Wait, 27 Nov 2008
I loved Waiting for Godot. A classic of Dialogue Theatre. People need to realise that even though it seems as if nothing is happening, it really is. They are waiting for something, and everyone knows what happens when you wait for so long, when it comes it will be a disapointment. Whether they are Waiting for God. In the days after WW11 when people started to really question whether there was a God and if there was, why didnt he stop the war? A brilliant example of the Absurdist theatre that was starting to rise or the Anti Theatre or the Search for ones Self, the search for purpose. A Fantastic play

Seek and ye shall find, 29 Aug 2008
When this play was first performed in London, Harold Hobson, drama critic of The Sunday Times said it was 'a conversational necessity'.
Being a mere child at the time I though this meant it was good. I sat through it with my girl-friend, and it seemed to me to be complete gibberish. What does it mean? she asked. I'll tell you at the end of the performance, I replied, hoping for a denoument. I couldn't tell her, because to me it was meaningless. How many critics here tell you what it means?

Last year, aged 70 and professor of literature, I saw it again in a lauded production at the Barbican. I sat through the first half becoming more and more angry. Becket, I thought, is making fools of us all. At the Interval I walked out, and didn't come back. The play's message is simple: Most of us believe in God. We wait to eventually meet him. But there is no God. And we are wasting our time. Shakespeare said it so much more briefly and poetically in Macbeth. Life 'is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.' Waiting for Godot signifies nothing. If you search for meaning I'm sure you'll find it. If you take the play at its face value, it's nonsense. Twice.

Stark and bewildering, 13 Feb 2008
I read this play more than ten years ago for a course in contemporary drama. At first I was completely lost, considered the dialogue pointless, and found it incredibly boring. However, following a visit to The Gate Theatre in Dublin, my opinion of the play changed entirely - the dialogue's pointlessness made sense finally, the existentialism of the play became comprehensible, not to mention the subtle dark humour. I started to see the brilliance of the play - if we are bored, lost, bewildered, uncertain, unhappy, and at the same time, find humour in this, then the play has achieved its purpose (as I see it). In other words, it reflects the condition of human life as Beckett chose to describe it, and not only this, it succeeds in drawing us deeply into his description and invites us, as reluctant as we may be, to live it through our reading. A brilliant, if rather discomforting reflection on the pain, whispers of humour and ultimate meaninglessness of human life.

The Emperor's not wearing any clothes..., 16 Sep 2007
Like the godawful works of Pinter that followed, Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" is a masterwork in the field of pretentious garbage. This play is neither funny nor entertaining; the ludicrous dialogue frustrates, the characters try their hardest to prove themselves wholly unreal, and, as that famous review quoted from the lines of the play itself, "nothing happens."
Yet today "Godot" is hailed as a masterpiece of modern drama owing to its apparently being a well of deep hidden meaning and symbolism. When one looks at a blank wall for long enough blotches and other irregularities gradually become noticeable to the eye; hell, some might even claim to see a face in said blotches. But let's be honest, it's just a blank wall. Similarly, "Godot" is a wholly unsatisfying waste of an hour and a half, saved by a horrifyingly large number of people's determination to see clothes on the Emperor when really there are none.

It will definitely come tomorrow, 11 Nov 2006
I have always been tempted to write the sequel, "The arrival of Godot"
However like Fermat's last theorem I fear the world is unlikely ever to see this masterpiece. Godot is a very naughty boy who refuses to come in on time. And at his age (at least 53) he should know better.

Get ready for the telling off of all time when he does turn up!

This is a great play, mostly for what it does not say, rather than what it does.

Wait, 27 Nov 2008
I loved Waiting for Godot. A classic of Dialogue Theatre. People need to realise that even though it seems as if nothing is happening, it really is. They are waiting for something, and everyone knows what happens when you wait for so long, when it comes it will be a disapointment. Whether they are Waiting for God. In the days after WW11 when people started to really question whether there was a God and if there was, why didnt he stop the war? A brilliant example of the Absurdist theatre that was starting to rise or the Anti Theatre or the Search for ones Self, the search for purpose. A Fantastic play

Seek and ye shall find, 29 Aug 2008
When this play was first performed in London, Harold Hobson, drama critic of The Sunday Times said it was 'a conversational necessity'.
Being a mere child at the time I though this meant it was good. I sat through it with my girl-friend, and it seemed to me to be complete gibberish. What does it mean? she asked. I'll tell you at the end of the performance, I replied, hoping for a denoument. I couldn't tell her, because to me it was meaningless. How many critics here tell you what it means?

Last year, aged 70 and professor of literature, I saw it again in a lauded production at the Barbican. I sat through the first half becoming more and more angry. Becket, I thought, is making fools of us all. At the Interval I walked out, and didn't come back. The play's message is simple: Most of us believe in God. We wait to eventually meet him. But there is no God. And we are wasting our time. Shakespeare said it so much more briefly and poetically in Macbeth. Life 'is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.' Waiting for Godot signifies nothing. If you search for meaning I'm sure you'll find it. If you take the play at its face value, it's nonsense. Twice.

Stark and bewildering, 13 Feb 2008
I read this play more than ten years ago for a course in contemporary drama. At first I was completely lost, considered the dialogue pointless, and found it incredibly boring. However, following a visit to The Gate Theatre in Dublin, my opinion of the play changed entirely - the dialogue's pointlessness made sense finally, the existentialism of the play became comprehensible, not to mention the subtle dark humour. I started to see the brilliance of the play - if we are bored, lost, bewildered, uncertain, unhappy, and at the same time, find humour in this, then the play has achieved its purpose (as I see it). In other words, it reflects the condition of human life as Beckett chose to describe it, and not only this, it succeeds in drawing us deeply into his description and invites us, as reluctant as we may be, to live it through our reading. A brilliant, if rather discomforting reflection on the pain, whispers of humour and ultimate meaninglessness of human life.

The Emperor's not wearing any clothes..., 16 Sep 2007
Like the godawful works of Pinter that followed, Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" is a masterwork in the field of pretentious garbage. This play is neither funny nor entertaining; the ludicrous dialogue frustrates, the characters try their hardest to prove themselves wholly unreal, and, as that famous review quoted from the lines of the play itself, "nothing happens."
Yet today "Godot" is hailed as a masterpiece of modern drama owing to its apparently being a well of deep hidden meaning and symbolism. When one looks at a blank wall for long enough blotches and other irregularities gradually become noticeable to the eye; hell, some might even claim to see a face in said blotches. But let's be honest, it's just a blank wall. Similarly, "Godot" is a wholly unsatisfying waste of an hour and a half, saved by a horrifyingly large number of people's determination to see clothes on the Emperor when really there are none.

It will definitely come tomorrow, 11 Nov 2006
I have always been tempted to write the sequel, "The arrival of Godot"
However like Fermat's last theorem I fear the world is unlikely ever to see this masterpiece. Godot is a very naughty boy who refuses to come in on time. And at his age (at least 53) he should know better.

Get ready for the telling off of all time when he does turn up!

This is a great play, mostly for what it does not say, rather than what it does.


Beckett complete dramas., 16 Nov 2003
If you are new to the works of Samuel Beckett then this is the best place to start in my opinion. There is nothing I can add which hasn't already been said about these dramas, only that they are quite short and moderately accessible but almost inexhaustable in their complexity. To describe these works as 'existentialist' really doesn't do them justice or decribe their nature to any deep degree. The plays are unique and must be experienced to be understood. Generally there is a quite dark tone to most of the works, sometimes obscenely disturbing, sometimes cynically funny but at times there are moments of true poetic beauty. I would strongly recommend these plays to anyone interested in drama of a more unconventional type. High points include - 'Waiting for Godot', 'Endgame', 'Krapp's last tape' and 'All that falls'. However, as a general warning, these are not uplifting plays, I myself found some of them sickening and disturbing in parts.

the complete works of the master of 'theatre of the absurd', 16 May 2000
Compact, well presented collection of Beckett epic metamorphosis of modern theatre - from Godot to Ghost Trio. Plays following the more 'excepted structure' to works of silence and light. The only crit is the briefness of notes about first performances. Otherwise a must have for those intrested in exploring the limits of theatre.

