Reviews for Collected Shorter Plays

The average rating for Collected Shorter Plays based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-01-17 00:00:00 Chip Wilhelm "…so no love…spared that…no love such as normally vented on the…speechless infant…in the home…no…" My lukewarm rating is far more indicative of my inability to understand what the hell Beckett was saying half the time than it is of the actual quality of these plays. Some of them struck me as brilliant, original, and powerfully moving, whereas, with way too many others, I honestly couldn't figure out what the fuck was going on, and had to rely on various online analyses and interpretations. The fact that, at times, even thoroughly educated, highly intelligent critics failed to reach a consensus was admittedly pretty goddamn satisfying. At least I'm not the only one who can't fully grasp what Beckett was trying to do! Anyway, if I was smarter, or perhaps more comfortable with what often felt like impenetrably ambiguous symbolism, this book would probably have earned itself a shiny 5 star rating. As it was, however, I spent too much time feeling like a grade A moron to be able to give it anything higher than a semi-reluctant 3. That said, Not I, Krapp's Last Tape, Act Without Words I, Catastrophe and Eh Joe were pretty bitchin'. Even I managed to pick up on their genius. It's not you, Beckett, it's me. (I think...)

Review # 2 was written on 2013-09-05 00:00:00 Andy Long Acknowledgements --All That Fall --Act Without Words I --Act Without Words II --Krapp's Last Tape --Rough for Theatre I --Rough for Theatre II --Embers --Rough for Radio I --Rough for Radio II --Words and Music --Cascando --Play --Film --The Old Tune --Come and Go --Eh Joe --Breath --Not I --That Time --Footfalls --Ghost Trio --... but the clouds ... --A Piece of Monologue --Rockaby --Ohio Impromptu --Quad --Catastrophe --Nacht und Träume --What Where