"Writing in the shadow of nuclear holocaust and the existential angst of the postwar era, Samuel Beckett, like few other authors spoke to the cultural imagination and anxieties of living in the vortex of catastrophes. For Gabriele Schwab, his work has taken on new meaning as we are living in a period defined by both paralyzing stasis and turbulence. Moreover, as we approach an era that will increasingly be shaped by climate change and pandemics, Beckett's particular sense of end times and his vision of human adaptability offers a critical lens to understand our times and also, perhaps, provides solace. In Samuel Beckett's Poetics of the End Times, Gabriele Schwab draws on her decades-long engagement with Beckett. She describes how Beckett's ideas definedher work as a critic and theorist and also provided a sanctuary during difficult times in her personal life. She examines Beckett's writings from the more famous works including Happy Days and End Game to lesser-known works such as Breath his 35-second play, which Schwab reads anew in light of our experience with COVID-19 as a meditation on living and grounding oneself as we confront loneliness, vulnerability, and perpetual anxiety"--
Samuel Becketts work has entranced generations of readers with its portrayal of the end times. Becketts characters are preoccupied with death, and the specters of cataclysm and extinction overshadow their barren, bleak worlds. Yet somehow, they endure, experiencing surreal and often comic repetitions that seem at once to confront finitude and the infinite, up to the limits of existence.
Gabriele Schwab draws on decades of close engagement with Beckett to explore how his work speaks to our current existential anxieties and fears. Interweaving critical analysis with personal reflections, she shows how Becketts writing provides unexpected resources for making sense of personal and planetary catastrophes. Moments for Nothing examines the ways Becketts works have taken on new meaning in an era of crisesclimate change, environmental devastation, and the COVID-19 pandemicthat are defined by both paralyzing stasis and pervasive uncertainty. They also offer a bracing depiction of aging and the end of life, exploring loneliness, vulnerability, and decay. Becketts particular vision of the apocalypse and his sense of persistence, Schwab argues, help us understand our times and even, perhaps, provide sanctuary and solace.
Moments for Nothing features insightful close readings of iconic works such as Endgame, Happy Days, and the Trilogy, as well as lesser-known writings including the thirty-five-second play Breath, which Schwab reconsiders in light of the pandemic.
Gabriele Schwab draws on decades of close engagement with Beckett to explore how his work speaks to our current existential anxieties and fears.