Wait, 27 Nov 2008
I loved Waiting for Godot. A classic of Dialogue Theatre. People need to realise that even though it seems as if nothing is happening, it really is. They are waiting for something, and everyone knows what happens when you wait for so long, when it comes it will be a disapointment. Whether they are Waiting for God. In the days after WW11 when people started to really question whether there was a God and if there was, why didnt he stop the war? A brilliant example of the Absurdist theatre that was starting to rise or the Anti Theatre or the Search for ones Self, the search for purpose. A Fantastic play

Seek and ye shall find, 29 Aug 2008
When this play was first performed in London, Harold Hobson, drama critic of The Sunday Times said it was 'a conversational necessity'.
Being a mere child at the time I though this meant it was good. I sat through it with my girl-friend, and it seemed to me to be complete gibberish. What does it mean? she asked. I'll tell you at the end of the performance, I replied, hoping for a denoument. I couldn't tell her, because to me it was meaningless. How many critics here tell you what it means?

Last year, aged 70 and professor of literature, I saw it again in a lauded production at the Barbican. I sat through the first half becoming more and more angry. Becket, I thought, is making fools of us all. At the Interval I walked out, and didn't come back. The play's message is simple: Most of us believe in God. We wait to eventually meet him. But there is no God. And we are wasting our time. Shakespeare said it so much more briefly and poetically in Macbeth. Life 'is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.' Waiting for Godot signifies nothing. If you search for meaning I'm sure you'll find it. If you take the play at its face value, it's nonsense. Twice.

Stark and bewildering, 13 Feb 2008
I read this play more than ten years ago for a course in contemporary drama. At first I was completely lost, considered the dialogue pointless, and found it incredibly boring. However, following a visit to The Gate Theatre in Dublin, my opinion of the play changed entirely - the dialogue's pointlessness made sense finally, the existentialism of the play became comprehensible, not to mention the subtle dark humour. I started to see the brilliance of the play - if we are bored, lost, bewildered, uncertain, unhappy, and at the same time, find humour in this, then the play has achieved its purpose (as I see it). In other words, it reflects the condition of human life as Beckett chose to describe it, and not only this, it succeeds in drawing us deeply into his description and invites us, as reluctant as we may be, to live it through our reading. A brilliant, if rather discomforting reflection on the pain, whispers of humour and ultimate meaninglessness of human life.

The Emperor's not wearing any clothes..., 16 Sep 2007
Like the godawful works of Pinter that followed, Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" is a masterwork in the field of pretentious garbage. This play is neither funny nor entertaining; the ludicrous dialogue frustrates, the characters try their hardest to prove themselves wholly unreal, and, as that famous review quoted from the lines of the play itself, "nothing happens."
Yet today "Godot" is hailed as a masterpiece of modern drama owing to its apparently being a well of deep hidden meaning and symbolism. When one looks at a blank wall for long enough blotches and other irregularities gradually become noticeable to the eye; hell, some might even claim to see a face in said blotches. But let's be honest, it's just a blank wall. Similarly, "Godot" is a wholly unsatisfying waste of an hour and a half, saved by a horrifyingly large number of people's determination to see clothes on the Emperor when really there are none.

It will definitely come tomorrow, 11 Nov 2006
I have always been tempted to write the sequel, "The arrival of Godot"
However like Fermat's last theorem I fear the world is unlikely ever to see this masterpiece. Godot is a very naughty boy who refuses to come in on time. And at his age (at least 53) he should know better.

Get ready for the telling off of all time when he does turn up!

This is a great play, mostly for what it does not say, rather than what it does.


Beckett complete dramas., 16 Nov 2003
If you are new to the works of Samuel Beckett then this is the best place to start in my opinion. There is nothing I can add which hasn't already been said about these dramas, only that they are quite short and moderately accessible but almost inexhaustable in their complexity. To describe these works as 'existentialist' really doesn't do them justice or decribe their nature to any deep degree. The plays are unique and must be experienced to be understood. Generally there is a quite dark tone to most of the works, sometimes obscenely disturbing, sometimes cynically funny but at times there are moments of true poetic beauty. I would strongly recommend these plays to anyone interested in drama of a more unconventional type. High points include - 'Waiting for Godot', 'Endgame', 'Krapp's last tape' and 'All that falls'. However, as a general warning, these are not uplifting plays, I myself found some of them sickening and disturbing in parts.

the complete works of the master of 'theatre of the absurd', 16 May 2000
Compact, well presented collection of Beckett epic metamorphosis of modern theatre - from Godot to Ghost Trio. Plays following the more 'excepted structure' to works of silence and light. The only crit is the briefness of notes about first performances. Otherwise a must have for those intrested in exploring the limits of theatre.

I can't go on, I'll go on., 18 Aug 2008
Sadly, when I first read Beckett I was a mildly pretentious English Literature undergraduate, attracted by a writer who I thought of as bleak and intense.

Revisiting him years later, I'm amazed by how often I laughed aloud while ploughing through this volume. In these days of "LOL" being used at the end of every sentence by anyone who thinks they've typed some sort of witticism, it's a thing of wonder to find oneself actually guffawing while reading such a brilliantly funny, yet substantial writer.

I think it's telling that I found the trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable) hard-going when I was 18. I know full well why: I was trying to be too clever by half in my reading of it. Instead of being academic about it, read them as though you're reading them aloud, and if you can, with an Irish accent - it's then that the rhythms of the prose really come alive. These are wonderfully entertaining works that ruminate cheekily on the futility of human existence.

It's unfortunate that the box set of the four volumes of the Grove Centenary Edition is now unavailable; it's a lovely thing and beautifully presented. But really, you can't get better value than this. Amazon want just over eleven quid for a fine hardback edition of four novels by one of the great writers in English. Click the big yellow button. Go on.

mananam, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novels. If you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

Blugh, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

This is Volume 2., 06 Jan 2007
Firstly, this is volume 2 of this series, the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

Wait, 27 Nov 2008
I loved Waiting for Godot. A classic of Dialogue Theatre. People need to realise that even though it seems as if nothing is happening, it really is. They are waiting for something, and everyone knows what happens when you wait for so long, when it comes it will be a disapointment. Whether they are Waiting for God. In the days after WW11 when people started to really question whether there was a God and if there was, why didnt he stop the war? A brilliant example of the Absurdist theatre that was starting to rise or the Anti Theatre or the Search for ones Self, the search for purpose. A Fantastic play

Seek and ye shall find, 29 Aug 2008
When this play was first performed in London, Harold Hobson, drama critic of The Sunday Times said it was 'a conversational necessity'.
Being a mere child at the time I though this meant it was good. I sat through it with my girl-friend, and it seemed to me to be complete gibberish. What does it mean? she asked. I'll tell you at the end of the performance, I replied, hoping for a denoument. I couldn't tell her, because to me it was meaningless. How many critics here tell you what it means?

Last year, aged 70 and professor of literature, I saw it again in a lauded production at the Barbican. I sat through the first half becoming more and more angry. Becket, I thought, is making fools of us all. At the Interval I walked out, and didn't come back. The play's message is simple: Most of us believe in God. We wait to eventually meet him. But there is no God. And we are wasting our time. Shakespeare said it so much more briefly and poetically in Macbeth. Life 'is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.' Waiting for Godot signifies nothing. If you search for meaning I'm sure you'll find it. If you take the play at its face value, it's nonsense. Twice.

