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I Can't Go On, I'll Go On: A Samuel Beckett Reader
Winner of the Nobel Prize for literature and acknowledged as one of the greatest writers of our time, Samuel Beckett has had a profound impact upon the literary landscape of the twentieth century. In this one-volume collection of his fiction, drama, poetry, and critical writings, we get an unsurpassed look at his work. Included, among others,
- The complete plays Waiting for Godot, Krapp’s Last Tape, Cascando, Eh Joe, Not I, and That Time
- Selections from his novels Murphy, Watt, Mercier and Camier, Molloy, and The Unnamable
- The shorter works “Dante and the Lobster,” “The Expelled,” Imagination Dead Imagine, and Lessness
- A selection of Beckett’s poetry and critical writings
With an indispensable introduction by editor and Beckett intimate Richard Seaver, and featuring a useful select bibliography, I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On is indeed an invaluable introduction to a writer who has changed the face of modern literature.
- The complete plays Waiting for Godot, Krapp’s Last Tape, Cascando, Eh Joe, Not I, and That Time
- Selections from his novels Murphy, Watt, Mercier and Camier, Molloy, and The Unnamable
- The shorter works “Dante and the Lobster,” “The Expelled,” Imagination Dead Imagine, and Lessness
- A selection of Beckett’s poetry and critical writings
With an indispensable introduction by editor and Beckett intimate Richard Seaver, and featuring a useful select bibliography, I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On is indeed an invaluable introduction to a writer who has changed the face of modern literature.
621 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
Samuel Beckett
787 books6,229 followersSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet, who lived in France for most of his adult life. He wrote in both English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.
Beckett is widely regarded as among the most influential writers of the 20th century. Strongly influenced by James Joyce, he is considered one of the last modernists. As an inspiration to many later writers, he is also sometimes considered one of the first postmodernists. He is one of the key writers in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd". His work became increasingly minimalist in his later career.
Beckett was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation". In 1984 he was elected Saoi of Aosdána.
Beckett is widely regarded as among the most influential writers of the 20th century. Strongly influenced by James Joyce, he is considered one of the last modernists. As an inspiration to many later writers, he is also sometimes considered one of the first postmodernists. He is one of the key writers in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd". His work became increasingly minimalist in his later career.
Beckett was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation". In 1984 he was elected Saoi of Aosdána.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
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December 15, 2019I bought this book simply to read the essay which Beckett had written for James Joyce/Finnegans Wake: Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress as I couldn't find an affordable copy of the Exagmination itself.
However, this book turned out to be full of treasures - some great short stories and plays, plus many extracts from his longer works, some of which I'd read already. I spent a long time going through the Reader but that was partly because I broke off frequently to read works it mentions and which I hadn't yet read in full.
So as a Reader, it fulfilled its aim perfectly.
However, this book turned out to be full of treasures - some great short stories and plays, plus many extracts from his longer works, some of which I'd read already. I spent a long time going through the Reader but that was partly because I broke off frequently to read works it mentions and which I hadn't yet read in full.
So as a Reader, it fulfilled its aim perfectly.
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April 2, 2009I read this over a period of months, and on several occasions had to limit what I read for a couple of reasons which I will outline. While I like having all of this Beckett in one place, one book, it's frustrating, of course, to read small sections of the novels included. This probably makes the book ideal for the classroom setting, but I'd almost rather the novels were left out (and I know there are collections of his short works alone, I'd probably be happier with one of these, but oh well). So eventually I just stopped reading the novel sections, deciding to read the novels later. Each text by Beckett is introduced by Richard Seaver with some very useful commentary and the whole volume includes a very personal introduction to Beckett at the beginning. My only quibble with the introductory notes to each text is that I would prefer them after the texts as they tended to slightly deflate or take some of the excitement out of the initial readings. Over time, I learned to read them after the stories and plays. Regardless of location, Seaver's introductions and the quantity of works included are what make this book so valuable to me. I'll likely be carrying it around for some time.
