The Grove Centenary Editions of Samuel Beckett Boxed Set: Contains Novels I and II of Samuel Beckett, The Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett, and The Poems, ... of Samuel Beckett (Grove Centenary Editions)

Book Description

Edited by Paul Auster, this four–volume set of Beckett's canon has been designed by award winner Laura Lindgren. Available individually, as well as in a boxed set, the four hardcover volumes have been specially bound with covers featuring images central to Beckett's works. Typographical errors that remained uncorrected in the various prior editions have now been corrected in consultation with Beckett scholars C. J. Ackerley and S. E. Gontarski.

"Poet, novelist, short–story writer, playwright, translator, and critic, Samuel Beckett created one of the most brilliant and enduring bodies of work in twentieth–century literature. In celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of his birth, the four volumes of this new edition bring together nearly every word Beckett published during his lifetime. Open anywhere and begin reading. It is an experience unequaled anywhere in the universe of words." — Paul Auster, from his Series Notes

Customer Reviews:

I have never seen better.......2007-01-10

I guess that if you are looking here, you are a reader of Beckett. Grove has made a set for your better enjoyment of what you have read in all sorts of doggy paperbacks. The books are comfortable in hand. They are, more remarkably, carefully bound to lay open on your desk. You rarely see hardcovers that open flat anymore.

The spine is black cloth with silver imprint. The cover is cornflower blue, hard and shiny, like the slip case. The end papers are black like the spine, but textured in the way you would expect.

The volume of novels sports that miserable, tortured bike without a hint of its literary presentation. So the drama has the sorry tree. Again, no hint, just the just announcement.

If you plan to keep reading Beckett, this is a useful set.

Terrific addition to personal library........2006-06-30

I was pleased with this collection of Beckett's work. It made a wonderful addition to my personal library. The binding and print are asthetically pleasing. I would highly recommend this set to those who like his works, or as a gift for someone literary in your life.

My only wish: a ribbon bookmark. .......2006-06-26

Now taking pride of place in my library.

Beautiful artifacts.......2006-06-17

If you're even looking at this set, wondering whether you should buy them; you've read some Beckett and been deeply struck by his work. I'm just reviewing the physical books themselves.... They are beautiful, the covers bear perfect icongraphic images, the paper is quality, the binding is well done. If you're looking for a review of the words these books contain; they are corrected directly from the extant manuscripts.... If you've never read Beckett at all; contrary to the popular impression, this is not a man of despair but of true compassion; his writing inspires a vividness about the act of reading itself.

G*D bless Samuel Beckett; my favorite literary mystic.

post script: I've now got a look at the individual volumes. The books of the boxed set are differently made than the books you order one at a time. The boxed set books have cloth spines, the separate books don't. The ones in the set are more elegant and better produced.

Beckett Complete.......2006-05-11

Wow! what a treasure trove. My hat is off to Grove Press and Paul Auster for compiling such a necessary volume of Beckett's work. He is without doubt one of the most influential playwrights and critics of the 20th century. Most of us are familiar with "Waiting for Godot," but there is so much more to Beckett and this handsomely bound set of books offers Beckett at his most complete. This is a collection that will only gain in value in years to come. It is well worth the price.

Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts

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WAITING FOR GODOT
like a moth to a flame...
Masterpiece of Nothingness
Dumbest "classic" in 20th century literature
Waiting for the Point

Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts
Samuel Beckett
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802130348

Book Description

A seminal work of twentieth century drama, Waiting for Godot was Samuel Beckett's first professionally produced play. It opened in Paris in 1953 at the tiny Left Bank Theatre de Babylone, and has since become a cornerstone of twentieth-century theater. The story line revolves around two seemingly homeless men waiting for someone — or something — named Godot. Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree on a barren stretch of road, inhabiting a drama spun from their own consciousness. The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as a somber summation of mankind's inexhaustible search for meaning. Beckett's language pioneered an expressionistic minimalism that captured the existentialism of post-World War II Europe. His play remains one of the most magical and beautiful allegories of our time.

Customer Reviews:

WAITING FOR GODOT.......2007-10-15

I picked up Waiting for Godot with no knowledge of it other than having heard that it was a play in which not a whole lot happened.

Literary types have concocted political, Freudian, Jungian, existentialist, biblical and homoerotic (and many other) interpretations of the play. I am not interested in any particular interpretation, for this reason: the play is extremely boring. By the middle of the second act, every last aspect of the play is tiresome. It's billed as "a tragicomedy in two acts." That's great, except it's not funny at all.

This play's influence on Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is obvious, except that that play held the interest a little better and actually offered some philosophical insight on life.