Stark and bewildering, 13 Feb 2008
I read this play more than ten years ago for a course in contemporary drama. At first I was completely lost, considered the dialogue pointless, and found it incredibly boring. However, following a visit to The Gate Theatre in Dublin, my opinion of the play changed entirely - the dialogue's pointlessness made sense finally, the existentialism of the play became comprehensible, not to mention the subtle dark humour. I started to see the brilliance of the play - if we are bored, lost, bewildered, uncertain, unhappy, and at the same time, find humour in this, then the play has achieved its purpose (as I see it). In other words, it reflects the condition of human life as Beckett chose to describe it, and not only this, it succeeds in drawing us deeply into his description and invites us, as reluctant as we may be, to live it through our reading. A brilliant, if rather discomforting reflection on the pain, whispers of humour and ultimate meaninglessness of human life.

The Emperor's not wearing any clothes..., 16 Sep 2007
Like the godawful works of Pinter that followed, Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" is a masterwork in the field of pretentious garbage. This play is neither funny nor entertaining; the ludicrous dialogue frustrates, the characters try their hardest to prove themselves wholly unreal, and, as that famous review quoted from the lines of the play itself, "nothing happens."
Yet today "Godot" is hailed as a masterpiece of modern drama owing to its apparently being a well of deep hidden meaning and symbolism. When one looks at a blank wall for long enough blotches and other irregularities gradually become noticeable to the eye; hell, some might even claim to see a face in said blotches. But let's be honest, it's just a blank wall. Similarly, "Godot" is a wholly unsatisfying waste of an hour and a half, saved by a horrifyingly large number of people's determination to see clothes on the Emperor when really there are none.

It will definitely come tomorrow, 11 Nov 2006
I have always been tempted to write the sequel, "The arrival of Godot"
However like Fermat's last theorem I fear the world is unlikely ever to see this masterpiece. Godot is a very naughty boy who refuses to come in on time. And at his age (at least 53) he should know better.

Get ready for the telling off of all time when he does turn up!

This is a great play, mostly for what it does not say, rather than what it does.


Beckett complete dramas., 16 Nov 2003
If you are new to the works of Samuel Beckett then this is the best place to start in my opinion. There is nothing I can add which hasn't already been said about these dramas, only that they are quite short and moderately accessible but almost inexhaustable in their complexity. To describe these works as 'existentialist' really doesn't do them justice or decribe their nature to any deep degree. The plays are unique and must be experienced to be understood. Generally there is a quite dark tone to most of the works, sometimes obscenely disturbing, sometimes cynically funny but at times there are moments of true poetic beauty. I would strongly recommend these plays to anyone interested in drama of a more unconventional type. High points include - 'Waiting for Godot', 'Endgame', 'Krapp's last tape' and 'All that falls'. However, as a general warning, these are not uplifting plays, I myself found some of them sickening and disturbing in parts.

the complete works of the master of 'theatre of the absurd', 16 May 2000
Compact, well presented collection of Beckett epic metamorphosis of modern theatre - from Godot to Ghost Trio. Plays following the more 'excepted structure' to works of silence and light. The only crit is the briefness of notes about first performances. Otherwise a must have for those intrested in exploring the limits of theatre.

I can't go on, I'll go on., 18 Aug 2008
Sadly, when I first read Beckett I was a mildly pretentious English Literature undergraduate, attracted by a writer who I thought of as bleak and intense.

Revisiting him years later, I'm amazed by how often I laughed aloud while ploughing through this volume. In these days of "LOL" being used at the end of every sentence by anyone who thinks they've typed some sort of witticism, it's a thing of wonder to find oneself actually guffawing while reading such a brilliantly funny, yet substantial writer.

I think it's telling that I found the trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable) hard-going when I was 18. I know full well why: I was trying to be too clever by half in my reading of it. Instead of being academic about it, read them as though you're reading them aloud, and if you can, with an Irish accent - it's then that the rhythms of the prose really come alive. These are wonderfully entertaining works that ruminate cheekily on the futility of human existence.

It's unfortunate that the box set of the four volumes of the Grove Centenary Edition is now unavailable; it's a lovely thing and beautifully presented. But really, you can't get better value than this. Amazon want just over eleven quid for a fine hardback edition of four novels by one of the great writers in English. Click the big yellow button. Go on.

mananam, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novels. If you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

Blugh, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

This is Volume 2., 06 Jan 2007
Firstly, this is volume 2 of this series, the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

I can't go on, I'll go on., 18 Aug 2008
Sadly, when I first read Beckett I was a mildly pretentious English Literature undergraduate, attracted by a writer who I thought of as bleak and intense.

Revisiting him years later, I'm amazed by how often I laughed aloud while ploughing through this volume. In these days of "LOL" being used at the end of every sentence by anyone who thinks they've typed some sort of witticism, it's a thing of wonder to find oneself actually guffawing while reading such a brilliantly funny, yet substantial writer.

I think it's telling that I found the trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable) hard-going when I was 18. I know full well why: I was trying to be too clever by half in my reading of it. Instead of being academic about it, read them as though you're reading them aloud, and if you can, with an Irish accent - it's then that the rhythms of the prose really come alive. These are wonderfully entertaining works that ruminate cheekily on the futility of human existence.

It's unfortunate that the box set of the four volumes of the Grove Centenary Edition is now unavailable; it's a lovely thing and beautifully presented. But really, you can't get better value than this. Amazon want just over eleven quid for a fine hardback edition of four novels by one of the great writers in English. Click the big yellow button. Go on.

mananam, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novels. If you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

Blugh, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

This is Volume 2., 06 Jan 2007
Firstly, this is volume 2 of this series, the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

Wait, 27 Nov 2008
I loved Waiting for Godot. A classic of Dialogue Theatre. People need to realise that even though it seems as if nothing is happening, it really is. They are waiting for something, and everyone knows what happens when you wait for so long, when it comes it will be a disapointment. Whether they are Waiting for God. In the days after WW11 when people started to really question whether there was a God and if there was, why didnt he stop the war? A brilliant example of the Absurdist theatre that was starting to rise or the Anti Theatre or the Search for ones Self, the search for purpose. A Fantastic play

Seek and ye shall find, 29 Aug 2008
When this play was first performed in London, Harold Hobson, drama critic of The Sunday Times said it was 'a conversational necessity'.
Being a mere child at the time I though this meant it was good. I sat through it with my girl-friend, and it seemed to me to be complete gibberish. What does it mean? she asked. I'll tell you at the end of the performance, I replied, hoping for a denoument. I couldn't tell her, because to me it was meaningless. How many critics here tell you what it means?

Last year, aged 70 and professor of literature, I saw it again in a lauded production at the Barbican. I sat through the first half becoming more and more angry. Becket, I thought, is making fools of us all. At the Interval I walked out, and didn't come back. The play's message is simple: Most of us believe in God. We wait to eventually meet him. But there is no God. And we are wasting our time. Shakespeare said it so much more briefly and poetically in Macbeth. Life 'is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.' Waiting for Godot signifies nothing. If you search for meaning I'm sure you'll find it. If you take the play at its face value, it's nonsense. Twice.

Stark and bewildering, 13 Feb 2008
I read this play more than ten years ago for a course in contemporary drama. At first I was completely lost, considered the dialogue pointless, and found it incredibly boring. However, following a visit to The Gate Theatre in Dublin, my opinion of the play changed entirely - the dialogue's pointlessness made sense finally, the existentialism of the play became comprehensible, not to mention the subtle dark humour. I started to see the brilliance of the play - if we are bored, lost, bewildered, uncertain, unhappy, and at the same time, find humour in this, then the play has achieved its purpose (as I see it). In other words, it reflects the condition of human life as Beckett chose to describe it, and not only this, it succeeds in drawing us deeply into his description and invites us, as reluctant as we may be, to live it through our reading. A brilliant, if rather discomforting reflection on the pain, whispers of humour and ultimate meaninglessness of human life.

