Understanding Samuel Beckett (Understanding Modern European and Latin American Literature)

Understanding Samuel Beckett presents an overview of the work of the Irish author whose most famous novels and plays--Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable, Waiting for Godot, and Endgame--are discussed in depth, alongside some less known earlier texts and later, shorter pieces. Alan Astro pays particular attention to Beckett's relationship with other authors (Dante, Joyce, Proust), his debt to philosophers (Sartre, Descartes, Pascal), his bilingualism, the psychoanalytic texture of his writing, and his manipulation of the first-person pronoun. Readers will see how Beckett's characters who wish to narrate their own deaths incorporate silence into their speech. Astro concludes with a discussion of Stirrings Still, Beckett's last text, in which he evokes his own impending demise. Understanding Samuel Becket t presents an overview of the work of the Irish author whose most famous novels and playsM olloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable, Waiting for Godot, and Endgame are discussed in depth, alongside some less known earlier texts and later, shorter pieces. Alan Astro pays particular attention to Beckett's relationship with other authors (Dante, Joyce, Proust), his debt to philosophers (Sartre, Descartes, Pascal), his bilingualism, the psychoanalytic texture of his writing, and his manipulation of the first-person pronoun. Readers will see how Beckett's characters who wish to narrate their own deaths incorporate silence into their speech. Astro concludes with a discussion of Stirrings Still, Beckett's last text, in which he evokes his own impending demise. Presents an overview of the work of Samuel Beckett. Discussing his famous as well as lesser known texts, the book shows how his characters incorporate silence in their speech to narrate their deaths. Finally it examines ""Stirring Still"", his last text, which evokes his own imminent death. By Alan Astro. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 209) And Index.