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Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)

Author of Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts

526+ Works 38,050 Members 434 Reviews 259 Favorited

About the Author

Nobel Prize winner (1969) Samuel Beckett was born on April 13, 1906 near Dublin, Ireland into a middle-class Protestant family. As a boy, he studied French and enjoyed cricket, tennis, and boxing. At Trinity College he continued his studies in French and Italian and became interested in theater and show more film, including American film. After graduation, Beckett taught English in Paris and traveled through France and Germany. While in Paris Beckett met Suzanne Deschevaus-Dusmesnil. During World War II when Paris was invaded, they joined the Resistance. They were later forced to flee Paris after being betrayed to the Gestapo, but returned in 1945. Beckett and Deschevaus-Dusmesnil married in 1961. Samuel Beckett's first novel was Dream of Fair to Middling Women. Among his many works are Murphy; Malone Dies; and The Unnameable. His plays include Endgame, Happy Days, Not I, That Time, and Krapp's Last Tape. In 1953, the production of Waiting For Godot in Paris by director and actor Roger Blin earned Beckett international fame. Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969. His style was postmodern minimalist and some of his major themes were imprisonment in one's self, the failure of language, and moral conduct in a godless world. Despite his fame, Samuel Beckett led a secluded life. In his later years he suffered from cataracts and emphysema. His wife Suzanne died on July 17, 1989 and Beckett died on December 22nd of the same year. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Samuel Beckett foto by Lütfi Özkök

