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The Grove Centenary Editions of Samuel Beckett

samuel beckett

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Edited by Paul Auster, this four–volume set of Beckett's canon has been designed by award winner Laura Lindgren. Available individually, as well as in a boxed set, the four hardcover volumes have been specially bound with covers featuring images central to Beckett's works. Typographical errors that remained uncorrected in the various prior editions have now been corrected in consultation with Beckett scholars C. J. Ackerley and S. E. Gontarski.

"Poet, novelist, short–story writer, playwright, translator, and critic, Samuel Beckett created one of the most brilliant and enduring bodies of work in twentieth–century literature. In celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of his birth, the four volumes of this new edition bring together nearly every word Beckett published during his lifetime. Open anywhere and begin reading. It is an experience unequaled anywhere in the universe of words." — Paul Auster, from his Series Notes

2136 pages, Hardcover

First published March 23,2006

This edition

Format
2136 pages, Hardcover
Published
March 28, 2006 by Grove Press
ISBN
9780802118318
ASIN
0802118313
Language
English
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About the author

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samuel beckett

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Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet, who lived in France for most of his adult life. He wrote in both English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.

Beckett is widely regarded as among the most influential writers of the 20th century. Strongly influenced by James Joyce, he is considered one of the last modernists. As an inspiration to many later writers, he is also sometimes considered one of the first postmodernists. He is one of the key writers in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd". His work became increasingly minimalist in his later career.

Beckett 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". In 1984 he was elected Saoi of Aosdána.

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Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 8 votes)
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
screwballer
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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OK, this is an obvious one, considering that I am currently engaged in writing my dissertation on Beckett. It is indeed a challenging task to pen a review of an entire oeuvre. One is inevitably faced with the dilemma of either overstating or understating the matter. I will strive to lean towards the latter approach.


Beckett's works, unlike any others that I have perused, have a remarkable ability to draw attention to the conventions and figures that form the established literary tradition. He often accomplishes this by ingeniously destroying these very conventions and figures. As a result, his works offer a unique vantage point from which one can interrogate the historicity of literature and its historical role in modernity. This aspect of Beckett's works is truly fascinating and worthy of in-depth exploration.

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bonbon_ribbon
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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I purchased this in 2007 and finally finished it last night.

It's true that I counted volume 3 as read after reading the introduction. The reason is that I had previously read Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Happy Days, and Collected Shorter Plays. I'm sure I'll return to them. This set is lacking a few things that are in The Complete Short Prose, 1929 - 1989 and Disjecta: Miscellaneous Writings and a Dramatic Fragment. But otherwise, it contains everything Beckett published in English during his lifetime, including some that hadn't been collected in book form yet.

Needless to say, a book with an author's complete works will have varying quality. However, Beckett's work overall is amazing. Even the criticism at the end of the book is almost like reading philosophy. The comparison between Dante Alighieri's Italian and James Joyce's Finnegans Wake is quite fascinating and worth further investigation. Beckett tells us that Dante's Italian is an invented language based on many dialects, and he argues the same is true of Joyce's language in Finnegans Wake. I enjoyed it without really understanding much. On the other hand, there's Marcel Proust, whom I've never read. But Beckett tells us that Proust was regarded as writing poor prose in his time and was largely unread by the early 1930s when Beckett wrote about him. Beckett definitely made Proust's work sound interesting.

"Three Dialogues" is supposed to be Beckett in an art museum with Georges Duthuit. But the text, especially Beckett's, seems too artificial to be a transcript and is more likely written with his usual artfulness.

None of these have the verbal sparseness of the previous works. Beckett's short fiction is among his most difficult and innovative work. They're not just exercises in language, as some have suggested. Their imagery is strong, like in "The Lost Ones", which is about people trying to survive in a cylindrical pit with ladders. It has the makings of science fiction, like "What Where", the last dramatic work in the collection. But like that piece, it's a slice of time. It could be the first part of a science fiction novel, but it chooses not to be, which makes it, like many works here, quite despairing. Wasting away in death is an important theme in Beckett's work. My father passed away while I was reading Malone Dies. Despite its significant comic relief, like most of Beckett's work before the 1980s, I put it down for a while and reread a much cheerier favorite author, L. Frank Baum. But while reading this, I also read Eleuthéria and Echo's Bones. Now, only Disjecta and Dream of Fair to Middling Women are left for me to read for the first time until I tackle his works in untranslated French, which is my second language.

For more from me about this set, please see my review of Novels I of Samuel Beckett: Volume I of The Grove Centenary Editions.
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ToTTheGreaT
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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I am currently attempting to purchase the box collection of Beckett. However, it has proven to be extremely difficult to locate. Instead, I have managed to find the individual volumes. Now, I am seriously considering whether to buy them separately or if it is truly worth the arduous search until I can find the complete set.