Waiting for Godot goes into the category of works that people (pretentious literary snobs and pretentious literary posers) say are so deep and meaningful because they don't have the slightest idea of what it means. I'll be a man and say it's not deep and it's not interesting.

NOT RECOMMENDED

like a moth to a flame..........2007-09-28

I really can't explain my love of this play...at least not very well. I read this in a course centering on Faulkner, Joyce, and Beckett...so to say that we read some challenging texts is an understatement. This was a delightful breath of fresh air in its brevity but impressive in its complexity.

If, when reading this, you open up your interpretation beyond the obvious, you can riddle your mind with maddening contradictions and uncomfortable conclusions - aren't those the best kind of things to take away from a text? This play is suspenseful, hilarious, but most of all, extremely tragic. This may not be your cup of tea, but at least respect this web of futility that will either drive you to despair or to action. I mean, let's be honest...I'd like to see YOU try this :)

Masterpiece of Nothingness.......2007-09-20

Many parts of this play are comically driven - many are not. And, the majority are neither - or so Beckett may have said as part of his stylistic prank on the reader. Beckett had a target, and he would smile at his target as much as permitted. His dripping dialogue is often interpreted with misinterpretation, misidentification, miscue. That part of the play is resoundingly great.

To not have read this, but experienced it the first time as a member of the audience, may be asking too much of the auditory skills- asking them to constantly respond to clever and contrarian statements which spill off the characters' tongues almost every third or fifth line. One favorite discourse which evidences how fast and clever it can be: "We're in no danger of ever thinking any more." "Then what are we complaining about?" "Thinking is not the worst." "Maybe not. But at least there's that" "That what?" "That's the idea, let's ask each other questions." "What do you mean, at least there's that?" "That much less misery."

Reading thickly carved conceptions like that recited above can easily make one receive and learn more with each reading. This is one of those plays that I could read over and over again, and each time realize something totally new with each reading. This is a "deep" thinking piece of literature.

So who is Godot? Who knows. What does he represent? Who knows. What is the reason that Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot? Who knows. Are there religious interpretations? Yes. Is God recreated in Godot? After all, Estragon has a nickname - Gogo. Vladimir has a nickname - Didi. Is God a nickname for Godot? If you want to believe such, so believe. Possible religious interpretations are infinite. They absolutely exist. The book starts with discussion of the Bible, and reading of it and some misinterpretation of a proverb. But, beware. Beckett is a master of literary illusion - are the words delivered to portray their nothingness, or by their juxtaposition can the meaningless became most meaningful? Is the Bible part of that "nothingness?"

Sounds almost mean as much as words. The sound of Godot - pronounced the same in English as the original French (Irish Beckett lived in France and wrote in French) - is one example of sound perhaps trumping meaning or definition. One character - Pozzo - is called Bozzo (we grew up watching his cousin Bozo) and later Gozzo. Great inflection of sound. And, sound often is the core of comic reaction - some sounds are funny. Pozzo sounds funny, so does Bozzo, so do many other words in the play.

Admittedly, this is one book you need to read about after having been read. And, to do it justice, I will review this analysis by myself years down the road after I read it again. This could be fun. I can not fathom what it will mean to me then. Who knows.

Dumbest "classic" in 20th century literature.......2007-06-09

I first read this work as part of my Humanities class in high school. I reread again after college to see if several years of "higher education" would make my mind more receptive so great works of literature. Both times, I thoroughly hated this play and consider one of the dumbest pieces of literature commonly taught in schools. The plot is overly simple; two hobos (probably European) await someone (probably male) named Godot. Several others pass them by during their wait. Godot never comes, and the play ends right where it began. No introduction and no conclusion. However, there are supposed to be many meanings that can be had in this story. A common one is that Godot is God, and the hobos represent humans. This reviewer's opinion is that the plot is so simple, that one could draw whatever conclusions or meanings they wanted out of it. All in all, I did not gain anything from this work. Fortunately, it is short enough to get through quickly.

Waiting for the Point.......2007-03-17

Reader 1: It's going to come, I know it is.
Reader 2: Yes, I just know that it will come, and when it does, then we can move on.
R1: Yes.
R2: Right.
R1: I just wish the point would come.
R2: Maybe that is the point, that when it comes it will bring meaning to our lives.
R1: Perhaps.
R2: Yes, perhaps, but if there's no point, then why are we waiting?
R1: Maybe that's the point.
R2: It could be, but I still think we should just wait for the point. It definitely will come. I know it, I just feel it.
R1: But that, too, could be the whole meaning.
R2: Of the point?
R1: No, it's the waiting.
R2: Waiting for the point.
R1: What else could it be?
R2: But if the point has no meaning...
R1: Then maybe that's the point.
R1 & R2: Yes!
R2: But then, how can we be so sure?
R1: Maybe that's the point.
R2: Lots of other people think there's a point.
R1: True, but does that mean there's really a point?
R2: What other point could there be?
R1: Maybe that's the point, that people love things without a point.
R2: Could be.
R1: Is there any other possibility.
R2: No, but I still think that we should wait.
R1: Maybe that's the point.

