BECKETT - SAMUEL

BECKETT - SAMUEL  (1906-1989) was a prolific Irish avant-garde playwright, poet and novelist best known for his critically acclaimed play WAITING FOR GODOT (1953).  He was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his writing, which -- in new forms for the novel and drama -- in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation."

Strongly influenced by fellow Irish writer, James Joyce, Beckett is sometimes considered the last of the Modernists, however, as his body of work influenced many subsequent writers, he is also considered one of the fathers of the Postmodernist movement.  Either way, he is unquestionably among the most influential writers of the 20th century and one of the key figures in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd".  His work is characterized by a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humor.

The following books are in PDF and/or  format as indicated:

Plays

* BREATH & OTHER SHORTS (Faber & Faber, 1971) -- PDF

* THE COLLECTED SHORTER PLAYS (Grove, 1984) -- PDF +

* THE COMPLETE DRAMATIC WORKS (Faber & Faber, 1986) --

* ELEUTHÉRIA: A Play in Three Acts (Foxrock, 1995) -- PDF

* ENDGAME / ACT WITHOUT WORDS I (Grove, 1958) -- PDF +

* ENDS AND ODDS: Nine Dramatic Pieces (Grove, 1981) --

* HAPPY DAYS: A Play in Two Acts (Grove, 1961) -- PDF +

* KRAPP'S LAST TAPE & OTHER DRAMATIC PIECES (Grove, 1960) -- PDF +

* ROCKABYE & OTHER SHORT PIECES (Grove, 1981) --

* WAITING FOR GODOT (Grove, 1954) -- PDF +

* WORSTWARD HO (Grove, 1983) -- PDF

Novels ==

* DREAM OF FAIR TO MIDDLING WOMEN (Arcade, 1993).  Edited by Eoin O'Brien and Edith Fournier -- PDF +

* HOW IT IS (Faber & Faber, 2009).  Edited by Edouard Magessa O'Reilly --

* HOW IT IS (Grove, 1964) -- PDF

* MALONE DIES (Faber & Faber, 2010).  Edited by Peter Boxall --

* MALONE DIES (Grove, 1956) -- PDF

* MERCIER AND CAMIER (Grove, 1975) --

* MOLLOY (Faber & Faber, 2009).  Edited by Shane Weller --

* MURPHY (Faber & Faber, 2009).  Edited by J. C. C. Mays --

* MURPHY (Grove, 1957) -- PDF

* THREE NOVELS: Molloy / Malone Dies / The Unnamable (Grove, 2009) --

* TRILOGY: Molloy / Malone Dies / The Unnamable (Calder, 1959, 1994).  Originally scanned by and reproduced here with the kind permission of @pharmakate. -- PDF

* THE UNNAMABLE (Faber & Faber, 2010).  Edited by Steven Connor --

* WATT (Faber & Faber, 2009).  Edited by C. J. Ackerley -- PDF +

 

Short Prose ==

* COMPANY / ILL SEEN ILL SAID / WORSTWARD HO / STIRRINGS STILL (Faber & Faber, 1981).  Edited by Dirk Van Hulle --

* THE COMPLETE SHORT PROSE, 1929-1989 (Grove, 1995).  Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Stanley E. Gontarski --

* ECHO'S BONES (Grove, 2014).  Edited by Mark Nixon --

* FIRST LOVE & OTHER SHORTS (Grove, 1974) -- PDF +

* ILL SEEN ILL SAID (Grove, 1981) -- PDF

* MORE PRICKS THAN KICKS (Grove, 1972) --

* NOHOW ON: Company / Ill Seen Ill Said / Worstward Ho (John Calder, 1989 / Grove, 1996) -- PDF +

* STORIES & TEXTS FOR NOTHING (Grove, 1967) --

* TEXTS FOR NOTHING & OTHER SHORTER PROSE, 1950-1976 (Faber & Faber, 2010).  Edited by Mark Nixon --

Poetry ==

* COLLECTED POEMS IN ENGLISH & FRENCH (Grove, 1977) --

* SELECTED POEMS 1930-1989 (Faber & Faber, 2009).  Edited by David Wheatley. --

Other ==

* BECKETT REMEMBERING REMEMBERING BECKETT: A Centenary Celebration (Arcade, 2011).  Edited by James and Elizabeth Knowlson --

* DISJECTA: Miscellaneous Writings and a Dramatic Fragment (Grove, 1984).  Edited with a Foreword by Ruby Cobn --

* I CAN'T GO ON, I'LL GO ON: A Samuel Beckett Reader (Grove, 1976).  Edited by Richard W. Seaver --