Beckett: Waiting for Godot: A Student Guide (Landmarks of World Literature)

by Lawrence Graver

Book Overview

This 2004 volume offers a comprehensive critical study of Samuel Beckett's first and most renowned dramatic work, Waiting for Godot, which has become one of the most frequently discussed, and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521549388
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.3" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

ignore the stars, please

I just received this book and haven't read it yet. It looks quite good.HOWEVER! because I read the description too quickly, and because I was misled by the other reader reviews, I thought that the actual text of the play was here, in both languages, in addition to a critical apparatus. Not so! All of the other reader reviews are about Beckett's play itself, which is not part of this book!

Nothing to be done.

This meaningless piece of writing shows confusion of living and despair of life. Beckett reveals society situation after the Second World War, which received much reaction from the outside. Nothing to be done becomes the first aim of living.

Question your existence with one book

Beckett's Waiting for Godot is on of the most intense existential works since existentailism was founded. The characters may be "stagnant and colorless" (See previous review)- but this is all on purpose - Beckett is showing us how stagnant and colorless our lives are as we wait in our tiny universes for a God to come along and tell us what to believe in. Beckett challenges us to look around, take control of our lives and quit waiting around everyday for something that will never come - no matter how hard you want to believe.

Exceptional example of existentialism

This play raises questions about the purpose of human existence and totally defies any previous concepts of style--it is abstract and yet quantifies a feeling of meaningful emptiness--or tired meaningfulness. I highly recommend this play to anyone who is interested in Symbolism or the existentialist movement in literature and stage. If you liked No Exit by Sartre, you'll love this.