The Complete Short Prose of Samuel Beckett, 1929-1989

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Cure for insomnia
A tale of progression
Beckett: Still Relevant
Beckett's little-known nonfiction
BECKETT'S MAIN THEME AND SYMPTOM

The Complete Short Prose of Samuel Beckett, 1929-1989
Samuel Beckett
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802134904

Amazon.com

Although Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) is best-known for his novels, such as the Molloy series, and his still frequently-performed plays like Waiting for Godot and Endgame, he is rarely thought of as a writer of short fiction and prose. Yet he wrote short works devotedly throughout his life; many critics count various Beckett short stories as masterpieces of the form, central to an appreciation of the writer's oeuvre. The Complete Short Prose, 1929-1989, as the title suggests, collects all of the Nobel Prize-winner's shorter works, such as "First Love," and "The Lost Ones."

Book Description

Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett was one of the most profoundly original writers of the 20th century. He gave expression to the anguish and isolation of the individual consciousness with a purity and minimalism that have altered the shape of world literature. A tremendously influential poet and dramatist, Beckett spoke of his prose fiction as the "important writing," the medium in which he distilled his ideas most powerfully. Here, for the first time, his short prose is gathered in a definitive, complete volume by leading Beckett scholar S. E. Gontarski.

Customer Reviews:

Cure for insomnia.......2007-02-26

I love short stories, in fact I need think we need to read them more often in this harried society...but this collection...

Wow...it is my cure for insomnia. I have been trying to read finish this novel for 2 years now, and have finally come to the realization that I simply will never finish it because- it is my cure for insomnia.

A tale of progression.......2006-12-01

The great thing about this collection, aside from seeing Beckett work his wonders on the short form--something for which he is underappreciated--is seeing him evolve as a writer over the years. I loved the way you could trace his investment, or lack thereof, in plot and the standard niceties of "story" over the course of the book. He is a master, truly, and one should take time to appreciate his shorter and lesser known works. Much joy waits therein.

Beckett: Still Relevant.......2004-04-19

The Complete Short Prose 1929-1989 is one of the great books to appear in the last ten years. I grew up reading parts in anthology and thin Grove Press editions. At last many of these sparse texts parading around as novels have come together under one cover. Stories like "First Love" and "The End" are among Beckett's strongest works, and "Texts for Nothing" are extremely complex and perhaps the most moving monolgues I know, for they often bring tears to my eyes. Beautiful stuff! You need some sort of literary standard other than Dave Eggers or Cormac McCarthy: I'll take Beckett any day!

Beckett had a big influence on European writing, but his influence is almost invisible on American letters. Sometimes you hear about writers being influenced by Kundera, Borges, or Kafka, but Beckett has eluded the art of writing here, with the exception of play writing. That's unfortunate, because his trilogy of novels and much of his short texts are some of the most intense, beautiful writing in the past half-century. Edward Dahlberg often talked about this sort of great writing: "It was to take me many years to realize that one has to be very lucky to write one intelligence sentence."

After reading the definitive introduction by the writer S. E. Gontarski, I am convinced that Beckett is the creator of "Spoken Word." Take that to the bank! In works such as "Fizzles" and "The Lost Ones" Beckett modulates a disembodied voice that is stripped away of all mimesis, yet it is the same interior voice that permeates all his fiction. Haunting, profound, chilling. I can think of no equal to Beckett's prose writing, except maybe Dahlberg himself. Only if today's hack writing was half as good as Beckett and Dahlberg....

People should read The Complete Short Prose and Three Novels like they read the Bible. Do it now! I know why these books are worth reading! As Dahlberg once said, "What need had I of the sour pedants of humid syntax, or of courses in pedagogy, canonized illiteracy. I saw that anybody who had read twelve good books knew more than a doctor of philosophy." Nevermind these fads, these 20 under 40, and so on. Nevermind.