April 2, 2008
I didn't read the whole thing. I picked it up because I was saying Something Very Profound about Waiting for Godot the other day and wanted to go back and see if I was right. Like the poor stupid Vladimir, I don't remember anything from one meaningless day to the next, so I have no idea if I was right.
In those bleak twilights of pointed melancholy, I want to cry to the gray heavens GOD, Beckett is the only one who gets it! The only one! but I don't spend a lot of time there anymore. My feelings about Waiting for Godot can part-ironically, part-truthfully be summed up in this bit of dialog lifted from the play:
ESTRAGON: In the meantime, nothing happens.
POZZO: You find it tedious?
ESTRAGON: Somewhat.
POZZO: (to Vladimir) And you, Sir?
VLADIMIR: I've been better entertained.
even though I find it a lot funnier than I did when I first read it years ago. Dry as a desert corpse funny, but funny nonetheless.
I've never made a stab at his novels, because they seem hopelessly claustrophobic, full of I can't go on. I must go on's but then I am a wimp sometimes. His super short plays are where the money's at, in that they are like being suddenly stabbed instead of being slowly beaten to death. Like Breath, which just consists of a clipped sigh over a stage strewn with trash, or whatever the one is that has just the giant mouth on the stage.
I'm making this sound like I hated it, but really I love it, I just don't think reading Beckett is the kind of thing one can like.
In those bleak twilights of pointed melancholy, I want to cry to the gray heavens GOD, Beckett is the only one who gets it! The only one! but I don't spend a lot of time there anymore. My feelings about Waiting for Godot can part-ironically, part-truthfully be summed up in this bit of dialog lifted from the play:
ESTRAGON: In the meantime, nothing happens.
POZZO: You find it tedious?
ESTRAGON: Somewhat.
POZZO: (to Vladimir) And you, Sir?
VLADIMIR: I've been better entertained.
even though I find it a lot funnier than I did when I first read it years ago. Dry as a desert corpse funny, but funny nonetheless.
I've never made a stab at his novels, because they seem hopelessly claustrophobic, full of I can't go on. I must go on's but then I am a wimp sometimes. His super short plays are where the money's at, in that they are like being suddenly stabbed instead of being slowly beaten to death. Like Breath, which just consists of a clipped sigh over a stage strewn with trash, or whatever the one is that has just the giant mouth on the stage.
I'm making this sound like I hated it, but really I love it, I just don't think reading Beckett is the kind of thing one can like.
January 13, 2016
Beckett is not uplifting reading. His character struggle to define their lives in what is, in Beckett's view, an ultimately meaningless, even cruel, existence. While I don't agree with Beckett's philosophy, his creative genius is extremely seductive, especially in his earlier works, such as my favorite, Waiting for Godot. Beckett really has some insight into what it means to be human, allowing his audience to draw their own conclusions regardless of his personal views.
April 3, 2018
Beckett is a fecking genius... i thoroughly enjoyed this selection of his works, and it forced me to start reading through his entire available oeuvre as i could get the books... Beckett was a fascinating man, both intensely private and eminently scholarly as a teacher... his like will never be seen again, to be sure... i recommend this book to learn about the man, and get a taste of his writing (that justdamnedfabulous style no one an even imitate)... you'll either "get" Beckett, or you won't, there's not much in between... enjoy at your peril (he has a lot of published work)...
August 17, 2011
Surprisingly funny and dark. An important volume. So great to see early work like "Dante and the Lobster" alongside the later works.
Below, a few lines that show his sharp-witted sensibility:
--
From "Dante and the Lobster:"
"Now the great thing was to avoid being accosted. To be stopped at this stage and have conversational nuisance committed all over him would be a disaster."
"His aunt was in the garden, tending whatever flowers die at that time of year."
--
The opening line of the brilliant "Murphy:"
"The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new."