The Emperor's not wearing any clothes..., 16 Sep 2007
Like the godawful works of Pinter that followed, Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" is a masterwork in the field of pretentious garbage. This play is neither funny nor entertaining; the ludicrous dialogue frustrates, the characters try their hardest to prove themselves wholly unreal, and, as that famous review quoted from the lines of the play itself, "nothing happens."
Yet today "Godot" is hailed as a masterpiece of modern drama owing to its apparently being a well of deep hidden meaning and symbolism. When one looks at a blank wall for long enough blotches and other irregularities gradually become noticeable to the eye; hell, some might even claim to see a face in said blotches. But let's be honest, it's just a blank wall. Similarly, "Godot" is a wholly unsatisfying waste of an hour and a half, saved by a horrifyingly large number of people's determination to see clothes on the Emperor when really there are none.

It will definitely come tomorrow, 11 Nov 2006
I have always been tempted to write the sequel, "The arrival of Godot"
However like Fermat's last theorem I fear the world is unlikely ever to see this masterpiece. Godot is a very naughty boy who refuses to come in on time. And at his age (at least 53) he should know better.

Get ready for the telling off of all time when he does turn up!

This is a great play, mostly for what it does not say, rather than what it does.


Beckett complete dramas., 16 Nov 2003
If you are new to the works of Samuel Beckett then this is the best place to start in my opinion. There is nothing I can add which hasn't already been said about these dramas, only that they are quite short and moderately accessible but almost inexhaustable in their complexity. To describe these works as 'existentialist' really doesn't do them justice or decribe their nature to any deep degree. The plays are unique and must be experienced to be understood. Generally there is a quite dark tone to most of the works, sometimes obscenely disturbing, sometimes cynically funny but at times there are moments of true poetic beauty. I would strongly recommend these plays to anyone interested in drama of a more unconventional type. High points include - 'Waiting for Godot', 'Endgame', 'Krapp's last tape' and 'All that falls'. However, as a general warning, these are not uplifting plays, I myself found some of them sickening and disturbing in parts.

the complete works of the master of 'theatre of the absurd', 16 May 2000
Compact, well presented collection of Beckett epic metamorphosis of modern theatre - from Godot to Ghost Trio. Plays following the more 'excepted structure' to works of silence and light. The only crit is the briefness of notes about first performances. Otherwise a must have for those intrested in exploring the limits of theatre.

I can't go on, I'll go on., 18 Aug 2008
Sadly, when I first read Beckett I was a mildly pretentious English Literature undergraduate, attracted by a writer who I thought of as bleak and intense.

Revisiting him years later, I'm amazed by how often I laughed aloud while ploughing through this volume. In these days of "LOL" being used at the end of every sentence by anyone who thinks they've typed some sort of witticism, it's a thing of wonder to find oneself actually guffawing while reading such a brilliantly funny, yet substantial writer.

I think it's telling that I found the trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable) hard-going when I was 18. I know full well why: I was trying to be too clever by half in my reading of it. Instead of being academic about it, read them as though you're reading them aloud, and if you can, with an Irish accent - it's then that the rhythms of the prose really come alive. These are wonderfully entertaining works that ruminate cheekily on the futility of human existence.

It's unfortunate that the box set of the four volumes of the Grove Centenary Edition is now unavailable; it's a lovely thing and beautifully presented. But really, you can't get better value than this. Amazon want just over eleven quid for a fine hardback edition of four novels by one of the great writers in English. Click the big yellow button. Go on.

mananam, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novels. If you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

Blugh, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

This is Volume 2., 06 Jan 2007
Firstly, this is volume 2 of this series, the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

I can't go on, I'll go on., 18 Aug 2008
Sadly, when I first read Beckett I was a mildly pretentious English Literature undergraduate, attracted by a writer who I thought of as bleak and intense.

Revisiting him years later, I'm amazed by how often I laughed aloud while ploughing through this volume. In these days of "LOL" being used at the end of every sentence by anyone who thinks they've typed some sort of witticism, it's a thing of wonder to find oneself actually guffawing while reading such a brilliantly funny, yet substantial writer.

I think it's telling that I found the trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable) hard-going when I was 18. I know full well why: I was trying to be too clever by half in my reading of it. Instead of being academic about it, read them as though you're reading them aloud, and if you can, with an Irish accent - it's then that the rhythms of the prose really come alive. These are wonderfully entertaining works that ruminate cheekily on the futility of human existence.

It's unfortunate that the box set of the four volumes of the Grove Centenary Edition is now unavailable; it's a lovely thing and beautifully presented. But really, you can't get better value than this. Amazon want just over eleven quid for a fine hardback edition of four novels by one of the great writers in English. Click the big yellow button. Go on.

mananam, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novels. If you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

Blugh, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

This is Volume 2., 06 Jan 2007
Firstly, this is volume 2 of this series, the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

The Absurd, 08 Aug 2008
This is an interesting play. There is a contrast between dark and light. A battling conversation, which gives a sense of time passing by. Each part consist's a metaphor of some kind, including the characters all which represents the bigger picture.
The play also toys with death.

It reflects Beckett's previous marriage to some extent and demonstrates Beckett's dark humour. Though no doubt illustrates his genuis mind.
He is one of the few writers who wanted full control of his play and even revoked his play temporarily to make changes.

Some readers may find this strange ...perhaps even weird but read again and you realise never judge the book by its cover .... in this case never judge the play by its words. It is a deep book, philosophical even.

Fantastic - Beckett was a genious!, 20 Mar 2002
This is a master piece. Beckett's characters and settings may seem somewhat absurd to those who do not grasp the underlying message of the play, but when fully understood, Beckett's true meaning is frightening. His characters appear to be in a hopeless state of paralysis, both physically and mentally and their constant references to the 'end' which is drawing near is utterly depressing. Hamm and Clov's hopeless relationship is filled with disrespect, yet neither can survive without the other, while Nell's death in her ash can is barely acknowledged by anyone other than Nagg. Their monotonous and never ending wait for death is a dreary yet eye opening insight of the world, which forces us to reasess our own existence. Brilliant!

Beckett's masterpiece, a suberb drama of fearful intensity., 12 Mar 2001
'Old endgame lost of old, play and lose and have done with losing.....'

So says Hamm, patriach and master of the stage on which the play is set. Beckett originally wrote the piece in French (Entitled 'Fin de Partie')in 1957 shortly after the death of his brother and it was first produced at the Royal Court Theatre on 3rd April 1957. The two main protagonists, the blind, crippled Hamm and his lame manservant Clov live in a perpetual state of symbiosis- despite Clov's threats to leave and die in the wilderness beyond the stage and Hamm's threats to starve Clov, neither can live without each other, and they exist in a constant see-saw of pathos and hatred, love and hope. Written in Beckett's unique style of 'Lessness', the piece explores many themes in Beckett's own domain of contempory existence; our relationships, fears, and struggles against the dark. The play itself is wildly eloquent, the characters managing to attain hights of pathos but also a dark hallucinatory humour, often in the same line. As effective on paper as it is on stage, Beckett's Endgame must rank as one of the finest plays ever written, conforming to what may be described as 'modern theatre' but also expanding and exploring the genre at the same time. Beckett is one of the most important and influential writers of the twentieth century, and Endgame is his masterpiece. It is as relevant now as it ever was, and is a must read for anyone with even a passing interest in literature.