Beckett's little-known nonfiction.......1999-09-23

While Beckett's works certainly contain their share of angst, there is more to his work than that, as this collection reminds us. The last work in this collection is a nonfiction essay that Beckett wrote for Irish radio just after World War II called "The Capital of the Ruins." Beckett's subject was a field hospital in the French town of St. Lo that Irish citizens had helped to staff (and where he himself had worked as an interpreter). While the prose is unmistakably Beckett (particularly the self-deprecating humor--at one point he refers to the essay as a "circumlocution"), the optimism of trying to convince his people that they had helped their fellow human beings survive a terrible war more easily is not what we expect from him. Also typical is a wonderful Biblical allusion to the Book of Isaiah and its great swords-and-plowshares metaphor, which he cleverly adapts to modern times. There is a lot of wonderful fiction in this volume (my favorite is "The Cliff," a short meditation, possibly on a preserved skull), but the non-fiction is not to be neglected, and reveals a side of this writer not often seen or considered.

BECKETT'S MAIN THEME AND SYMPTOM.......1998-12-07

The Unnameable explains himself as aporetic [being unable to act] and ephectic [being unable to make a decision]. From 1929, in "Che Sciagura", to 1989 Beckett's prose becomes more and more aporetic. From "Lessness" in 1970 to Ill Seen Ill Said in 1981 to Worstword Ho in 1983, aporia dominates the prose style and the thematic content. All of Beckett's tiny, bizarre stories - "Imagination Dead Imagine" [one paragraph], "The Lost Ones", "Enough", "Ping", Fizzles [eight one-paragraph stories] - they all contain catatonic characters, paralyzed by mental ambivalence. See The Insanity of Samuel Beckett's Art on Amazon.com.

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Review from a Beckett lover who was sadly disappointed
"Endgame" - Ghastly!
The bleakest of them all...
Surreal theatrical creations
WHO, WHAT IS THAT STRANGE FIGURE IN THE CHAIR?

Endgame and Act Without Words
Samuel Beckett
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802150241

Customer Reviews:

Review from a Beckett lover who was sadly disappointed.......2005-03-09

Beckett's literature can so often be prided on portraying the struggle of the pointlessness of existence versus the hope that is created by the denial that all humans are immersed in. This play is a certain exception.

All hope in Beckett's theatre is ironic and only meant to be seen as a bi-product of human desperation, however this ironic hope is the element of his plays that make them relevant to the human condition. The lack of this hope in endgame is what means this play is simply unhuman.

In 'Waiting for Godot' the flimsy pathetic hope is generated by the idea that Godot will eventually turn up. In 'Endgame' there is no hope for the future of any kind seen in any of the characters. The only any way upbeat contributions come from Nagg and Nell's memories which are irrelevant to their current situation and even more irrelevant to their future (reinforced by the death of one of them).

This play is a pale shadow of 'Waiting for Godot' and it is 'Waiting for Godot' I would recommend as more relevant to what Beckett had to say as well as some other plays from his collected works such as 'Krapp's last tape' 'Ohio inpromptu' or 'Rockaby'

"Endgame" - Ghastly!.......2004-04-01

"Endgame" is a crude and despicable play. It's not a classic and a pitiable excuse of a play. Utterly useless and does not deserve our time. The characters are one dimensional, lacking, and unrealistic. The plot is morally confusing and worthless. I do not recommend.

The bleakest of them all..........2003-02-01

Totally bare in the conventional aspects of drama, Beckett's skewed humor depicts a meaningless world without hope or happiness. Taking the uncertainty of the human situation to the edge, Beckett summarized his views at his deathbed "What did you find to enjoy about life?"....."Very little." (approximately)
As such, Beckett's repitiveness shows the monotony and boredom of existence. Some people, who find his plays painful, would be in a state totally akin to Beckett himself. I get more enjoyment out of reading the plays than watching them performed. They are too slow and devoid of action to be filmable. The sense of humor is not redemptive to life, but merely shows the bleakness more sharply by contrast. I personally prefer Camus to Beckett, who at least has a slightly more balanced view of life, if not more meaningful.

Surreal theatrical creations.......2002-09-20

"Endgame and Act Without Words" brings together 2 theater pieces by Samuel Beckett. The book is translated from the French by the author.

"Endgame" is a strange, surreal play about the relationship between a chair-bound man and his caretaker. It has both humorous and sad aspects as these characters deal with their past history. Pain and physical decay are significant themes in this play. Storytelling is an important motif here: Beckett seems to be asking if stories liberate or enslave us.

"Act Without Words" is a one-person mime in which a performer interacts with various moving props onstage. Overall, these two pieces did not make that great an impact on me; I was really expecting more. I recommend the book if you're interested in theatrical surrealism.

