I hear Beckett mentioned quite a bit. I tried to read Waiting for Godot, and was bored to tears.
What would you recommend to me to come to my senses and realize why Beckett is great?
Is he hard to read?
>>7357951
He is surprisingly hard to read, something about his work that is just so dense.
You could try Endgame.
>>7357951
If Joyce is the blueprint for modern lit, then Beckett is the cornerstone. Read Murphy.
>>7357951
Godot you might need to see performed, though it's not exactly exciting. If the ways that he fucks with the language don't interest/move you, then he might not be for you.
Anyway, try to read some of his fiction. His short stories More Pricks than Kicks are enjoyable, and Murphy and Watt are very funny. Molloy is more in the vein of Godot (he wrote the play as a respite from the trilogy of novels, actually), but it is great.
Beckett's novels are better than his plays, so read them instead.
>>7357951
Molloy. Godot is fine but it getting all the attention is incomprehensible.
>>7358577
This.
It's difficult but the way he uses language is also addictive. You must be in the right mood to digest Beckett.
Anyone care to enlighten me on what was the point of Molloy pedantically cycling through his pebbles/stones and why he was sucking on them?
>>7357951
>I tried reading a play and was unsatisfied
Seriously? What next, you stroked a Picasso but didn't really see what the fuss is about?
>>7358645
It's a metaphor for the absurdity of life, or something.
>>7358693
well shit i could have done that at home in the comfort of my own tragic existence.
>>7358692
Beethoven smells boring.
>>7358645
Proto-autism, absurdity, what great importance is given to whatever one is reduced to, and it's hilarious.
>>7358645
Oh and as for sucking on them, I don't know if it's explained in it but it's an old folk practice that's supposed to prevent you from getting thirsty.
>>7357951
If you found Godot boring to read then you should watch this version of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuU3RrGj3Lc
The actors bring the text to life. This is also the best filmed version of the play that exists, and maybe even the best version full stop. The actors are amazing. I think an Irish accent is really essential for Beckett stuff.
>>7358787
Here it is without the subtitles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wifcyo64n-w
>>7358787
>I think an Irish accent is really essential for Beckett stuff.
Do you even know what an Irish accent sounds like in French?
>>7358803
Well certainly in some plays like "Not I", beckett specifically stated he heard it in an Irish accent
>>7358803
If they're speaking English, it has to be an Irish accent. It can't be English because Gogo takes the piss out how "the English say 'calm'". And American just sounds terrible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyKnLGT74TQ
I would've killed to have been able to see this performed
Anyone happen to know if there's a full filmed copy out there somewhere?
Go into it realizing it isnt going to give you the satisfaction a normal dramatic narrative will. Instead, think of it as an experience you endure alongside the characters.
How does reading waiting for godot bore someone to tears? its like a half hour read.
If anyone has ever seen the TV show 'Bottom' the two protagonists got the idea for the show from being in a production of waiting for godot together
So if you cbf Beckett watch bottom it's funny and equally absurd