Wait, 27 Nov 2008
I loved Waiting for Godot. A classic of Dialogue Theatre. People need to realise that even though it seems as if nothing is happening, it really is. They are waiting for something, and everyone knows what happens when you wait for so long, when it comes it will be a disapointment. Whether they are Waiting for God. In the days after WW11 when people started to really question whether there was a God and if there was, why didnt he stop the war? A brilliant example of the Absurdist theatre that was starting to rise or the Anti Theatre or the Search for ones Self, the search for purpose. A Fantastic play

Seek and ye shall find, 29 Aug 2008
When this play was first performed in London, Harold Hobson, drama critic of The Sunday Times said it was 'a conversational necessity'.
Being a mere child at the time I though this meant it was good. I sat through it with my girl-friend, and it seemed to me to be complete gibberish. What does it mean? she asked. I'll tell you at the end of the performance, I replied, hoping for a denoument. I couldn't tell her, because to me it was meaningless. How many critics here tell you what it means?

Last year, aged 70 and professor of literature, I saw it again in a lauded production at the Barbican. I sat through the first half becoming more and more angry. Becket, I thought, is making fools of us all. At the Interval I walked out, and didn't come back. The play's message is simple: Most of us believe in God. We wait to eventually meet him. But there is no God. And we are wasting our time. Shakespeare said it so much more briefly and poetically in Macbeth. Life 'is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.' Waiting for Godot signifies nothing. If you search for meaning I'm sure you'll find it. If you take the play at its face value, it's nonsense. Twice.

Stark and bewildering, 13 Feb 2008
I read this play more than ten years ago for a course in contemporary drama. At first I was completely lost, considered the dialogue pointless, and found it incredibly boring. However, following a visit to The Gate Theatre in Dublin, my opinion of the play changed entirely - the dialogue's pointlessness made sense finally, the existentialism of the play became comprehensible, not to mention the subtle dark humour. I started to see the brilliance of the play - if we are bored, lost, bewildered, uncertain, unhappy, and at the same time, find humour in this, then the play has achieved its purpose (as I see it). In other words, it reflects the condition of human life as Beckett chose to describe it, and not only this, it succeeds in drawing us deeply into his description and invites us, as reluctant as we may be, to live it through our reading. A brilliant, if rather discomforting reflection on the pain, whispers of humour and ultimate meaninglessness of human life.

The Emperor's not wearing any clothes..., 16 Sep 2007
Like the godawful works of Pinter that followed, Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" is a masterwork in the field of pretentious garbage. This play is neither funny nor entertaining; the ludicrous dialogue frustrates, the characters try their hardest to prove themselves wholly unreal, and, as that famous review quoted from the lines of the play itself, "nothing happens."
Yet today "Godot" is hailed as a masterpiece of modern drama owing to its apparently being a well of deep hidden meaning and symbolism. When one looks at a blank wall for long enough blotches and other irregularities gradually become noticeable to the eye; hell, some might even claim to see a face in said blotches. But let's be honest, it's just a blank wall. Similarly, "Godot" is a wholly unsatisfying waste of an hour and a half, saved by a horrifyingly large number of people's determination to see clothes on the Emperor when really there are none.

It will definitely come tomorrow, 11 Nov 2006
I have always been tempted to write the sequel, "The arrival of Godot"
However like Fermat's last theorem I fear the world is unlikely ever to see this masterpiece. Godot is a very naughty boy who refuses to come in on time. And at his age (at least 53) he should know better.

Get ready for the telling off of all time when he does turn up!

This is a great play, mostly for what it does not say, rather than what it does.


Beckett complete dramas., 16 Nov 2003
If you are new to the works of Samuel Beckett then this is the best place to start in my opinion. There is nothing I can add which hasn't already been said about these dramas, only that they are quite short and moderately accessible but almost inexhaustable in their complexity. To describe these works as 'existentialist' really doesn't do them justice or decribe their nature to any deep degree. The plays are unique and must be experienced to be understood. Generally there is a quite dark tone to most of the works, sometimes obscenely disturbing, sometimes cynically funny but at times there are moments of true poetic beauty. I would strongly recommend these plays to anyone interested in drama of a more unconventional type. High points include - 'Waiting for Godot', 'Endgame', 'Krapp's last tape' and 'All that falls'. However, as a general warning, these are not uplifting plays, I myself found some of them sickening and disturbing in parts.

the complete works of the master of 'theatre of the absurd', 16 May 2000
Compact, well presented collection of Beckett epic metamorphosis of modern theatre - from Godot to Ghost Trio. Plays following the more 'excepted structure' to works of silence and light. The only crit is the briefness of notes about first performances. Otherwise a must have for those intrested in exploring the limits of theatre.

I can't go on, I'll go on., 18 Aug 2008
Sadly, when I first read Beckett I was a mildly pretentious English Literature undergraduate, attracted by a writer who I thought of as bleak and intense.

Revisiting him years later, I'm amazed by how often I laughed aloud while ploughing through this volume. In these days of "LOL" being used at the end of every sentence by anyone who thinks they've typed some sort of witticism, it's a thing of wonder to find oneself actually guffawing while reading such a brilliantly funny, yet substantial writer.

I think it's telling that I found the trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable) hard-going when I was 18. I know full well why: I was trying to be too clever by half in my reading of it. Instead of being academic about it, read them as though you're reading them aloud, and if you can, with an Irish accent - it's then that the rhythms of the prose really come alive. These are wonderfully entertaining works that ruminate cheekily on the futility of human existence.

It's unfortunate that the box set of the four volumes of the Grove Centenary Edition is now unavailable; it's a lovely thing and beautifully presented. But really, you can't get better value than this. Amazon want just over eleven quid for a fine hardback edition of four novels by one of the great writers in English. Click the big yellow button. Go on.

mananam, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novels. If you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

Blugh, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

This is Volume 2., 06 Jan 2007
Firstly, this is volume 2 of this series, the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

I can't go on, I'll go on., 18 Aug 2008
Sadly, when I first read Beckett I was a mildly pretentious English Literature undergraduate, attracted by a writer who I thought of as bleak and intense.

Revisiting him years later, I'm amazed by how often I laughed aloud while ploughing through this volume. In these days of "LOL" being used at the end of every sentence by anyone who thinks they've typed some sort of witticism, it's a thing of wonder to find oneself actually guffawing while reading such a brilliantly funny, yet substantial writer.

I think it's telling that I found the trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable) hard-going when I was 18. I know full well why: I was trying to be too clever by half in my reading of it. Instead of being academic about it, read them as though you're reading them aloud, and if you can, with an Irish accent - it's then that the rhythms of the prose really come alive. These are wonderfully entertaining works that ruminate cheekily on the futility of human existence.

It's unfortunate that the box set of the four volumes of the Grove Centenary Edition is now unavailable; it's a lovely thing and beautifully presented. But really, you can't get better value than this. Amazon want just over eleven quid for a fine hardback edition of four novels by one of the great writers in English. Click the big yellow button. Go on.

mananam, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novels. If you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

Blugh, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

This is Volume 2., 06 Jan 2007
Firstly, this is volume 2 of this series, the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

The Absurd, 08 Aug 2008
This is an interesting play. There is a contrast between dark and light. A battling conversation, which gives a sense of time passing by. Each part consist's a metaphor of some kind, including the characters all which represents the bigger picture.
The play also toys with death.

It reflects Beckett's previous marriage to some extent and demonstrates Beckett's dark humour. Though no doubt illustrates his genuis mind.
He is one of the few writers who wanted full control of his play and even revoked his play temporarily to make changes.

Some readers may find this strange ...perhaps even weird but read again and you realise never judge the book by its cover .... in this case never judge the play by its words. It is a deep book, philosophical even.

