The Word-Stormer

May 14, 2009 11:07 AM

John Banville's most recent essay on Samuel Beckett: The Word-Stormer. Banville has previously written insightful essays thinly disguised as book reviews on The Painful Comedy of Samuel Beckett, the influence of painting on Beckett's writing, and Beckett on the couch.
posted by HumanComplex (5 comments total)

Accidentally liked to page 2 in original post. From the top: The Word-Stormer
posted by HumanComplex at 12:13 PM on May 14

A pleasing anecdote:

He liked Paris restaurants, his favorite of which for many years was the beautifully named Closerie des Lilas, and enjoyed late-night drinking with his pals. I once asked a person who had been close to him in his later years if Beckett drank a lot, and after a pause came the judicious reply, "Well, he went on benders, you know." There is a record of him sitting in a Left Bank bar one night and suddenly emptying a full glass of beer over his own head, though admittedly this might seem evidence less of bibulous high spirits than of mental stress.

posted by languagehat at 12:45 PM on May 14

Other exciting Beckett news!
waiting....
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 3:41 PM on May 14 [1 favorite has favorites]

Speaking of Beckett, there are two noteworthy performances of Waiting for Godot currently playing. On Broadway, the amazing Bill Irwin and Nathan Lane play the lead characters, and on the West End, you'll find Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart in the same roles.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 3:49 PM on May 14

Went to see Prof X and Magneto a couple of weeks ago in Newcastle and am still recovering from near-fatal theatrically-induced Stendahl syndrome. Reading avidly...
posted by Kandarp Von Bontee at 4:07 PM on May 14