WHO, WHAT IS THAT STRANGE FIGURE IN THE CHAIR?.......2002-06-02

There is a curious tendency in American 'culture' to think that the function of art is to entertain. Therefore if one is not entertained by a work of art then it can not possibly be good art. And along with being entertaining, the work of art must be agreeable. Therefore if one does not find the artist's apparent view of reality agreeable then the work in question can not possibly be good art. And of course all art must express a 'philosophy' and if one finds this 'philosophy' confusing or unappealing then the work in question can not possibly be good art.
In contrast to all this I would like to posit that Samuel Beckett
is a very great artist and he is not an entertainer. Art is one creature. Entertainment is another.
Also: Whether one finds Beckett's 'ideas', sensibilty, or tone agreeable is utterly irrelavant to whether or not he is a good artist. Art is not a popularity contest.
Finally, Samuel Beckett is not a PHILOSOPHER, he is an ARTIST. He is not an existentialist or any other sort of philosopher. Nowhere in his work does he present anything resembling a philosophy. This is difficult for some readers to comprehend because they think that everything that Beckett writes is an intellectual attempt to explain life; and it must express a philosophy because everyone has a philosophy and loves to expound on it.
None of these common assumptions applies to Samuel Beckett.
His work ENDGAME does not present us with a 'philosophy of life'.
It presents us with an ARTISTIC VISION that you are free to attempt to derive some philosophy from if you choose to, but Beckett doesn't have to answer for it.
All of the negative reviews of ENDGAME here give an 'explanation'
of what the play is 'about' then hold up this explanation as evidence of the fact that the play is not good. Well, all of the explanations given are mediocre intellectual interprtations that do not address ENDGAME as a work of art.
Let's start with a simple question: Why is it so often assumed by readers that Hamm is a man who is merely a reflection of
Beckett himself? Why?
And is Hamm really even a man, a human being? Do you actually know a man who sits constantly in a darkened room, wearing a toque and a gown, in a chair with castors, with blood-stained linen covering his face? I doubt it. Hamm is not a man. He is a fluid artistic image masterfully moved and sustained through the duration a theater drama. What is the meaning of this artistic image? Well, what is the meaning of an eclipse of the sun to a primitive or to you, for that matter. What is the meaning of the first nightmare you ever had? If you try to give a complete, conclusive, general sort of answer then can't you honestly feel that the answer is not quite true, that you are really only guessing about the meaning, at least in part. Aren't you really selling your experience a little short?
What makes Hamm (and everthing else in the play) a great creation is that 'he' has the power to reach so deeply into you without you really understanding what is happening. Beckett called this "the power of the text to claw." Then before you proceed to explain what is happening, please stop and give Beckett credit for creating something that could do that to you, because that is what ART is. Try actually experiencing ENDGAME before you explain it and judge it.

The Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett: Volume III of The Grove Centenary Editions (Works of Samuel Beckett the Grove Centenary Editions)

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A beautiful edition

The Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett: Volume III of The Grove Centenary Editions (Works of Samuel Beckett the Grove Centenary Editions)
Samuel Beckett
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0802118194

Book Description

Edited by Paul Auster, this four–volume set of Beckett's canon has been designed by award winner Laura Lindgren. Available individually, as well as in a boxed set, the four hardcover volumes have been specially bound with covers featuring images central to Beckett's works. Typographical errors that remained uncorrected in the various prior editions have now been corrected in consultation with Beckett scholars C. J. Ackerley and S. E. Gontarski.

"I am always deeply puzzled when people say of Beckett, 'Oh, he's so difficult!'–or avant garde, or complex, or . . . ambiguous. It is the profoundest nonsense, for Beckett is perhaps the most naturalistic playwright I know of, as well as the clearest and least obscure. The 'obscurity' resides in the assumption of obscurity. I know that if Beckett's outdoor plays were set on suburban terraces, and the indoor ones just inside those terraces, in suburban living rooms, everyone would be the wiser, certainly the less puzzled. We are most comfortable with the familiar." — Edward Albee, from his Introduction.

Customer Reviews:

A beautiful edition.......2006-04-18

Samuel Beckett's status as possibly the greatest dramatist of the twentieth century is unquestionable, and in this attractive volume, Grove Press has compiled all of his plays (with the exception of "Eleutheria," which Beckett suppressed and refused to translate), a complete collection previously available only in an expensive out-of-print Faber edition.

This is one in a series of four volumes publishing almost all of Beckett's oeuvre. The volume includes classics like "Waiting for Godot," "Happy Days," "Endgame" and "Krapp's Last Tape" in addition to classic shorter plays such as "Breath."

