Remembering Beckett

February 26, 2006 8:36 AM

'You really liked it, huh? You really thought it was good?'
He regaled one friend with memories of being in the womb, took another shopping for jerseys in Paris, and said he regretted calling his play Godot. As the centenary of his birth approaches, 'Beckett Remembering Remembering Beckett'. More inside.
posted by matteo (16 comments total)

Apmonia -- A Site for Samuel Beckett
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The Samuel Beckett Endpage
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Guardian obit
posted by matteo at 8:38 AM on February 26, 2006

Say what you will, you can’t keep a dead mind down.
–More Pricks Than Kicks

I love that article, great vignettes and recollections. And this by Stoppard: "Beckett did it with x minus 5."

I wasn't aware of the anniversary until you made this post, but now I will have to watch for nearby performances or readings. Not close to me, but from March 19 through May 16 - London's Barbican Theatre is hosting the Beckett Centenary Festival 2006.

Great links - *hugs matteo*- another superlative post!
posted by madamjujujive at 9:31 AM on February 26, 2006

Thanks matteo.
posted by nickyskye at 9:38 AM on February 26, 2006

Ah, Samuel Beckett, the mortal god of my imaginings...thanks for the links matteo. I too was unaware of the upcoming anniversary. Here's to inordinate performances of his work over the coming year. Also, I completely agree with Neil Armfield's comments from the Apmonia page; the Beckett estate has gotten far out of control with their stiffling, unmerciful grip on the nature of the performances of Beckett's work. Not all companies have been as lucky as this one was.
posted by youarenothere at 10:08 AM on February 26, 2006

Waiting For Godot: The Interactive Adventure
posted by jeblis at 10:56 AM on February 26, 2006

Oh Billie, what have I done to you, what have I done to you?

Another great post, matteo. Grazie.
posted by languagehat at 11:04 AM on February 26, 2006

Beckett's first class cricket record.
posted by johnny novak at 11:12 AM on February 26, 2006

Great stuff, as always, matteo. I'm going to watch out for any performances/festivals/etc. around here as well.
posted by scody at 11:16 AM on February 26, 2006

Neat.
posted by bardic at 11:34 AM on February 26, 2006

My favorite Beckett anecdote:

A number of years ago, in France, the child of one of Beckett's neighbors was unusually large. Immense, in fact; the boy was over six feet tall when he was in elementary school. Because of his size, he was unable to ride the schoolbus, but his family couldn't afford a car, so Beckett regularly drove the boy to school.

The boy's name was Andre Rene Roussimov, better known as Andre the Giant.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:42 AM on February 26, 2006

Is that true Faint of Butt? How odd.

Good post, matteo.
posted by jack_mo at 12:36 PM on February 26, 2006

It's true to the best of my knowledge, jack_mo. Andre told the story in an interview.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:39 PM on February 26, 2006

I've heard that story too, FoB - it's definitely a classic.
posted by youarenothere at 12:41 PM on February 26, 2006

My dad remembered seeing Beckett at parties in Paris years ago. He said the guy always sat by himself and rebuffed all attempts to draw him into conversation. Everyone wondered why he even showed up.
posted by CunningLinguist at 4:57 PM on February 26, 2006

My favorite Beckett anecdote (I think I read this in Dierde Bair's bio, but it might have been elsewhere):

Beckett and Peggy Guggenheim were travelling around France, and they stopped for the night. Beckett got one room for them, and Guggenheim got excited because she thought she was going to get a chance to have sex with Beckett. It turned out that Beckett just wanted to save the price of a second room.

Good post.
posted by OmieWise at 6:35 AM on February 27, 2006

Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Sam Beckett led an elite group of scientists into the desert to develop a top secret project, known as QUANTUM LEAP. Pressured to prove his theories or lose funding, Doctor Beckett, prematurely stepped into the Project Accelerator and vanished. He awoke to find himself in the past, suffering from partial amnesia and facing a mirror image that was not his own. Fortunately, contact with his own time was made through brainwave transmissions, with Al, the Project Observer, who appeared in the form of a hologram that only Doctor Beckett could see and hear. Trapped in the past, Doctor Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, putting things right, that once went wrong and hoping each time, that his next leap will be the leap home.

Sorry ... couldn't resist.
posted by LilBucner at 9:11 AM on February 27, 2006