--
From "The Expelled:"
"I would have crushed him gladly, I loathe children, and it would have been doing him a service, but I was afraid of reprisals. Everyone is a parent, that is what keeps you from hoping."
Below, a few lines that show his sharp-witted sensibility:
--
From "Dante and the Lobster:"
"Now the great thing was to avoid being accosted. To be stopped at this stage and have conversational nuisance committed all over him would be a disaster."
"His aunt was in the garden, tending whatever flowers die at that time of year."
--
The opening line of the brilliant "Murphy:"
"The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new."
--
From "The Expelled:"
"I would have crushed him gladly, I loathe children, and it would have been doing him a service, but I was afraid of reprisals. Everyone is a parent, that is what keeps you from hoping."
August 20, 2012
I own this book in addition to individual editions of most of the excerpts contained in it. However, I often find myself going here: partly because of the excellent introductions written by someone who knew Beckett, published him, and obviously feels his work from the inside rather than the glib scholastic outside. These days, I use Beckett like a drug, to get me through holes of motivation and doubts of ability: I use Gertrude Stein in a similar fashion. There's just something about clarity and truth of expression in Beckett's work that helps me to realign my inner writing magnets.
[See a sort of review and appreciation on my blog]
[See a sort of review and appreciation on my blog]
June 21, 2016
I liked the organization of this reader, which gave me access to some of Beckett's essays and stories that I hadn't read before. While often not a fan of excerpts, I also enjoyed the opportunity to read portions of Beckett's novels and plan to add some of them to my reading list. Great collection that not only illustrates Beckett's genius but also his masterful ability to challenge our perceptions of life and language via various genres.
October 28, 2010
It's a little frustrating that it's not his *complete* works. But it gives a nice introduction to Beckett and tidy little overviews of each piece preceding its excerpt/complete transcription in the anthology.
The short stories are more amusing and less pretentious than the plays. From what I read.
The short stories are more amusing and less pretentious than the plays. From what I read.
November 23, 2008
Complete version of "Waiting for Godot", which was worth the price. Much of the rest of the book contained only portions of many of his other work, which was a good idea. Not all of his work is real accessible, so this book let you get a taste.
September 3, 2007
A good intro but excerpting from novels is a little annoying. Though I guess that's what you sign up for if you buy this book.
January 30, 2010
A great selection of Beckett's work, and a great place to start with him. Never has the meaninglessness of our existence been so profoundly sad & funny.
June 3, 2010
I skipped around a bit, and read what I found interesting. Couldn't really understand most of them, although I did get the gist of it all.
Will have to pick this up again in a few years.
Will have to pick this up again in a few years.
June 4, 2012
this is 4.5 stars, at least.
Read
October 20, 2012Only read assigned excerpts, but Paul Auster's quote on the back pretty much hits the nail on the head. Insane. Not even rate-able.
February 28, 2019
I gave this book 4 stars because there is no denying Beckett's avant-garde genius, but his portrayal of the disabled is disturbing. In the end, I must concede to having, at best, a complicated relationship to Beckett.
January 8, 2022
A great intro to and anthology and sampling of the artist's material and genres.
July 31, 2022
Reading Samuel Beckett? I can't go on. I'll go on....
And yes, for the intrepid reader, Beckett does go on and on in fits and starts with his first novel Murphy (1938) then Watt (1953)... mounting (and dismounting) steam with his trilogy, Molloy (1951) Malone Dies (1951) and The Unnamable (1953)... all first written in French and translated by the author in English.
For reasons Beckettian, I guess, I chose an independent study project in my senior year in college
bravely (or foolishly) tackling those novels, those walls of words on every page, often without punctuation. An existential maddening experience then - and much more illuminating (now 5 decades later) and well worth the effort of unpacking in a 6-week adult ed college course.