Fantastic - Beckett was a genious!, 20 Mar 2002
This is a master piece. Beckett's characters and settings may seem somewhat absurd to those who do not grasp the underlying message of the play, but when fully understood, Beckett's true meaning is frightening. His characters appear to be in a hopeless state of paralysis, both physically and mentally and their constant references to the 'end' which is drawing near is utterly depressing. Hamm and Clov's hopeless relationship is filled with disrespect, yet neither can survive without the other, while Nell's death in her ash can is barely acknowledged by anyone other than Nagg. Their monotonous and never ending wait for death is a dreary yet eye opening insight of the world, which forces us to reasess our own existence. Brilliant!

Beckett's masterpiece, a suberb drama of fearful intensity., 12 Mar 2001
'Old endgame lost of old, play and lose and have done with losing.....'

So says Hamm, patriach and master of the stage on which the play is set. Beckett originally wrote the piece in French (Entitled 'Fin de Partie')in 1957 shortly after the death of his brother and it was first produced at the Royal Court Theatre on 3rd April 1957. The two main protagonists, the blind, crippled Hamm and his lame manservant Clov live in a perpetual state of symbiosis- despite Clov's threats to leave and die in the wilderness beyond the stage and Hamm's threats to starve Clov, neither can live without each other, and they exist in a constant see-saw of pathos and hatred, love and hope. Written in Beckett's unique style of 'Lessness', the piece explores many themes in Beckett's own domain of contempory existence; our relationships, fears, and struggles against the dark. The play itself is wildly eloquent, the characters managing to attain hights of pathos but also a dark hallucinatory humour, often in the same line. As effective on paper as it is on stage, Beckett's Endgame must rank as one of the finest plays ever written, conforming to what may be described as 'modern theatre' but also expanding and exploring the genre at the same time. Beckett is one of the most important and influential writers of the twentieth century, and Endgame is his masterpiece. It is as relevant now as it ever was, and is a must read for anyone with even a passing interest in literature.

"Just to know that in theory you hear me, even though in fact you don't, is all I need.", 13 Jul 2006
When this 1961 play opens, a woman is buried waist deep in a pile of sand, a large bag on her left, and a deep tunnel behind and below her on the right. The environment is treeless and bleak, and we have no idea where, why, or how the woman (Winnie) came to be in her present predicament. Throughout the first act, Winnie engages in the minutiae of her life, pulling out her glasses, a parasol, a gun, a music box, and her hat from her bag as she blathers on about brushing her teeth, and wonders if she has brushed her hair. Occasionally, she looks toward the tunnel where she addresses the absent Willie, who does not respond. When he emerges from the tunnel briefly and hums, Winnie gaily announces "Another happy day," before he disappears again.

In the second act, Winnie appears older, she has sunk into the sand so that only her head shows, and she is unable to move it. Though she is not sure Willie is alive and calls to him repeatedly, he ignores her until he suddenly emerges, dressed in tuxedo and top hat and tries to crawl upward toward Winnie. When he fails, the play ends.

In this classic example of the Theatre of the Absurd, the characters are out of sync with the world as the audience knows it, living in some universe with which we are unfamiliar. Their lives are meaningless, undirected, and irrational, yet, during the play, they somehow survive the passage of time, the lack of connection with each other, and their purposeless existence. Willie seems to be trying, futilely, to connect with Winnie at the end, but, absurdly, Winnie cannot see him and he cannot reach her.

Author Samuel Beckett once said, "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness...it's the most comical thing in the world." In that sense this is a funny play, but there were few laughs from the audience when I saw it recently. The production starred one of New England's most brilliant actresses in a mind-blowing performance, the lighting provided visual interest, and the direction was first-rate. Yet despite the fact that this was an audience of theatre-goers accustomed to serious drama, most of the audience was yawning by intermission, and about one-third had fallen asleep. If Beckett's intention were to show the meaninglessness of life through the monotony of this play, he succeeded brilliantly--putting the audience to sleep has to be the ultimate absurdity. Mary Whipple


bitter end, 31 May 2006
The alarm clock rings and Winnie awakes. It is the beginning of a new day. The scene is a flat landscape with Winnie in the centre. She is embedded up over her waist in the mound. Winnie is happy about every single day. Willie, her husband, lies behind her and he seldom speaks. He is reading the newspaper. Winnie is preoccupied with oneself, putting thinks out of her bag and talking to Willie.
In the second act Winnie is embedded up to the neck in the mound. Her speech is an endless flow of words. She is more melancholy as in the first act. I think Beckett wanted to show the process of getting old and cope with it. They both are two different characters, but they complete in a very special way. Remembering the past and being happy with the present is one of the pleasures of life. Happy days will end, but if not today, it will be another precious day.

Wait, 27 Nov 2008
I loved Waiting for Godot. A classic of Dialogue Theatre. People need to realise that even though it seems as if nothing is happening, it really is. They are waiting for something, and everyone knows what happens when you wait for so long, when it comes it will be a disapointment. Whether they are Waiting for God. In the days after WW11 when people started to really question whether there was a God and if there was, why didnt he stop the war? A brilliant example of the Absurdist theatre that was starting to rise or the Anti Theatre or the Search for ones Self, the search for purpose. A Fantastic play

Seek and ye shall find, 29 Aug 2008
When this play was first performed in London, Harold Hobson, drama critic of The Sunday Times said it was 'a conversational necessity'.
Being a mere child at the time I though this meant it was good. I sat through it with my girl-friend, and it seemed to me to be complete gibberish. What does it mean? she asked. I'll tell you at the end of the performance, I replied, hoping for a denoument. I couldn't tell her, because to me it was meaningless. How many critics here tell you what it means?

Last year, aged 70 and professor of literature, I saw it again in a lauded production at the Barbican. I sat through the first half becoming more and more angry. Becket, I thought, is making fools of us all. At the Interval I walked out, and didn't come back. The play's message is simple: Most of us believe in God. We wait to eventually meet him. But there is no God. And we are wasting our time. Shakespeare said it so much more briefly and poetically in Macbeth. Life 'is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.' Waiting for Godot signifies nothing. If you search for meaning I'm sure you'll find it. If you take the play at its face value, it's nonsense. Twice.

Stark and bewildering, 13 Feb 2008
I read this play more than ten years ago for a course in contemporary drama. At first I was completely lost, considered the dialogue pointless, and found it incredibly boring. However, following a visit to The Gate Theatre in Dublin, my opinion of the play changed entirely - the dialogue's pointlessness made sense finally, the existentialism of the play became comprehensible, not to mention the subtle dark humour. I started to see the brilliance of the play - if we are bored, lost, bewildered, uncertain, unhappy, and at the same time, find humour in this, then the play has achieved its purpose (as I see it). In other words, it reflects the condition of human life as Beckett chose to describe it, and not only this, it succeeds in drawing us deeply into his description and invites us, as reluctant as we may be, to live it through our reading. A brilliant, if rather discomforting reflection on the pain, whispers of humour and ultimate meaninglessness of human life.

The Emperor's not wearing any clothes..., 16 Sep 2007
Like the godawful works of Pinter that followed, Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" is a masterwork in the field of pretentious garbage. This play is neither funny nor entertaining; the ludicrous dialogue frustrates, the characters try their hardest to prove themselves wholly unreal, and, as that famous review quoted from the lines of the play itself, "nothing happens."
Yet today "Godot" is hailed as a masterpiece of modern drama owing to its apparently being a well of deep hidden meaning and symbolism. When one looks at a blank wall for long enough blotches and other irregularities gradually become noticeable to the eye; hell, some might even claim to see a face in said blotches. But let's be honest, it's just a blank wall. Similarly, "Godot" is a wholly unsatisfying waste of an hour and a half, saved by a horrifyingly large number of people's determination to see clothes on the Emperor when really there are none.

