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Samuel Beckett "Waiting For Godot"
Some of you who are more on the thespian side may well have heard of Theatre of the Absurd and of this play which started it all over fifty years ago. You are quite likely aware that the play involves two down-and-out men who occupy center stage throughout, who, during the entire play, cannot make up their mind whether or not to continue waiting for the arrival of an unknown third man, Godot. Until you have actually encountered the book and read it, or perhaps have seen the play, I would venture that you are entirely unprepared for the direct assault that this work will present upon your previous literary and theatrical sensibilities. It is a drama with almost no action, in which critics have said that nothing happens, written with very sparse dialogue, set in a nearly barren landscape, presenting a very bleak view of an almost sub-human condition. Two episodes, which involve one forlorn man enslaved as a beast of burden by another, will add to your general dismay. Through these episodes, man's inhumanity to man comes to the fore in the limited action which the play presents.
Described as an allegory for the human condition, this work will challenge you, the reader, to provide your own interpretation of its message and compare that to your own understanding and outlook on life. Here is an ultra-bleak existential view -- much like Sartr's "Nausea"- 'absurdist' is the word -- to kick-start your thought process. If you are so inclined. However, if you are already in a depressed mood avoid until your mood is sunny. It is more effective then.
Some of you who are more on the thespian side may well have heard of Theatre of the Absurd and of this play which started it all over fifty years ago. You are quite likely aware that the play involves two down-and-out men who occupy center stage throughout, who, during the entire play, cannot make up their mind whether or not to continue waiting for the arrival of an unknown third man, Godot. Until you have actually encountered the book and read it, or perhaps have seen the play, I would venture that you are entirely unprepared for the direct assault that this work will present upon your previous literary and theatrical sensibilities. It is a drama with almost no action, in which critics have said that nothing happens, written with very sparse dialogue, set in a nearly barren landscape, presenting a very bleak view of an almost sub-human condition. Two episodes, which involve one forlorn man enslaved as a beast of burden by another, will add to your general dismay. Through these episodes, man's inhumanity to man comes to the fore in the limited action which the play presents.
Described as an allegory for the human condition, this work will challenge you, the reader, to provide your own interpretation of its message and compare that to your own understanding and outlook on life. Here is an ultra-bleak existential view -- much like Sartr's "Nausea"- 'absurdist' is the word -- to kick-start your thought process. If you are so inclined. However, if you are already in a depressed mood avoid until your mood is sunny. It is more effective then.
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