Beckett before Godot

by John Pilling

Overview

In Beckett before Godot, John Pilling reevaluates the formative years of Beckett between the publication of his first work in 1929 and the composition late in 1946 of The Calmative, his last work before "the trilogy." Using a wealth of unpublished manuscripts and correspondence from around the world, Pilling offers for the first time a coherent critical narrative of Beckett's development during this long period of apprenticeship. Beckett before Godot modifies and enhances our understanding of one of this century's most influential authors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521604512
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/29/2004
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.67(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; Part I. 1929–1932: 2. Dante ... Bruno ... Vico ... Joyce and Assumption: 'the prospect of self-extension'; 3. From a view to a kill: Proust and Le Concentrisme; 4. Dream of Fair to Middling Women: 'a solution of continuity'; Part II. 1932–1936: 5. More poems than precipitates: towards Echo's Bones and beyond; 6. In the interval: More Pricks Than Kicks; 7. Beckett as bookman: the reviews; 8. Figure and ground: Murphy; Part III. 1937–1946: 9. Dissonance: 1937–1940; 10. Watt and Watt not; 11. Texts for something: 'a universe becomes provisional'; 12. Mercier et Camier and the nouvelles: 'the vicissitudes of the road'; 13. Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"...writes with authority on the early years of Beckett's literary activity. Recommended for collections serving students of modern literature at the upper-division undergraduate level and above." Choice

From the Publisher