It will definitely come tomorrow, 11 Nov 2006
I have always been tempted to write the sequel, "The arrival of Godot"
However like Fermat's last theorem I fear the world is unlikely ever to see this masterpiece. Godot is a very naughty boy who refuses to come in on time. And at his age (at least 53) he should know better.

Get ready for the telling off of all time when he does turn up!

This is a great play, mostly for what it does not say, rather than what it does.


Beckett complete dramas., 16 Nov 2003
If you are new to the works of Samuel Beckett then this is the best place to start in my opinion. There is nothing I can add which hasn't already been said about these dramas, only that they are quite short and moderately accessible but almost inexhaustable in their complexity. To describe these works as 'existentialist' really doesn't do them justice or decribe their nature to any deep degree. The plays are unique and must be experienced to be understood. Generally there is a quite dark tone to most of the works, sometimes obscenely disturbing, sometimes cynically funny but at times there are moments of true poetic beauty. I would strongly recommend these plays to anyone interested in drama of a more unconventional type. High points include - 'Waiting for Godot', 'Endgame', 'Krapp's last tape' and 'All that falls'. However, as a general warning, these are not uplifting plays, I myself found some of them sickening and disturbing in parts.

the complete works of the master of 'theatre of the absurd', 16 May 2000
Compact, well presented collection of Beckett epic metamorphosis of modern theatre - from Godot to Ghost Trio. Plays following the more 'excepted structure' to works of silence and light. The only crit is the briefness of notes about first performances. Otherwise a must have for those intrested in exploring the limits of theatre.

I can't go on, I'll go on., 18 Aug 2008
Sadly, when I first read Beckett I was a mildly pretentious English Literature undergraduate, attracted by a writer who I thought of as bleak and intense.

Revisiting him years later, I'm amazed by how often I laughed aloud while ploughing through this volume. In these days of "LOL" being used at the end of every sentence by anyone who thinks they've typed some sort of witticism, it's a thing of wonder to find oneself actually guffawing while reading such a brilliantly funny, yet substantial writer.

I think it's telling that I found the trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable) hard-going when I was 18. I know full well why: I was trying to be too clever by half in my reading of it. Instead of being academic about it, read them as though you're reading them aloud, and if you can, with an Irish accent - it's then that the rhythms of the prose really come alive. These are wonderfully entertaining works that ruminate cheekily on the futility of human existence.

It's unfortunate that the box set of the four volumes of the Grove Centenary Edition is now unavailable; it's a lovely thing and beautifully presented. But really, you can't get better value than this. Amazon want just over eleven quid for a fine hardback edition of four novels by one of the great writers in English. Click the big yellow button. Go on.

mananam, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novels. If you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

Blugh, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

This is Volume 2., 06 Jan 2007
Firstly, this is volume 2 of this series, the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

I can't go on, I'll go on., 18 Aug 2008
Sadly, when I first read Beckett I was a mildly pretentious English Literature undergraduate, attracted by a writer who I thought of as bleak and intense.

Revisiting him years later, I'm amazed by how often I laughed aloud while ploughing through this volume. In these days of "LOL" being used at the end of every sentence by anyone who thinks they've typed some sort of witticism, it's a thing of wonder to find oneself actually guffawing while reading such a brilliantly funny, yet substantial writer.

I think it's telling that I found the trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable) hard-going when I was 18. I know full well why: I was trying to be too clever by half in my reading of it. Instead of being academic about it, read them as though you're reading them aloud, and if you can, with an Irish accent - it's then that the rhythms of the prose really come alive. These are wonderfully entertaining works that ruminate cheekily on the futility of human existence.

It's unfortunate that the box set of the four volumes of the Grove Centenary Edition is now unavailable; it's a lovely thing and beautifully presented. But really, you can't get better value than this. Amazon want just over eleven quid for a fine hardback edition of four novels by one of the great writers in English. Click the big yellow button. Go on.

mananam, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novels. If you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

Blugh, 06 Jan 2007
This is the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

This is Volume 2., 06 Jan 2007
Firstly, this is volume 2 of this series, the closest thing to a Collected Works of Samuel Beckett that could be done in English. All it's missing in Dream of Dair to Middling Woman and Eleutheria, as the editor points out. I ordered all 4 volumes together (because the boxed set is unavailable for some reason) and have not been disappointed. Samuel Beckett, I already knew, is an amazing writer. I had read all his plays and am currently awe-struck by his novelsIf you've read anything by him and still have it stuck in your head, these are a great buy, and an even better read. Anyone who likes James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Albert Camus should definitely read a bit of Beckett.

The Absurd, 08 Aug 2008
This is an interesting play. There is a contrast between dark and light. A battling conversation, which gives a sense of time passing by. Each part consist's a metaphor of some kind, including the characters all which represents the bigger picture.
The play also toys with death.

It reflects Beckett's previous marriage to some extent and demonstrates Beckett's dark humour. Though no doubt illustrates his genuis mind.
He is one of the few writers who wanted full control of his play and even revoked his play temporarily to make changes.

Some readers may find this strange ...perhaps even weird but read again and you realise never judge the book by its cover .... in this case never judge the play by its words. It is a deep book, philosophical even.

Fantastic - Beckett was a genious!, 20 Mar 2002
This is a master piece. Beckett's characters and settings may seem somewhat absurd to those who do not grasp the underlying message of the play, but when fully understood, Beckett's true meaning is frightening. His characters appear to be in a hopeless state of paralysis, both physically and mentally and their constant references to the 'end' which is drawing near is utterly depressing. Hamm and Clov's hopeless relationship is filled with disrespect, yet neither can survive without the other, while Nell's death in her ash can is barely acknowledged by anyone other than Nagg. Their monotonous and never ending wait for death is a dreary yet eye opening insight of the world, which forces us to reasess our own existence. Brilliant!

Beckett's masterpiece, a suberb drama of fearful intensity., 12 Mar 2001
'Old endgame lost of old, play and lose and have done with losing.....'

So says Hamm, patriach and master of the stage on which the play is set. Beckett originally wrote the piece in French (Entitled 'Fin de Partie')in 1957 shortly after the death of his brother and it was first produced at the Royal Court Theatre on 3rd April 1957. The two main protagonists, the blind, crippled Hamm and his lame manservant Clov live in a perpetual state of symbiosis- despite Clov's threats to leave and die in the wilderness beyond the stage and Hamm's threats to starve Clov, neither can live without each other, and they exist in a constant see-saw of pathos and hatred, love and hope. Written in Beckett's unique style of 'Lessness', the piece explores many themes in Beckett's own domain of contempory existence; our relationships, fears, and struggles against the dark. The play itself is wildly eloquent, the characters managing to attain hights of pathos but also a dark hallucinatory humour, often in the same line. As effective on paper as it is on stage, Beckett's Endgame must rank as one of the finest plays ever written, conforming to what may be described as 'modern theatre' but also expanding and exploring the genre at the same time. Beckett is one of the most important and influential writers of the twentieth century, and Endgame is his masterpiece. It is as relevant now as it ever was, and is a must read for anyone with even a passing interest in literature.

"Just to know that in theory you hear me, even though in fact you don't, is all I need.", 13 Jul 2006
When this 1961 play opens, a woman is buried waist deep in a pile of sand, a large bag on her left, and a deep tunnel behind and below her on the right. The environment is treeless and bleak, and we have no idea where, why, or how the woman (Winnie) came to be in her present predicament. Throughout the first act, Winnie engages in the minutiae of her life, pulling out her glasses, a parasol, a gun, a music box, and her hat from her bag as she blathers on about brushing her teeth, and wonders if she has brushed her hair. Occasionally, she looks toward the tunnel where she addresses the absent Willie, who does not respond. When he emerges from the tunnel briefly and hums, Winnie gaily announces "Another happy day," before he disappears again.

