The Cambridge Introduction to Samuel Beckett

This is an eloquent and accessible introduction to one of themost important writers of the twentieth century. This book providesbiographical and contextual information, but more fundamentally, italso considers how we might think about an enduringly difficult andexperimental novelist and playwright who often challenges the veryconcepts of meaning and interpretation. It deals with his life,intellectual and cultural background, plays, prose, and criticalresponse and relates Beckett's work and vision to the culture andcontext from which he wrote. McDonald provides a sustained analysisof the major plays, including Waiting for Godot, Endgame, and HappyDays and his major prose works including Murphy, Watt and hisfamous 'trilogy' of novels (Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable).This introduction concludes by mapping the huge terrain ofcriticism Beckett's work has prompted, and it explains the turn inrecent years to understanding Beckett within his historicalcontext.