Series

Works by Samuel Beckett

Endgame / Act Without Words (1957) — Author — 3,070 copies
Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable (1951) — Author; Translator, some editions — 3,010 copies
Murphy (1938) 1,645 copies
Molloy (1951) 1,183 copies
Watt (1953) 1,103 copies
Happy Days (1961) 885 copies
Malone Dies (1951) 852 copies
How It Is (1961) 634 copies
Collected Shorter Plays (1984) 578 copies
The Unnamable (1957) 571 copies
More Pricks Than Kicks (1934) 563 copies
Mercier and Camier (1946) 540 copies
The Complete Dramatic Works (1986) 498 copies
Krapp’s Last Tape & Embers (1958) 356 copies
Company (1979) 237 copies
Proust (1931) 236 copies
Worstward Ho (1983) 206 copies
First Love (1973) 204 copies
Ill Seen Ill Said (1981) 179 copies
The Lost Ones (1970) 172 copies
Eleuthéria (1995) 153 copies
First Love and Other Shorts (1974) 140 copies
All That Fall (1957) 116 copies
Echo's Bones (1992) 112 copies
The End (Penguin Modern) (2018) 110 copies
Ends and Odds (1976) 108 copies
Fizzles (1976) 107 copies
Poems in English (1960) 104 copies
Stirrings Still (1988) 89 copies
Film (1969) 71 copies
Teatro (2002) 62 copies
Not I (1724) 59 copies
The Expelled (1777) 50 copies
All strange away (1724) 47 copies
Texts for nothing (1955) 43 copies
Krapp's Last Tape (1958) 41 copies
Selected Poems 1930-1989 (2009) 36 copies
A Samuel Beckett Reader (1967) 31 copies
Comedies et actes divers (1966) 31 copies
Relatos (1987) 30 copies
Six Residua (Beckett Short) (1656) 29 copies
Teste-morte (1972) 24 copies
Footfalls (1976) 22 copies
Waiting for Godot ; Endgame (1970) 22 copies
Dikter (2001) 21 copies
That Time (1976) 19 copies
Come and Go (1967) 19 copies
Tre dramer (2006) 18 copies
No's Knife (1967) 17 copies
Obra Poetica Completa (2000) 16 copies
Imagination Dead Imagine (1965) 16 copies
L'Image (1988) 15 copies
Novelas (2006) 15 copies
Lessness (Signature) (1970) 15 copies
Beckett on Film [2002 film] (2002) 14 copies
Evergreen review 13 copies
Play (1964) 12 copies
From an abandoned work (1958) 12 copies
Modern Short Stories 2: 1940-1980 (1982) — Contributor — 12 copies
Eh Joe and Other Writings (1967) 12 copies
Beckett Shorts (1999) 11 copies
Three Occasional Pieces (1982) 11 copies
Embers (1993) 10 copies
Eh Joe 10 copies
In nessun modo ancora (2008) 10 copies
Trois dialogues (1949) 9 copies
Pas (1995) 8 copies
Arikha (1985) 8 copies
Racconti e prose brevi (2010) 8 copies
Erzählungen. (1995) 8 copies
Flötentöne. (1982) 8 copies
Rockaby (1981) 7 copies
Szenen. Prosa. Verse. (1995) 7 copies
Rockaby and Other Works (1981) 7 copies
Gedichte (1976) 7 copies
Fünf Spiele (1970) 7 copies
Words and Music 6 copies
Rumbo a peor (2001) 6 copies
Bruchstücke (1997) 6 copies
Skodespel (1991) 6 copies
Teatro Reunido (2014) 6 copies
Dramaty (1995) 6 copies
Racconti e teatro (1980) 5 copies
Niet ik ; Toen ; Stappen (1979) 5 copies
A Piece of Monologue (1982) 5 copies
Residua (1981) 4 copies
Endgame Play (1996) 4 copies
Poesie (2006) 4 copies
Da un'opera abbandonata (2003) 4 copies
Manchas en el silencio (2002) 4 copies
Últimos trabalhos (1996) 4 copies
Beckett's Dream Notebook (1999) 4 copies
Choix de textes (1974) 4 copies
Dünya ve Pantolon (2015) 4 copies
Kort proza (2017) 4 copies
Fim de Jogo 4 copies
Le poesie (1999) 4 copies
Slut än en gång (1990) 4 copies
Ohio Impromptu 4 copies
Quad 3 copies
Watt 3 copies
Not I/Footfalls/Rockaby (2004) 3 copies
De ontvolker 3 copies
Obras escogidas (1978) 3 copies
Samuel Beckett, 1969 (1993) 3 copies
Eşlik (2017) 3 copies
Proust Y Otros Ensayos (2008) 3 copies
Spectaculum 28 (1978) 3 copies
Breath 3 copies
What Where [play] (2016) 3 copies
Nacht und Träume [play] (2006) 3 copies
Pavesas (Spanish Edition) (2002) 3 copies
Ausgewählte Werke (1990) 3 copies
Teatras (2009) 3 copies
Skuespill 3 copies
Auswahl : in einem Band (1967) 3 copies
Werke (1986) 2 copies
Malone Ölüyor (2021) 2 copies
Cómo es (2017) 2 copies
Πρόζες, 1945-1980 (1998) 2 copies
Wierność przegranej (1999) 2 copies
Mercier ile Camier (1998) 2 copies
Raster 38 (1986) 2 copies
Murphy (1979) 2 copies
Pisma prozą (1982) 2 copies
Prosa, Teatro, Poesia (1979) 2 copies
A vueltas quietas (2004) 2 copies
Beckett 2 copies
Aus aufgegebenen Werken (1968) 2 copies
Teatre complet, vol.I (1995) 2 copies
No właśnie co (2010) 2 copies
Jogo do Fim 2 copies
Teatre complet, vol. II (1997) 2 copies
Expelled & Other Novels (1980) 2 copies
Assunzione (2009) 2 copies
Dzieła dramatyczne (1988) 2 copies
Malone vdes 2 copies
Echo'nun Kemikleri (2016) 1 copy
Was Wo 1 copy
El innombrable (2017) 1 copy
Hry 1 copy
Damals 1 copy
Malone Muere 1 copy
Μέρφυ (2020) 1 copy
Il Castoro 1 copy
Come è 1 copy
Watt (2023) 1 copy
Mērfijs 1 copy
Adlandirilamayan (2018) 1 copy
Üçleme 1 copy
Relatos 1 copy
Der Namenlose : Roman (1953) 1 copy
Watt : Roman (1953) 1 copy
Siradan Kadinlar Dusu (2013) 1 copy
Acaba Nasil? (2010) 1 copy
Teatr 1 copy
Malone está a morrer (1993) 1 copy
ΜΟΛΛΟΫ 1 copy
Objet 1 copy
L'Expulsé- Le calmant (2007) 1 copy
ΒΑΤΤ 1 copy
Nowele 1 copy
Endgame (1958) 1 copy
Becketts ring (1987) 1 copy
Werke: 4 Bde. (1976) 1 copy
Malone meurt 1 copy
Quiebros y poemas (1998) 1 copy
Lulkanto 1 copy
Stihoklepstvo (1978) 1 copy
Como é 1 copy
Werke in 5 Bänden (1976) 1 copy
Enough (1966) 1 copy
Ping (1966) 1 copy
Shorts 1 copy
Opere (2010) 1 copy
Come è 1 copy
Ποιήματα… (1989) 1 copy
Sobresauts 1 copy
Waiting for Godeau (2016) 1 copy
Spel 1 copy
Genesis 1 copy
Fragment 1 copy
Signature Anthology 20 (1975) 1 copy
Avigt & Co (1973) 1 copy
Molloy. Ediz. speciale (2012) 1 copy