Please, could someone kindly inform me if there is any significant difference in the physical appearance and production quality between the set and the individual volumes? Is it really worth the wait, or should I simply go ahead and purchase the volumes separately?

I would be extremely grateful for any feedback or advice. Thank you so very much!

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Profile Image for Kimberly .
sx117
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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Molloy is without a doubt the funniest book I have ever come across. Its unique blend of humor and absurdity keeps me entertained from start to finish.

The Unnamable, on the other hand, is the book that constantly lingers in my thoughts. It presents complex ideas and themes that make me reflect deeply.

For me, these two books are truly indispensable. They have had a profound impact on my reading experience and have become an important part of my literary collection.

Whether I'm in need of a good laugh or a thought-provoking read, I can always turn to Molloy and The Unnamable. They are like old friends that never fail to bring something new and exciting with each reread.

I highly recommend these books to anyone who loves literature and is looking for something truly unique and unforgettable.
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Camyy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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Samuel Beckett's collected works, presented in a wonderful form by Grove Press, offer a captivating exploration.

Each of the 4 volumes comes with just the right amount of introductory materials. This provides the uninitiated reader with enough guidance without overwhelming them with unnecessary details about an author who seems difficult at first but becomes more "simple" with further reading.

J. M. Coetzee's explanations in his introduction to the "trilogy" and short fiction are refreshing. His words about "The Lost Ones" give us a sense of the hellish nature of both reading and writing it.

Over the more than 2000 pages of Beckett's works, we come to appreciate the limitations of the material he used to create an unlimited canvas for exploring themes like memory, the decay of the body, and the meaningfulness of objects.

Other curiosities include the obsession with geometry and space in some stories and plays, the stripping away of typical notions of "work" and "industriousness", and the "shortening of the unit phrase" as time goes on.

From a literary standpoint, these 4 volumes are unlikely to change one's ideas about the best works. Beckett was at his best between the maximalist impulse of the earlier works and the stark minimalism of the later plays.

My personal favorites include Company, Molloy, Malone Dies, Happy Days, and Krapp's Last Tape. Overall, the chronicling of decay, aloneness, and the fragility of life and family is simple yet masterfully rendered in Beckett's hands. However, one half of this collection almost reads like the "workshop" for the half that formed the foundation of his reputation.

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Simplest14
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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This collection is truly an absolute travesty.

It is quite astonishing to note that its absences are far more interesting than the content that Grove decided to include.

To be honest, I am extremely embarrassed about having made this purchase.

I thought that my next book would be on Beckett, so I bought this collection.

However, upon further inspection, I realize that had I written this book myself, it would have been a very bad one indeed.

The lack of depth and coherence in this collection is truly disappointing.

It fails to capture the essence and complexity of the subject matter.

I sincerely hope that future collections on Beckett will be more comprehensive and well-researched.

Until then, I will have to look elsewhere for reliable and engaging resources on this great author.
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Obeythealfa
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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Beckett has, in some respects, been ill served by the success of Godot and a couple of other of his plays.

He was as much a writer as a playwright. Some of his short stories and the three novels known as the Trilogy are absolutely fantastic. This set contains virtually everything he wrote and is beautifully presented, although the binding is cheap.

He's one of the most imposing giants of 20th century letters, which often gets in the way of people picking him up for any other reason than masochism. It's a shame, as he's extremely funny (yes, it is a melancholy humor), and his absolute refusal to let language run away with itself leads to a chiseled, precise prose that I would liken to a glass of cool, pure water.

It's interesting to note that most of his mature work was written in French (which he mastered as a middle-aged man) and then translated into English. Perhaps writing in a language that was not his mother tongue forced him to write as carefully and thoughtfully as possible. Whatever the reason, he's a master stylist precisely because there seems to be no style whatsoever. As anyone who tries to write knows, there is no such thing.

What makes it doubly interesting is his worship of Joyce (he was actually his secretary for a while), whom he initially tried to emulate (those early novels are included as well) in terms of ecstatic wordiness only to then do a complete 180 and become austere and sparing with his language.

O.k. on that note, I will end this review with a high degree of pretense: if you don't try Beckett, your knowledge of 20th century modernism is missing one of its most talented and essential components.
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KidaTatsuhime
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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I have dedicated years of my life to studying, performing, and directing the works of Beckett. His unique style and profound themes have always held a special fascination for me.


This particular edition of his work is truly stunning. It presents his plays and writings in a new and engaging way, allowing readers and viewers to experience his genius from a fresh perspective.


The attention to detail in this edition is remarkable. The editors have carefully curated the texts, providing insightful annotations and commentary that enhance the understanding of Beckett's complex ideas.


Whether you are a long-time fan of Beckett or new to his work, this edition is a must-have. It offers a comprehensive and accessible introduction to one of the most important figures in modern literature.

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