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The Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett: Volume III of The Grove Centenary Editions (Works of Samuel Beckett the Grove Centenary Editions)

The Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett: Volume III of The Grove Centenary Editions (Works of Samuel Beckett the Grove Centenary Editions)
By Samuel Beckett

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Product Description

Edited by Paul Auster, this four–volume set of Beckett's canon has been designed by award winner Laura Lindgren. Available individually, as well as in a boxed set, the four hardcover volumes have been specially bound with covers featuring images central to Beckett's works. Typographical errors that remained uncorrected in the various prior editions have now been corrected in consultation with Beckett scholars C. J. Ackerley and S. E. Gontarski.

"I am always deeply puzzled when people say of Beckett, 'Oh, he's so difficult!'–or avant garde, or complex, or . . . ambiguous. It is the profoundest nonsense, for Beckett is perhaps the most naturalistic playwright I know of, as well as the clearest and least obscure. The 'obscurity' resides in the assumption of obscurity. I know that if Beckett's outdoor plays were set on suburban terraces, and the indoor ones just inside those terraces, in suburban living rooms, everyone would be the wiser, certainly the less puzzled. We are most comfortable with the familiar." — Edward Albee, from his Introduction.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #23070 in Books
  • Published on: 2006-03-13
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 520 pages

Customer Reviews

A beautiful edition5
Samuel Beckett's status as possibly the greatest dramatist of the twentieth century is unquestionable, and in this attractive volume, Grove Press has compiled all of his plays (with the exception of "Eleutheria," which Beckett suppressed and refused to translate), a complete collection previously available only in an expensive out-of-print Faber edition.

This is one in a series of four volumes publishing almost all of Beckett's oeuvre. The volume includes classics like "Waiting for Godot," "Happy Days," "Endgame" and "Krapp's Last Tape" in addition to classic shorter plays such as "Breath."

I was apprehensive about buying the Grove edition sight unseen: in the past, my copies of their paperbacks haven't held up so well (in particular my copy of Beckett's "Molloy/Malone Dies/The Unnamable", which is not only printed in an unattractive font but the spine of which cracked on nearly my first reading). But this is a beautiful hardcover volume, matching the rest of the Beckett set, with cover art of the Godotian tree, and featuring Beckett's own translations of his French-language plays. Brief introductory notes by Paul Auster and Edward Albee (in the latter note, Albee comments - surprisingly - that his favorite Beckett work are the later plays rather than the standards such as "Godot"). These introductions are short, but the dramatic work of Beckett is so fantastic and varied that nothing could do it justice but simply to begin reading.

Beckett Brilliance5
Beautiful book. Love it. Perfect for a super nice but reasonable priced gift.

Beckett: A unique voice and an important writer who captured the post apocalyptic fear, loneliness and humor of the mid to late twentieth century.

I have the 4 book hard back collection and I love it.5
I ordered the "box set" of all four about a year ago. I had to wait 4 months for it to be delivered but it was worth it. A wonderful collection of his work. I read the play, then watch the DVD on Becket on tape. These books are good quality. Not the best on the planet, but more than acceptable. I am really glad I bought them, and that I okay'd the continuation of the order when Amazon told me of the delay. These books, and the Becket on tape of in the top 3 things I am glad I bought from Amazon.