Associated Works

The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (1983) — Contributor — 1,130 copies
A Pocket Book of Modern Verse (1954) — Contributor, some editions — 443 copies
The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories (1989) — Contributor — 429 copies
The Olympia Reader (1965) — Contributor — 279 copies
The Penguin Book of Irish Verse (1981) — Contributor — 193 copies
Nine Plays of the Modern Theater (1981) — Contributor — 182 copies
Masterpieces of the Drama (1966) — Contributor — 178 copies
The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction (1999) — Contributor — 149 copies
Great Irish Short Stories (1964) — Contributor — 142 copies
The Faber Book of Beasts (1997) — Contributor — 140 copies
Seven Plays of the Modern Theatre (1962) — Contributor — 124 copies
Mexican Poetry: An Anthology (1958) — Translator; Translator, some editions — 105 copies
Great French Short Stories (1946) — Contributor — 72 copies
The Grim Reader: Writings on Death, Dying, and Living On (1997) — Contributor — 60 copies
Partisan Review (1998) — Contributor, some editions — 33 copies
The Obie Winners: The Best of Off-Broadway (1980) — Contributor — 28 copies
The Penguin Book of Irish Comic Writing (1996) — Contributor — 25 copies
In the Wake of the Wake (1977) — Contributor — 24 copies
Pathetic Literature (2022) — Contributor — 24 copies
Contemporary one-act plays (1976) — Contributor — 17 copies
Masters of British Literature, Volume B (2007) — Contributor — 16 copies
En Attendant Godot: Profil (1970) — Contributor — 13 copies
England forteller : britiske og irske noveller (1970) — Contributor — 9 copies
Film [1965 film] (1965) — Author — 5 copies
Film / Notfilm (DVD Blu-ray) — Author — 3 copies
Van Flaubert tot heden : Franse verhalen — Contributor — 3 copies
The Analog Sea Review: Number Four (2022) — Contributor — 2 copies
Sulfur 6 — Contributor — 2 copies

Tagged

1001 (83) 1001 books (108) 20th century (729) absurd (133) absurdism (265) anthology (508) Beckett (664) classic (176) classics (257) collection (86) drama (2,225) English (95) English literature (232) existentialism (398) fiction (2,763) France (126) French (411) French literature (400) Ireland (523) Irish (779) Irish literature (890) letters (83) literature (1,113) modernism (391) Nobel Prize (203) non-fiction (83) novel (430) own (118) philosophy (103) play (782) plays (1,103) poetry (554) read (317) Samuel Beckett (377) short stories (547) theatre (966) theatre of the absurd (120) to-read (1,452) translation (107) unread (136)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Beckett, Samuel Barclay
Other names
Bellis, Andrew
Birthdate
1906-04-13
Date of death
1989-12-22
Burial location
Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris, Île-de-France, France
Gender
male
Nationality
Ireland
Birthplace
Foxrock, County Dublin, Ireland
Place of death
Paris, France
Education
Earlsfort House School, Dublin
Portora Royal School
Trinity College, Dublin (BA ∙ Italian and English ∙ 1927)
Occupations
playwright
lecturer
poet
Relationships
Joyce, James (mentor)
Havel, Václav (friend)
Yeats, Jack Butler (friend)
Kenner, Hugh (friend)
Arikha, Avigdor (friend)
Buffet-Picabia, Gabriële (colleague) (show all 7)
Federman, Raymond (friend)
Organizations
Olympia Press
Awards and honors
Nobel Prize (Literature, 1969)
Royal Society of Literature Companion of Literature
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award (Special Citation, 1983-1984)
International Publishers' Formentor Prize (1961)
Short biography
Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. A resident of Paris for most of his adult life, he wrote in both English and French.

Beckett's work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human existence, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humor, and became increasingly minimalist in his later career. He is considered one of the last modernist writers, and one of the key figures in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd."