In the second act, Winnie appears older, she has sunk into the sand so that only her head shows, and she is unable to move it. Though she is not sure Willie is alive and calls to him repeatedly, he ignores her until he suddenly emerges, dressed in tuxedo and top hat and tries to crawl upward toward Winnie. When he fails, the play ends.

In this classic example of the Theatre of the Absurd, the characters are out of sync with the world as the audience knows it, living in some universe with which we are unfamiliar. Their lives are meaningless, undirected, and irrational, yet, during the play, they somehow survive the passage of time, the lack of connection with each other, and their purposeless existence. Willie seems to be trying, futilely, to connect with Winnie at the end, but, absurdly, Winnie cannot see him and he cannot reach her.

Author Samuel Beckett once said, "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness...it's the most comical thing in the world." In that sense this is a funny play, but there were few laughs from the audience when I saw it recently. The production starred one of New England's most brilliant actresses in a mind-blowing performance, the lighting provided visual interest, and the direction was first-rate. Yet despite the fact that this was an audience of theatre-goers accustomed to serious drama, most of the audience was yawning by intermission, and about one-third had fallen asleep. If Beckett's intention were to show the meaninglessness of life through the monotony of this play, he succeeded brilliantly--putting the audience to sleep has to be the ultimate absurdity. Mary Whipple


bitter end, 31 May 2006
The alarm clock rings and Winnie awakes. It is the beginning of a new day. The scene is a flat landscape with Winnie in the centre. She is embedded up over her waist in the mound. Winnie is happy about every single day. Willie, her husband, lies behind her and he seldom speaks. He is reading the newspaper. Winnie is preoccupied with oneself, putting thinks out of her bag and talking to Willie.
In the second act Winnie is embedded up to the neck in the mound. Her speech is an endless flow of words. She is more melancholy as in the first act. I think Beckett wanted to show the process of getting old and cope with it. They both are two different characters, but they complete in a very special way. Remembering the past and being happy with the present is one of the pleasures of life. Happy days will end, but if not today, it will be another precious day.


Brilliant short, tightly written insights into Beckett's genius, 28 Nov 2006
These short stories are a great starting place for anyone interested in exploring Beckett's prose, 'First Love' itself being a particular gem. They represent the start of a new creative period for Beckett, when his move to composition in French helped him to escape the anxiety of Joyce's influence. The stories in this volume are Beckett's own translations (with the help of Richard Seaver) of his original French tales. Translation has not diminished them, even if they are inescapably slightly different from their French incarnations. Overall, highly recommended. I'm sure anyone who has read any Beckett prose is desperate for more; similarly those who are as yet familiar only with the drama have a literary world which is as rich, if not more rich, still to discover.

PS. MUST give it 5 stars, since the 2 star rating here accompanies a glowing review - probably a typo, but we wouldn't want this to damage Beckett's reputation!

great literature, 11 Oct 2002
The incandescent charm of Beckett's language had never been more apparent than in these small masterpieces, written under the shadow of the worst war in history. He brings to life a strange world of existentialist torment and aimless wandering with an almost incomprehensible ingenuity. The best of the stories is undoubtedly First Love where the apparent pointlessness of life shown in the other three novellas is thrown the challenge of what it is to be in love. The result is a compelling view of the humnan experience, regardless of the particular human beings being discussed. First Love has a subtlety and a tragic undertone which must have been particularly relevant to any post-war audience, but even today the power of these lost lives still evoke certain emotions that will make us all remember what life if really all about. These stories are at once cynically vulgar and beautifully elegiac. If Beckett had never written anything else, he would still have been one of the twentieth century's greatest writers.

The Genius of despair spares us not., 27 Jul 2001
Readers of "Watt" will find the familiar cold comfort of isolation and despair that is unique to Beckett's view of the human condition. Abandon hope, all ye who would enter the world of these three novellas, the first Beckett wrote in French.

All three novellas cover the same single male animal condition; isolation, despair, hopelessness and curiosity as to why things are as such. It is the view that the corpse is superior to the living, and rotting flesh.

They provoke, they incite and they inspire. Could literature do more?

Wait, 27 Nov 2008
I loved Waiting for Godot. A classic of Dialogue Theatre. People need to realise that even though it seems as if nothing is happening, it really is. They are waiting for something, and everyone knows what happens when you wait for so long, when it comes it will be a disapointment. Whether they are Waiting for God. In the days after WW11 when people started to really question whether there was a God and if there was, why didnt he stop the war? A brilliant example of the Absurdist theatre that was starting to rise or the Anti Theatre or the Search for ones Self, the search for purpose. A Fantastic play

Seek and ye shall find, 29 Aug 2008
When this play was first performed in London, Harold Hobson, drama critic of The Sunday Times said it was 'a conversational necessity'.
Being a mere child at the time I though this meant it was good. I sat through it with my girl-friend, and it seemed to me to be complete gibberish. What does it mean? she asked. I'll tell you at the end of the performance, I replied, hoping for a denoument. I couldn't tell her, because to me it was meaningless. How many critics here tell you what it means?

Last year, aged 70 and professor of literature, I saw it again in a lauded production at the Barbican. I sat through the first half becoming more and more angry. Becket, I thought, is making fools of us all. At the Interval I walked out, and didn't come back. The play's message is simple: Most of us believe in God. We wait to eventually meet him. But there is no God. And we are wasting our time. Shakespeare said it so much more briefly and poetically in Macbeth. Life 'is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.' Waiting for Godot signifies nothing. If you search for meaning I'm sure you'll find it. If you take the play at its face value, it's nonsense. Twice.

Stark and bewildering, 13 Feb 2008
I read this play more than ten years ago for a course in contemporary drama. At first I was completely lost, considered the dialogue pointless, and found it incredibly boring. However, following a visit to The Gate Theatre in Dublin, my opinion of the play changed entirely - the dialogue's pointlessness made sense finally, the existentialism of the play became comprehensible, not to mention the subtle dark humour. I started to see the brilliance of the play - if we are bored, lost, bewildered, uncertain, unhappy, and at the same time, find humour in this, then the play has achieved its purpose (as I see it). In other words, it reflects the condition of human life as Beckett chose to describe it, and not only this, it succeeds in drawing us deeply into his description and invites us, as reluctant as we may be, to live it through our reading. A brilliant, if rather discomforting reflection on the pain, whispers of humour and ultimate meaninglessness of human life.

The Emperor's not wearing any clothes..., 16 Sep 2007
Like the godawful works of Pinter that followed, Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" is a masterwork in the field of pretentious garbage. This play is neither funny nor entertaining; the ludicrous dialogue frustrates, the characters try their hardest to prove themselves wholly unreal, and, as that famous review quoted from the lines of the play itself, "nothing happens."
Yet today "Godot" is hailed as a masterpiece of modern drama owing to its apparently being a well of deep hidden meaning and symbolism. When one looks at a blank wall for long enough blotches and other irregularities gradually become noticeable to the eye; hell, some might even claim to see a face in said blotches. But let's be honest, it's just a blank wall. Similarly, "Godot" is a wholly unsatisfying waste of an hour and a half, saved by a horrifyingly large number of people's determination to see clothes on the Emperor when really there are none.

It will definitely come tomorrow, 11 Nov 2006
I have always been tempted to write the sequel, "The arrival of Godot"
However like Fermat's last theorem I fear the world is unlikely ever to see this masterpiece. Godot is a very naughty boy who refuses to come in on time. And at his age (at least 53) he should know better.

Get ready for the telling off of all time when he does turn up!

This is a great play, mostly for what it does not say, rather than what it does.


Beckett complete dramas., 16 Nov 2003
If you are new to the works of Samuel Beckett then this is the best place to start in my opinion. There is nothing I can add which hasn't