Understanding Samuel Beckett in 90 Minutes with Paul Strathern (2005) 

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This is very good. I think it's worth trying to understand Beckett for people who don't immediately respond to his work or who just don't "get" him, but I also believe that those who immediately find a kindred spirit in Beckett are always going to enjoy him more. If you've spent long, rainy, pointless evenings in coffee shops trying to work up the nerve to talk to other people without ever opening your mouth, if you go home feeling completely stunted and try to sleep but can't, if you pass the sleepless hours by tapping various points on the surface of your mattress to hear and feel the minor differences in the vibration of the springs, and if you'd be relieved to die right then and there, yet you get up the next morning and tell yourself, "Well, I'll try just once more, maybe twice, three times at most" (and you do, and things turn out *exactly* as they did before), then you'll understand Beckett. If you were the captain of the football team or the prom queen, you'll wonder what in God's name he was talking about and probably conclude that he was insane. That's all right. Beckett's not for everybody.

The best doc on Becket--perceptive and concise, without a lot of pointless videos.

Oh dear another genius who can totally explain Beckett in less than, not ònly 90 years but 90 minutes. What an absolute genius

This is wonderful..... and beautifully narrated.... thank you.

Beckett is one of my favorite authors. I never felt the need to understand him. As soon as I deal with the understanding of his texts, the whole magic of his words evaporates and what remains is a barren framework, a construct without life.

Minds are so very universally mysterious and similar. Many thanks.

There is no field or tree or lane or town to call ones home, but the search becomes in the end the bus we must ride to the end ,

Beckett's writing is often hilarious. So are documentaries about him.

Thank you for this accessible, well-narrated introduction.

Thank you. Illuminating, inspirational.

well done! ❤thanks for sharing 👍

I see my self in samuel becket

His epiphany wasn't on Dún Laoghaire pier -- it was on a tiny pier in Killiney

Being able to write such stories in a language outside of his own language gets me.

Thank you for an enlightening Beckett literary biography, elegantly articulated. But why was there no mention of HAPPY DAYS? It was, I believe, one of Beckett's last stage successes

The compassion...

I love Beckett . thank you for this.

Brilliant genius!Amazing Beckett.

Max Wall's Vladimir in Waiting For Godot was amazing

Absolutely excellent !!

Thank you. That was wonderful.

Thank you for this!

Thank you..wonderful

To call the unnamable "arid" is I think a huge mistake... it is one of the few pieces of text that brings tears to my eyes every single time I read it

Thanks 🙏

Fabulous, thank you so much. However, it has to be said that the Irish accent is all over the place, and even includes an occasional visit to Scotland..

good work here, yet why no mention of "Happy Days"? - adieu

Beckett is as suggestive and referential to the traditions of European literature as Joyce but in a more hidden and sublimated way.

I quite enjoyed that. Better to get someone else to do those bits of Not I though. It's something that can't be done slow.

A winding beautiful tale of pain and mental torture. A genius, but what agony he endured!

Duncan Idaho tells us about Beckett. Dunesception.

An excellent journey through Beckett’s life and mind or it that mindful life?

is there a transscript for this video?

No mention of Happy Days? The one with a female protagonist and widely taught and produced in universities? Everything said about Beckett as an individual is true of the character Winnie, but apparently this is a survey from an exclusive male lens.

Strathern never mentioned Happy Days.

Addendum: Merci infiniment for the the 'upload' Johnnie de Bangkok

Sure he's a pretty good writer,, but what a profound shock of pepper lock, lacing his widows peak!!!!

38:00

Superb narration. English as English should be spoken.

The foibles of human nature and behaviour ?

Waiting for who...?

Quite interesting thanks for uploading. You would have thought the narrator would have learned how to pronounce Godot.

You cant understand Beckett in a lifetime, let alone 90 minutes...

I can't go on...

1:19

I wonder how much Beckett's depression was worsened by him drinking a great deal. It could have been a self perpetuating circle. This is offered as a possible part explanation for Becketts tone - not to trivialise Becketts vital voice and insights.

Re Beckett being Joyce's secretary and taking down Joyce's dictation - anyone who has ever tried to read/let alone understand 'Finnegans Wake' will realise you can't take it down by dictation unless Joyce is spelling it out loud letter by letter rather than word by word. 'How are you spelling: Aches-ley pains?' Like the English Town. A?' The 'Come in' is obviously apocryphal.

1:44

Hello, do you have an email address I can use to contact you?

The alienation of being a protestant in a catholic land maybe explains some things

I once saw a youth theatre production of 'Endgame' which was both a brilliant comedy and a profound exploration of the depths of human experience throughout - and a few days later, a very tedious production directed by Beckett himself. Beckett's 'dead pan' humour needs to be played with some sort of 'twinkle in the eye', metaphorical or otherwise. He himself did not understand that completely. The productions directed by Beckett (many of which have been preserved on film) don't work very well, because they do not get much of the rich potential hovering within his sparse texts across, even to an audience of above average intelligence. It doesn't work to dead-pan dead-pan - It is simply counterproductive to reduce the means of communicating reduction

Samuel Beckett died #otd in 1989 ⚰️

Good but whats with the dodgy Irish accent?

Shouldn't someone now write Muffy and Hwat? Alloy, Stalone Dies and The Lino Mob, Le? Waiting for Krish-Nae? Crap's Last NFT? may not be ready for that one yet, how about then Krappps' Last Podcast (Krappp is, to be sure, non-binary and pluralized!).

The put-on Irish accent at every text reading made this unlisenable after about 20 mins.

Ulster "elected" not to be part of what was to become the republic. That plus the appalling lapses into an Irish accent is no more than a history rewrite.

Full of inaccuracies. Drivel

Ireland had been destroyed by British policies. The Catholic Church was it's only friend. You're totally biased and wrong about Ireland.

I got ten minutes into this and had to turn it off. I don't care when and where he was born. I don't care that he moved here and moved there. I don't care what schools he went to. This is all useless information.

I adore Sam Beckett but I despise Le Cricket! (Samuel Beckett was a respected cricket player - not his fault) Now, this anachronistic, colonial, goofy game called cricket should be phased out! This is how it can be done: Step One: ADIDAS, BMW, Hugo Boss and Porsche will donate 999 Million footballs to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. StepTwo: The Kiwis, the Aussies, the South Africans and West Indies will follow. In five to ten years one of these great countries will qualify for FIFA World Cup. Think about the children! Your sons and daughters. YOU really want them to play CRICKET? Bangkok-Johnny CarSanook Media Thailand (where the only cricket we know is the insect)

Am I the only one who got sent here through a Reddit post. This isn't funny.