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." He was elected the Saoi of Aosdána ( a literary association of Irish writers) in 1984.

Members

Discussions

Samuel Beckett in Fine Press Forum (October 2021)
October 2013: Samuel Beckett in Monthly Author Reads (October 2013)

Reviews

 
Flagged
AnkaraLibrary | Feb 23, 2024 |
Three persons are awaiting the arrival of a fourth. He doesn't show up. Various theological and philosophic questions are aired. The audience is left to make what sense of it that they can.
 
Flagged
DinadansFriend | 157 other reviews | Jan 27, 2024 |
Beckett's three great novels like his plays, break new ground in their structure and narrative. A bleak emptiness hovers throughout the three novels that one may consider a sort of trilogy. I was mesmerized from the opening pages of Molloy and wondered what it was in this bleak indeterminacy that was so beguiling. Reading slowly and closely I slowly found a method in this seemingly chaotic world. Drawn inward by moments of humor that counterposed the strange events, if they can be called that, I was drawn forward by the narrator even as the narrative itself seemed to be collapsing. These are three novels with so much wonder and ideas to think about that the attentive reader cannot fail to be impressed. I found these novels to be moving in a unique way and important additions to the literature of modernism.

In Samuel Beckett's novel, Molloy, the first sentence states bluntly, “I am in my mother's room.” This is followed on the first page of the novel with the phrase “I don't know” repeated five times, and if you add “I don't understand” and “I've forgotten” you have eight assertions of lack of knowing. How can or should the reader interpret those comments as establishing anything but a high level of uncertainty both about what the narrator (I) is telling us and what the narrator, may or may not, believe about himself and the world around him? Of most interest to this reader is the comment that the narrator would like to “finish dying” and that his mother is dead, although he is not sure exactly when she died.

What is the reader's expectation for the succeeding 167 pages of the novel based on the first page filled with uncertainty and death? There is work mentioned, but the pages he works on are filled with “signs I don't understand”. Can we say the same for ourselves as readers? At best we are left with snippets of possible information about a handful of others (the man who comes every week, they who may or may not have buried his mother, the son that he may or may not have, and the chambermaid without true love, and yet another who was the true love-whose name he has forgotten, repeatedly). As I reread these lines I cannot help but note the humor of the situation.
… (more)
 
Flagged
jwhenderson | 26 other reviews | Dec 10, 2023 |

Lists

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1970s (1)
AP Lit (1)
1930s (1)
1950s (5)
My TBR (5)
Mags (1)

Awards

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Associated Authors

Atom Egoyan Director
Richard Eyre Director
Graham Greene Contributor
J. G. Ballard Contributor
John McGahern Contributor
Mary Lavin Contributor
William Sansom Contributor
Geoffrey Bush Contributor
Frank Sargeson Contributor
Roald Dahl Contributor
R. Prawer Jhabvala Contributor
Elspeth Davie Contributor
Rhys Davies Contributor
Fred Urquhart Contributor
Edmund Crispin Contributor
Doris Lessing Contributor
Muriel Spark Contributor
Elizabeth Taylor Contributor
Alan Sillitoe Contributor
L. P. Hartley Contributor
Patrick White Contributor
Elizabeth Bowen Contributor
R. K. Narayan Contributor
Angus Wilson Contributor
Francis King Contributor
William Trevor Contributor
Nadine Gordimer Contributor
Seán O'Faoláin Contributor
Jean Rhys Contributor
Morlay Callaghan Contributor
Dan Gunn Editor
Richard Seaver Translator., Editor
Salman Rushdie Introduction
Edward Albee Introduction
J. M. Coetzee Introduction
S. E. Gontarski Introduction
Mark Nixon Editor
John Hurt Actor
Roy Kuhlman Cover designer
Kenneth R. Deardoff Cover designer
Tom Phillips Illustrator
Mary Bryden Introduction
Patrick Bowles Translator, Translator (Molloy)
Gabriel Josipovici Introduction
Russell Mills Cover designer
F.C. Kuipers Translator
Caj Westerberg Translator
Tarja Roinila Translator
Michael Brodsky Translator
Jacoba van Velde Translator
Magnus Hedlund Translator

Statistics

Works
526
Also by
40
Members
38,050
Popularity
#474
Rating
3.9
Reviews
434
ISBNs
1,145
Languages
35
Favorited
259

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