I was apprehensive about buying the Grove edition sight unseen: in the past, my copies of their paperbacks haven't held up so well (in particular my copy of Beckett's "Molloy/Malone Dies/The Unnamable", which is not only printed in an unattractive font but the spine of which cracked on nearly my first reading). But this is a beautiful hardcover volume, matching the rest of the Beckett set, with cover art of the Godotian tree, and featuring Beckett's own translations of his French-language plays. Brief introductory notes by Paul Auster and Edward Albee (in the latter note, Albee comments - surprisingly - that his favorite Beckett work are the later plays rather than the standards such as "Godot"). These introductions are short, but the dramatic work of Beckett is so fantastic and varied that nothing could do it justice but simply to begin reading.

Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett

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Detailed record of the life- journey of 'The Master of 'Less ' is 'More'
A Thorough, Passionate, and Scholarly Work
Tepi Distorts Knowlson--This Bio Is the One You Need
Access to the inaccessible
tepi.....

Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett
James Knowlson
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0684808722

Amazon.com

Samuel Beckett, a talent so exceptional that he created masterpieces in both French and English, shied away from the limelight for much of his life. However James Knowlson, in this amazing biography, shows Beckett wasn't entirely hesitant to talk about himself; the book relies heavily on interviews with Beckett to reconstruct the writer's dizzying career. Knowlson fills the pages with exhaustive detail--some major, some minor. In addition, he analyzes the influences on and evolution of Beckett's work. Through it all a larger picture emerges, one of the artist at work and in life. Damned to Fame is a necessary addition to any study of Beckett.

Book Description

Damned to Fame is the brilliant and insightful portrait of Nobel Prize-winning author Samuel Beckett, mysterious and reclusive master of twentieth-century literature. Professor James Knowlson, Beckett's chosen biographer and a leading authority on Beckett, vividly re-creates Beckett's life from his birth in a rural suburb of Dublin in 1906 to his death in Paris in 1989, revealing the real man behind the literary giant. Scrupulously researched and filled with previously unknown information garnered from interviews with the author and his friends, family, and contemporaries, Knowlson's unparalleled work is the definitive Beckett biography of our time.

Customer Reviews:

Detailed record of the life- journey of 'The Master of 'Less ' is 'More'.......2006-04-20

James Knowlson is both a preeminent Beckett scholar, and cherisher of Beckett's friendship and memory. There is thus in his biography a degree of caring, and perhaps too a degree of personal protection. Nonetheless it provides any student of Beckett with a wealth of new information to enhance our knowledge of a great writer, but not solve completely the mystery and meaning of his greatness.
Joyce , Beckett's boss, and great inspiration , taught him the meaning of total dedication to the craft. But Joyce also gave him the key negative example. The feary father was greedy, and always added on and made more words than any other maker could possibly contend with . So Beckett chose a contradictory technique and became the great minimizer, the great substractor, the master of 'Less is More'.
One reviewer on the Amazon site(Tepi)excoriates Knowlson for playing down the emotional and psychological drama and difficulty of Beckett's life, of underestimating the role the cold mother played on her creator son. The criticism too of the biography is that it does not come to life in providing real portraits of the real people in Beckett's life, including the companion of twenty - years Susan.
Nonetheless I believe in general we search for the good in the book, value what it gives us. And this book does give us much new detail about a master in the art of making meaning out of what is smaller.
My own reading of Beckett goes back a long way in misunderstanding and appreciation. I in reading years ago the trilogy of novels felt that Beckett comprehended a basic aspect of human experience, in old age and dying, in a way no one else had. He made into 'Literature' kinds of experience which had not been made into Literature before.
His fierce inner poetry the Irish lyric spirit was strong in him as Joyce.
A biography can provide us details and insights into the life, and even the creative process of a master, but it cannot solve the mystery of great creation which always has within it something of a ' divine gift' a ' surprise' that even the creator himself cannot fully understand.

A Thorough, Passionate, and Scholarly Work.......2006-03-05

If the scale permitted, I would give Knowlson's biography of Samuel Beckett 4 1/2 stars. It is an impressively thorough, passionate, and scholarly work by an ardent admirer. Knowlson's ardor for Beckett, the man no less than the work, is everywhere evident as a predominant strength and an odd occasional weakness. I could not help feeling, every now and then, that it pained Knowlson greatly to have to write anything negative about Beckett. As a biography, it is less emotionally detached than I usually like, but only slightly. It was a compelling read, all 618 pages, which is saying alot.

Tepi Distorts Knowlson--This Bio Is the One You Need.......2006-02-01

The review below by Tepi distorts Knowlson's accomplishment and misguides readers to Bair's biography, which relies heavily on supposition and is flat out wrong on the details of Beckett's life in almost countless cases. Tepi expects Knowlson to track Beckett's mother's effect on him throughout the entire piece, but this isn't a psycho-biography; it's a biography that considers the man as a whole, not the man as formed by his mother.

