Beckett: A study of his plays,

Beckett: A Study of His Plays by John Fletcher and John Spurling Although he described himself as a novelist who also writes plays, there is no question that Samuel Beckett is one ofthe most important playwrights of the 20th century. "Samuel Beckett was waiting for the theatre," writes john Spurling, "as the theatre was waiting for Samuel Beckett." As a young man, inspired by Proust's identification of form and content, Beckett wrote: . . he makes no attempt to dissociate form from content. The one is a concretion of the other, the revelation of a world." When, more than fifteen years later, Beckett began his career as a dramatist with Eleutbéria and Waiting for Godot (both written in French), the theatre was ready for his Proustian explorations. John Fletcher and John Spurling examine in turn each of Beckett's plays, analyzing his development as a dramatist and his constant experimentation. They present a comprehensive picture of the imagery and motives that grow through the whole of Beckett's work. This book also includes a chronological summary of Beckett's career and an essay on the plays in performance. The result is a rounded, well-informed study, an essential handbook and guide.