Beckett/Beckett

Bibliographic Information

Beckett/Beckett

Vivian Mercier

Souvenir, 1990

  • : pbk

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Note

Originally published: New York : Oxford University Press, 1977

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780285630109

Description

Written by an outstanding scholar and critic who was one of the first to recognize Beckett's genius, this classic study of the novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett has been praised for its refreshingly personal approach and its many new insights. A personal approach is blended skillfully with a persuasive dialectical discussion of the complex paradoxes in Beckett's writings--gentleman/tramp, intellect/emotion, Ireland/the World, eye/ear, artist/philosopher, man/woman. It also presents a lively, almost irreverent study of women in Beckett's work.
Volume

ISBN 9780285630154

Description

This classic study of the novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett has never been surpassed. Written by an outstanding scholar and critic who was one of the first to recognise Beckett's genius, it was originally published in 1977, and was praised for its refreshingly personal approach and its many new insights. Here was a writer who not only understood Beckett from the shared knowledge of a similar background, but who was not afraid to temper admiration with criticism. Thirteen years younger than Beckett and like him of Anglo-Irish ancestry, Vivian Mercier attended the same school and university, and first became aware of him in 1934. From then on he followed his progress with keen interest, and his analysis of the many contrasts and contradictions in Beckett's work is constantly enlivened by his appreciation of Beckett the man. This personal approach is blended skilfully with a persuasive dialectical discussion of the complex paradoxes in Beckett's writings - gentleman.tramp, intellect/emotion, Ireland/the World, eye/ear, artist/philosopher, man/woman. No other critic has so lucidly described the many facets of Beckett's learning - his use of mathematics, his debt to Racine in the classical shaping of his plays, his views on painting and music. He also presents a lively, almost irreverent study of the women in Beckett's work. Samuel Beckett has too often been put on a pedestal as a writer beyond criticism and, for many, beyond true understanding. This book, with its wealth of knowledge lightly dispensed, not only gives us a fresh appreciation of the man and his work, but also entices us to read and re-read with enlightened eyes.

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Details
  • NCID
    BA35694657
  • ISBN
    • 0285630156
    • 0285630105
  • Country Code
    uk
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    London
  • Pages/Volumes
    xv, 254 p.
  • Size
    23 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
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