Exploring the Christian symbolism throughout a major portion of Beckett's mature work (particularly Molloy , Malone Dies , The Unnamable , Watt , Not I , The Lost Ones , and Waiting for Godot ), this book argues that Beckett is a writer of deep religious concern, not in the orthodox sense but in a sense fully as time honored. The path to "direct experience of Absolute of Unconditional Being" is traced through the classic stages of the quest (detachment, darkness, silence, trance, illumination, and revelation) with ...
Read More
Exploring the Christian symbolism throughout a major portion of Beckett's mature work (particularly Molloy , Malone Dies , The Unnamable , Watt , Not I , The Lost Ones , and Waiting for Godot ), this book argues that Beckett is a writer of deep religious concern, not in the orthodox sense but in a sense fully as time honored. The path to "direct experience of Absolute of Unconditional Being" is traced through the classic stages of the quest (detachment, darkness, silence, trance, illumination, and revelation) with examples from both the content and structure of the works. A final chapter distinguishes among the several ironic tones that Beckett employs to reveal the profound reverence that is so often misread as cynicism. It is fitting that an author so frequently discussed in religious terms (his 1969 Nobel award cited him for singing the dies irae of the human race) should finally be read as a religious writer. Samuel Beckett's writing, with its rich, dark ambiguity, has been widely acknowledged for its brilliance, but variously interpreted in its meaning. Nearly all critics recognize the religious allusions and symbols present throughout the Beckettian oeuvre, but few have attempted to come to terms with them, preferring to regard these recurring themes and images as atheistic irony. This book addresses that deficiency by arguing that Beckett's major works "may be seen as a cumulative metaphor for the mystic quest," specifically the "negative way" of renunciation that stands in contrast to the affirmative orthodoxy of T.S. Eliot, for example. Dr. Baldwin accomplishes this task by citing the many echoes within Beckett's prose of the great Christian mystics of history--Augustine, Pascal, Langland, Dante--many of whom are clearly the sources drawn upon in Beckett's non-stop allusiveness, and by demonstrating Beckett's parallels with modern Christian mystics, especially Simone Weil, whose themes in Waiting for God are hauntingly evoked in Waiting for Godot and much of the rest of the Beckettian canon.
Read Less
Add this copy of Samuel Beckett's Real Silence to cart. $25.17, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Penn State University Press.
Add this copy of Samuel Beckett's Real Silence to cart. $41.76, poor condition, Sold by Anybook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1981 by Pennsylvania State University Press.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In poor condition, suitable as a reading copy. Dust jacket in fair condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 500grams, ISBN: 0271003014.
Add this copy of Samuel Beckett's Real Silence to cart. $50.00, like new condition, Sold by Between the Covers-Rare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester City, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1981 by The Pennsylvania State University Press.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fine in Near Fine jacket. First edition. viii, 171pp. Modest rubbing along the edges, else fine in a lightly worn, near fine dust jacket with a toned spine and bumping at the crown. "Exploring the Christian symbolism throughout a major portion of Beckett's mature work, this book argues that Beckett is a writer of deep religious concern, not in the orthodox sense but in a sense fully as time honored."
Add this copy of Samuel Beckett's Real Silence to cart. $81.81, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hialeah, FL, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Pennsylvania State University.