Customer Reviews

How It Was: A Memoir of Samuel Beckett

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This memoir is what we hope for. Lots of new information, inside anecdotes, and pictures.

If you love Beckett you must have this book. I would've gone without meals to buy it, if necessary.

Also be sure to buy Why Beckett, by Enoch Brater. It is magical.

This is a revealing, insightful portrayal of the great Irish writer, by a close friend of his, the poet Anne Atik, wife of the painter Avigdor Arikha, whose striking portraits of Beckett are reproduced here. The book is unique for its descriptions of, and insights into the springs of artistic creation, for the refined 'table talk' it lovingly and discretely recounts, for the details that only a friend could know and see so well - all told by a poet. This is definitely a must for Beckett fans and lovers of literature.

This book ( How it was)

well,... it was amazing.

I am so glad I bought it.

I was in cafes with Beckett....

( no other book can do that)

I wondered for a long time whether I should buy it...

I'm glad I did..

What a wonderful book!

if you love Beckett

An intimate portrayal of a great and private man. Ms. Atik talks of the many dinner conversations they had, mostly between her husband Avigdor Arikha and Beckett. The conversations revolve mostly around art and literary topics, with the two reciting long poems from memory.

What astounds the reader is how prodigious Beckett's recall is; the copious amounts of wine consumed by the man didn't seem to affect his great literary and artistic memories. From his lifetime of reading erudite texts, he can recite entire poems. This is truly an amazing man.

Atik's text is interspersed with nine portraits of Beckett by Arikha, along with many letters and snippets of text in Beckett's longhand. Also there are some photos of Atik's family and scenes from a couple of the Beckett dramas.

This is a remarkable book, one that supplies an intimate side of Beckett that isn't found in the DAMNED TO FAME biography. Must reading for those taken with the life of this literary giant.

Parataxis

The Cloud Reckoner

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

At this point, given the reviews, it is clear that Anne Atik has written a fine memoir. What I would like to comment on in particular is the role she herself plays as both writer and actor. She manages to be remarkably self-effacing, something not at all easy for a writer who was a close friend of a famous artist. There is no tone of bragging, there are no self-serving anecdotes, and there are minimal details about the memoirist herself. In fact, if anything, I found myself wanting to know a bit more about her. But her discretion is admirable.