This is the standard biography of Beckett because Knowlson has access to more first-hand information than any other. Doesn't hurt to have Beckett's authorization and good graces, either. It is true that the amount of information here is overwhelming, but this makes it the piece that a student of Beckett needs to have, something that one can consult for the rest of one's life. If one wants idle and sensationalistic speculation on Beckett's complexes, then you should waste your money on Bair. The choice shouldn't be hard.

Access to the inaccessible.......2003-03-18

It is too easy, I think, to criticize an authorized biography as being hagiography. I did not find that Damned to Fame suffered from particular whitewashing, but then I was not reading it with a particular need to see SB picked apart in a personally critical way.

Knowlson was a close personal friend of Beckett's-- a fact which he does not try to hide in his treatment. And as such he has access to letters and papers of which other would-be Beckett biographers could only dream. And as a friend, I found that he left the focus in the place that Beckett would have wanted it-- on the work itself, on the vision, on the *writing*.

Which is not to say that he neglects Beckett as a person. But Beckett was a deeply private person and I found that Knowlson did an excellent job of balancing the privacy so dear to the subject with discussing what the reader needs to know to understand the artist.

For a casual reader, Damned to Fame might even be *too* exhaustive. I appreciated it, however. Particularly appreciated all the references to what Beckett was reading at various points in his life and I as well appreciated the copious notes and bibliography provided at the end of the book.

tepi............2002-02-01

for Pete's sake.... Boo Hiss. If you know so much about him that you can make the assertions that you make... why didn't you do the job? I haven't finished the book yet, but I am enjoying it. Knowlson, obviously isn;t a professional biographer per say, but he at least brings many years of critical insight into the subject. And needless to say, if you want a "psychological" study, then we'll have to turn to someone else about his mother problems. Sometimes professional biographers aren't the best to unravel all the complexities of a man like Beckett.

Novels II of Samuel Beckett: Volume II of The Grove Centenary Editions (Works of Samuel Beckett the Grove Centenary Editions)

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Novels II of Samuel Beckett: Volume II of The Grove Centenary Editions (Works of Samuel Beckett the Grove Centenary Editions)
Samuel Beckett
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0802118186

Book Description

Edited by Paul Auster, this four–volume set of Beckett's canon has been designed by award-winner Laura Lindgren. Available individually, as well as in a boxed set, the four hardcover volumes have been specially bound with covers featuring images central to Beckett's works. Typographical errors that remained uncorrected in the various prior editions have now been corrected in consultation with Beckett scholars C. J. Ackerley and S. E. Gontarski.

"A man speaking English beautifully chooses to speak in French, which he speaks with greater difficulty, so that he is obliged to choose his words carefully, forced to give up fluency and to find the hard words that come with difficulty, and then after all that finding he puts it all back into English, a new English containing all the difficulty of the French, of the coining of thought in a second language, a new English with the power to change English forever. This is Samuel Beckett. This is his great work. It is the thing that speaks. Surrender." — Salman Rushdie, from his Introduction

The Poems, Short Fiction, and Criticism of Samuel Beckett: Volume IV of The Grove Centenary Editions

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The Poems, Short Fiction, and Criticism of Samuel Beckett: Volume IV of The Grove Centenary Editions
Samuel Beckett
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0802118208

Book Description

Edited by Paul Auster, this four–volume hardcover set of Beckett's canon has been designed by award-winner Laura Lindgren. Available individually, as well as in a boxed set, these books are specially bound with covers featuring images central to Beckett's works. Typographical errors that remained uncorrected in the various prior editions have now been corrected in consultation with Beckett scholars C. J. Ackerley and S. E. Gontarski.

"[Beckett] settled on philosophical comedy as the medium for his uniquely anguished, arrogant, self-doubting, scrupulous temperament. In the popular mind his name is associated with the mysterious Godot who may or may not come but for whom we wait anyhow. In this he seemed to define the mood of an age. But his range is wider than that, and his achievement far greater. Beckett was an artist possessed by a vision of life without consolation or dignity or promise of grace, in the face of which our only duty is not to lie to ourselves. It was a vision to which he gave expression in language of a virile strength and intellectual subtlety that marks him as one of the great prose stylists of the twentieth century." — J. M. Coetzee, from his Introduction

The Grove Companion to Samuel Beckett: A Reader's Guide to His Works, Life, and Thought

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A major work

The Grove Companion to Samuel Beckett: A Reader's Guide to His Works, Life, and Thought
C. J. Ackerly , and S. E. Gontarski
Manufacturer: Grove Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802140491

Book Description

From A to Z, this is an indispensable guide to the works, life, and thought of one of the most important writers of our time. The Nobel Prize-winning author Samuel Beckett was a literary treasure, and this work represents the only comprehensive reference to the concepts, characters, and biographical details mentioned by, or related to, Beckett. Painstakingly and lovingly compiled by acclaimed Beckett scholars C. J. Ackerley and S. E. Gontarski, it is alphabetical, cross-referenced, and laid out in a very user-friendly format. The Grove Companion to Samuel Beckett provides an organized trove of information for students and scholars alike, and is a must for any serious reader of Beckett.

