Beckett Re-Membered: After the Centenary

Now that the publication of the four-volume Letters of Samuel Beckett is well underway, we are all the more in need of volumes like Beckett Re-Membered, which maps Beckett s complex literary project in terms of his intellectual commitments. The surprising unity of this multi-authored study is primarily an effect of Beckett s own powers of concentration although a certain faithfulness of the authors to the spirit of Beckett is crucial. The editors divide the essays into four sections, Philosophy, Poetry, Drama, and Fiction, placing philosophy where it belongs in studies of Beckett at the foundation of his work. Beckett s letters have shown how his lifelong dedication to reading, study, and thinking, his pursuit of the difficult questions of human existence, supports and permeates his imaginative writing. Beckett Re-Membered acknowledges and demonstrates the full range of Beckett s talents and interests his imaginative achievements and his engagement with fundamental questions of art and life. The knowledgeable, concise introductions and the insightful, highly readable essays comprise an ideal resource for university faculty and students. But the book is also for lovers of literature who crave the kind of open and questioning conversations that Beckett s writing has always provoked. –Joseph R. Chaney, Director of the Master of Liberal Studies Program, Associate Professor of English, Indiana University South Bend