Samuel Beckett (British and Irish Authors) [Paperback]

Andrew Karpati Kennedy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 1989 | Series: British and Irish Authors

While providing a critical introduction for the student of Samuel Beckett's work and for other readers and theatre-goers who have been influenced by it, this study also presents an original perspective on one of the twentieth century's greatest writers of prose fiction and drama. Andrew Kennedy links Beckett's vision of a diminished humanity with his art of formally and verbally diminished resources, and traces the fundamental simplicity and coherence of Beckett's work beneath its complex textures. In the section on the plays, Dr Kennedy stresses the humour and tragicomic humanism alongside the theatrical effectiveness; and in a discussion of the fiction (the celebrated trilogy of novels) he relates the relentless diminution of 'story' to the diminishing selfhood of the narrator. An introduction outlines the personal, cultural and specifically literary contexts of Beckett's writing, while a concluding chapter offers up-to-date reflections on his œuvre, from the point-of-view of the themes highlighted throughout the book. This study, complete with a chronological table and a guide to further reading, will prove stimulating for both new and advanced students of Beckett.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (June 30, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521274885
• ISBN-13: 978-0521274883
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 4.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,769,466 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Introduction, March 8, 2003

By 

Allen Ruch (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samuel Beckett (British and Irish Authors) (Paperback)

Refreshingly free from academic jargon, Andrew Kennedy's "Samuel Beckett" is an acute and insightful examination of Beckett's major works up until "Play." It is also free from a larger critical agenda or theoretical intentions -- while Kennedy feels free to highlight various interpretations of Beckett's works, he careful avoids espousing his own, confining his examinations to the internal dynamics and development of Beckett's writing. Theme, structure, language, and narrative style are emphasized and often brilliantly illuminated by Kennedy's direct yet lyrical prose, and he goes to great lengths to show how each piece is a logical but often revolutionary product of Beckett's growth as a writer, thereby establishing a framework for understanding his oeuvre as whole. Especially worthwhile is Kennedy's discussion of the Trilogy: "Molloy," "Malone Dies," and "The Unnamable." In a lucid discussion of the work's complex layers of fiction, metafiction, and meta-narration, Kennedy unravels the Trilogy's jumbled skein of voices to highlight the constant thematic threads tying the three novels together: the diminishment of the self, the authorial burden, and the almost mystical self-consciousness of the act of writing itself.

While perhaps a touch too basic for the Beckett enthusiast, Kennedy's accessible but intelligent book makes a perfect introduction for the student or casual reader. Its only real flaw lies in its limited scope -- a few more chapters on the radio plays, shorter dramatic works, and final novellas would have been much appreciated.