hisown plays in German theatres. Any attempt to deal with Beckett must therefore consider the critical response his works have provoked in all three languages. A Critique of Beckett Criticism is the first attempt in book formto give a comprehensive survey of the history and scope of Beckett criticism in French, English, and German. Three parallel chapters examine the three major strands of Beckett criticism, retracing its development using a historical perspective and pointing out different trends, currents and fashions in opinion. Directions for further research are also suggested. P.J. MURPHY is a lecturer in contemporary British literature at the University College of the Cariboo, British Columbia; WERNER HUBER is a professor of English literature at Chemnitz University of Technology; ROLF BREUER is professor of English literature at the University of Paderborn; KONRAD SCHOELL is professor of French literature at the Pädagogische Hochschule Erfurt.


Killoyle

Killoyle

Author: Roger Boylan

Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 9781564781451

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An Irish farce on the inhabitants of a provincial town. They include a poet who is working as a headwaiter, a former pin-up girl who is a magazine editor, and a man who only reads books about God and who makes anonymous phone calls to convince people to believe in God. A first novel.


How it is

How it is

Author: Samuel Beckett

Publisher: Grove Press

Published: 1964

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 9780802150660

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This work relates the adventures of an unnamed narrator crawling through the mud while dragging a sack of canned food. It is written as a sequence of unpunctuated paragraphs divided into three sections.


Parisian Lives

Parisian Lives

Author: Deirdre Bair

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2019-11-12

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 0385542461

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A PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year National Book Award-winning biographer Deirdre Bair explores her fifteen remarkable years in Paris with Samuel Beckett and Simone de Beauvoir, painting intimate new portraits of two literary giants and revealing secrets of the biographical art. In 1971 Deirdre Bair was a journalist and recently minted Ph.D. who managed to secure access to Nobel Prize-winning author Samuel Beckett. He agreed that she could be his biographer despite her never having written—or even read—a biography before. The next seven years comprised of intimate conversations, intercontinental research, and peculiar cat-and-mouse games. Battling an elusive Beckett and a string of jealous, misogynistic male writers, Bair persevered. She wrote Samuel Beckett: A Biography, which went on to win the National Book Award and propel Deirdre to her next subject: Simone de Beauvoir. The catch? De Beauvoir and Beckett despised each other—and lived essentially on the same street. Bair learned that what works in terms of process for one biography rarely applies to the next. Her seven-year relationship with the domineering and difficult de Beauvoir required a radical change in approach, yielding another groundbreaking literary profile and influencing Bair’s own feminist beliefs. Parisian Lives draws on Bair’s extensive notes from the period, including never-before-told anecdotes. This gripping memoir is full of personality and warmth and gives us an entirely new window on the all-too-human side of these legendary thinkers.