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A major work.......2005-04-19

This is the definitive work on Beckett. You should buy ten copies of this for all your friends. This work is coming back in vogue. Be ahead of the curve.

Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett: All That Fall, Act Without Words, Krapp's Last Tape, Cascando, Eh Joe, Footfall, Rockaby and others

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Absurd and nothing else.
Almost too much Beckett from such a small book!
Blinded by the darkness
Extraordinary, but to be taken in doses.
Succintly Brilliant

Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett: All That Fall, Act Without Words, Krapp's Last Tape, Cascando, Eh Joe, Footfall, Rockaby and others
Samuel Beckett
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802150551

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Absurd and nothing else. .......2006-07-05

I have long heard the name of Samuel Beckett, along with Yeats, Bernard Shaw and Heaney as the 4 most distinguished writers of Ireland. But Beckett's plays in this book are a total disappointment!
For shoppers who are reading this review, you may disagree with my rating of this book, but you have to agree that the plays in this book can (might) only be appreciated through watching them being acted out, and not just by reading the scripts.
I don't understand the plays in this book at all, except for the very first one - All That Fall.
For those who like Eugene O'Neill and such, and not absurdity, please do not try this book.
This is definitely not worth US$15.95!
Maybe just US$1.95, for All That Fall.

Almost too much Beckett from such a small book!.......2006-03-19

The perfect collection of Samuel Beckett's shorter works. A resource that no home library should be without.

Blinded by the darkness.......2005-10-01

It is in these short 'dramaticules' that Samuel Beckett's dark and chilling genius is at it's most intense. Beckett's plays are his most vivid depiction of the futility of human communication, and the undeniable solitude of the individual as a result.

Old age and the fruitless reminiscing that this stage of life brings, preoccupies Beckett in many of these short pieces. In 'Ohio Inpromptu' an aged character's memories are constantly stopped from wandering into nostalgia by the periodic knocking of his mirror image who sits opposite him. This struggle for or against nostalgia for the past is one that faces many of Beckett's characters. In 'Rockaby' and 'Footfalls' we see old women who have battled against life for long enough and are simply awaiting their death. They feel no longing for the past and feel no passion for a life that has failed them. In 'Krapp's Last Tape', Beckett's main character has the difficulty of simultaneously battling with his former and current self. The result is a display of disdain for the optimism and exuberance that characterises more youthful thought.

The aforementioned plays, as well as notable others such as 'The Old Tune' and 'All That Fall' fantastically exemplify Beckett's premise that we are all stuck on the pointless treadmill of life and that only death can pull us off it.

Extraordinary, but to be taken in doses........2001-02-08

Some advice: although this book contains some of the most astonishing plays ever written, I wouldn't read them all in one go. If you do, doubts might seem to creep in. About how Beckett doesn't really have all that much to say, and became increasingly mannered in his attempts to say it. That his work is really just three variations on basic forms - the Godotesque double act; the old man or woman looking back over a (generally stunted) life; and the pattern plays/mimes. You'll certainly want to rush and read something silly just for a breath of air; there's not much of the vaunted Beckett humour here.

Nevertheless, the collection brims with Beckett's best work - the remorselessly inventive radio play, 'All That Fall'; the sublimely tragic comedy, 'Krapp's Last Tape'; the infernal farce, 'Play'; the deconstruction of nostalgia, 'That Time'; the chamber poignancy of 'Ohio Impromptu'; the great theatrical experiments, 'Footfalls', 'What Where', 'Not I', 'Rockaby', which pushed the language of theatre way past its limits, undermining its boasts of 'live performance' and the functionality of language - in these texts, 'meaning', if there is such a thing, may reside in the stage directions.

Succintly Brilliant.......2000-06-03

Beckett's shorter may shock a new reader to Beckett's works. If you are looking for something that tells an interesting story, you will not enjoy his plays. I can understand why previous reviewers feel that that there is not content in his plays. But the intention of much of his works is to provide meaning through the emptiness. Beckett is a truly great minimalist writer: some of the plays in this volume lack even speech, relying soley on stage directions. The empty, cyclic nature of human life is central to his world view. Beckett makes his readers linger on questions long after they finish reading. His writing is marked by brevity, but is nevertheless succinct.

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