"My work is a matter of fundamental sounds (no joke intended) made as fully as possible, and I accept responsibility for nothing else. If people have headaches among the overtones, let them. And provide their own aspirin. . . " (Beckett, letter to Alan Schneider)
Why read Beckett? And more to the point, how to read Beckett? Start perhaps with his poetry. Read aloud. Hear the words, beyond the words. Read with your ears attuned to the words as musical notes, his rhythm, his humor, his patterns, his wordplay
Then move to the plays which are far more accessible and familiar than his novels: Find a performance on line -- or compare a few of them for vintage performances of Waiting for Godot (1953), Endgame (1957), Krapp's Last Tape (1958) Happy Days (1961).
NOTES & QUOTES
Born: April 13, 1906, Foxrock, Ireland
Died: December 22, 1989, Montparnasse, Paris, France
Edited works: La manivelle, MORE
Influenced: Eugène Ionesco, Tom Stoppard, Paul Auster,
Influenced by: James Joyce, Albert Camus, Oscar Wilde, Franz Kafka, William Butler Yeats, Dante, Marcel Proust
Nobel Prize in Literature (1969)
"for his writing, which in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation."
"The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new" - ( first line, Murphy)
“I can’t go on. I’ll go on.” (Waiting for Godot, 1953.)
“All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
(Worstward Ho, 1983.)
“You're on Earth, there's no cure for that!” (Endgame, 1957.)
“Birth was the death of him.” (A Piece of Monologue, “Three Occasional Pieces”, 1982.)
"Any fool can turn a blind eye but who knows what the ostrich sees in the sand."
(Murphy, 1938.)
“Words are the clothes thoughts wear.”
*Originally published in December 2015, updated in October 2020.
And yes, for the intrepid reader, Beckett does go on and on in fits and starts with his first novel Murphy (1938) then Watt (1953)... mounting (and dismounting) steam with his trilogy, Molloy (1951) Malone Dies (1951) and The Unnamable (1953)... all first written in French and translated by the author in English.
For reasons Beckettian, I guess, I chose an independent study project in my senior year in college
bravely (or foolishly) tackling those novels, those walls of words on every page, often without punctuation. An existential maddening experience then - and much more illuminating (now 5 decades later) and well worth the effort of unpacking in a 6-week adult ed college course.
"My work is a matter of fundamental sounds (no joke intended) made as fully as possible, and I accept responsibility for nothing else. If people have headaches among the overtones, let them. And provide their own aspirin. . . " (Beckett, letter to Alan Schneider)
Why read Beckett? And more to the point, how to read Beckett? Start perhaps with his poetry. Read aloud. Hear the words, beyond the words. Read with your ears attuned to the words as musical notes, his rhythm, his humor, his patterns, his wordplay
Then move to the plays which are far more accessible and familiar than his novels: Find a performance on line -- or compare a few of them for vintage performances of Waiting for Godot (1953), Endgame (1957), Krapp's Last Tape (1958) Happy Days (1961).
NOTES & QUOTES
Born: April 13, 1906, Foxrock, Ireland
Died: December 22, 1989, Montparnasse, Paris, France
Edited works: La manivelle, MORE
Influenced: Eugène Ionesco, Tom Stoppard, Paul Auster,
Influenced by: James Joyce, Albert Camus, Oscar Wilde, Franz Kafka, William Butler Yeats, Dante, Marcel Proust
Nobel Prize in Literature (1969)
"for his writing, which in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation."
"The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new" - ( first line, Murphy)
“I can’t go on. I’ll go on.” (Waiting for Godot, 1953.)
“All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
(Worstward Ho, 1983.)
“You're on Earth, there's no cure for that!” (Endgame, 1957.)
“Birth was the death of him.” (A Piece of Monologue, “Three Occasional Pieces”, 1982.)
"Any fool can turn a blind eye but who knows what the ostrich sees in the sand."
(Murphy, 1938.)
“Words are the clothes thoughts wear.”
*Originally published in December 2015, updated in October 2020.
August 7, 2007
This was a text for a class I took on the Intellectual History of Post-modern Europe.
December 20, 2007
a great collection
January 25, 2011
Excellent.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews