Short description:

Originally published in 1971, this book elucidates Beckett?s work in the light of his concern with literary form. This is seen as an increasingly compressed and dense medium for the purer and purer statement of his view of man?s existence. 

Long description:

Originally published in 1971, this book elucidates Beckett?s work in the light of his concern with literary form. This is seen as an increasingly compressed and dense medium for the purer and purer statement of his view of man?s existence, and Beckett?s Man is seen as the medium for the articulation of a view of the world which is both comically cruel and anti-theological, but not atheist. The book discusses his work as a novelist and playwright ? his best-known play, Waiting for Godot, being seen in the context of his many other important plays, and more than twenty years of previous writing.

Original Review of Samuel Beckett:

?Francis Doherty merits gratitude for his brief study which analyses the form and content of Beckett?s works, viewed chronologically and developmentally?[He] observes and delineates clearly the relation between Beckett?s abuse of literary form and his thematic preoccupations.? E. Combs, Studies in Religion, Vol 2, Issue 3 (1971).

?Francis Doherty?s Samuel Beckett offers several original insights?He is particularly receptive on the parodic elements of Beckett?s theatre?? Ruby Cohn, Educational Theatre Journal, Vol 25, No. 2 (1973). 

Table of Contents:

1.Mind and Reality: Murphy and Watt 2. Moribunds in their Courses: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable 3. Theatre of Suffering 4. Breath-Clock Breath: How It Is 5. Farrago of Silence and Words: Short Fiction.