Rating: 
Summary: "Nothing happens, twice".
Review: "Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!". That phrase, said by one of the main characters of "Waiting for Godot", somehow sums up the whole plot of this short tragicomedy in two acts. Strange??. You can bet on that!!!. So much that a well-known Irish critic said of it "nothing happens, twice".
The play starts with two men, Vladimir and Estragon, sitting on a lonely road. They are both waiting for Godot. They don't know why they are waiting for him, but they think that his arrival will change things for the better. The problem is that he doesn't come, although a kid does so and says Godot will eventually arrive. Pozzo and his servant Lucky, two other characters that pass by while our protagonists are waiting for Godot, add another bizarre touch to an already surreal story, in which nothing seems to happen and discussions between the characters don't make much sense.
However, maybe that is exactly the point that Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) wanted to make. He was one of the most accomplished exponents of the "Theatre of the Absurd", that wanted to highlight the lack of purpose and meaning in an universe without God. Does Godot, the person that Vladimir and Estragon endlessly wait, symbolize God?. According to an irascible Beckett, when hard-pressed to answer that question, "If I knew who Godot was, I would have said so in the play." So, we don't know. The result is a highly unusual play that poses many questions, but doesn't answer them.
Ripe with symbolism, "Waiting for Godot" is a play more or less open to different interpretations. Why more or less open?. Well, because in order to have an interpretation of your own, you have to finish the play, and that is something that not all readers can do. "Waiting for Godot" is neither too long nor too difficult, but it shows a lack of action and purpose in the characters that is likely to annoy many before they reach the final pages, leading them to abandon the book in a hurry. That is specially true if the reader is a student who thinks he is being barbarously tortured by a hateful teacher who told him to write a paper on "Waiting for Godot" :)
My advice, for what it is worth, is that you should persist in reading it. If it puts you to sleep, try reading it aloud with some friends, and discuss with them the implications of what happens with the characters. This play might not be thoroughly engaging, but it changed theatre and the possibilities opened before it forever. In a way, it provoked a blood-less revolution, and because of that it deserves at least a bit of our attention.
Belen Alcat
Rating: 
Summary: The Absurdist Drama
Review: Along with Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya," this play is very likely the best play ever written. Like the one mentioned above, it is not the most dinamic thing you'll ever read/see. Far from it. "Waiting for Godot" is still amazing, mainly thanks to the wonderful dialogue and intriguing characters.
It's hard to write about this without getting straight to the point and I don't want to. Read it yourself and than get anti-depressants.
If you really do intend to read it, have patience and look below the surface.
Rating:
Summary: I never decided to leave while reading this play
Review: Apparently, people have made much of the "fact" that Godot is god. While hardly being a fact (and in fact, being outwardly denied by Beckett himself), people who search too desperately for the specific personage Godot represents miss the point. One can say that Godot is god, especially if one is a New Critic and therefore ignores whatever the author may have said about his work. And while at one point Vladimir exclaims (and I'm just paraphrasing): "Godot is here! We are saved," this does not explicitly explain who Godot is. He could just as easily be bringing money to Vladimir and Estragon as he could be bearing salvation for them. The point is, that Beckett was an essentially existential writer, and saw that all of life was just waiting for the terminal breath. Furthermore, in the act of waiting for an ending, Vladimir and Estragon constantly make the existential choice: whether or not to keep on waiting. Several times they contemplate committing suicide; several times Estragon threatens to leave. In the end, they confirm their existence (yes, only one existence--they seem to be as one person in the dialogue: this is no mistake) by deciding, if offhandishly, to remain living; living, and waiting.
Rating:
Summary: What is there to get from Waiting for Godot
Review: I believe all you need to know is that the characters all wear melon hats and suits... And that the play is written originally in French (Beckett's first play in French, and a smashing success), and surprisingly French despite Beckett's British origin... Hence you are reading a translation, sadly... MetaTheater, dadaism, post-ww1 dissilusionement, all that ain't matter much... Well I say, to appreciate this play you do not need to know beforehand or care beforehand who Godot represents... whether he's "God" or some political figure... Superfluous definition of this play is not the point. Beckett wrote, and I paraphrase this translation: "I can't tell you what the play signifies. I can't tell you more than the words in the play don't already tell you. The characters of the play and I have gone our seperate ways..." etc, etc... That is all. Read it, read it loud, read it again in a few months, whatever.
Rating:
Summary: What is there to get from Waiting for Godot
Review: I thought the play beautifully expressed in laconic dialogue how some individuals deny reality, the human condition, and mortality by distracting themselves with meaningless activies. I don't know if Beckett saw life as meaningless. The mystery of life makes all of us story tellers. It's our responsiblity to find a story, activity, purpose, gift, belief that gives our lives fullness as opposed to emptyness.
Rating:
Summary: Simply put, one of the highwater marks of the theatre.
Review: If you haven't read or seen 'Godot', log off right now, get to your nearest library or bookstore, and get a copy. Read it, have a good cry, read it again. It definitely bears a first, second, a hundredth look. 'Godot' is probably the most important English-language play of the 20th century, a play which gives itself over to a simple interpretation and (on further reflection) staunchly refuses to be so easily encapsulated. It is a prime example of the 'Theater of the Absurd', in which physical reality entirely gives way to the reality of the stage. It is a play in which language itself breaks down spectacularly, in which the players are not characters but types, in which the central character doesn't appear on stage -- and in which the notion of a 'central character' comes under attack. Read the play with an ear for the rhythm of the dialogue and the overwhelming mood of the piece. The characters' speech is musical, making the piece far more engrossing than (for instance) 'No Exit' by Sartre. When you're finished, have a look at 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead' by Tom Stoppard, which hautningly weaves together 'Godot' and 'Hamlet'; also have a look at Beckett's own 'Endgame', which features one of the most heartbreaking final monologues in all of theater. To dispel a myth: Beckett did not intend for Godot to be simply God; the fact is, we do not and *can not* know who Godot is. But neither can we look at Vladimir and Estragon without seeing something of ourselves.
Rating:
Summary: "Yes, let's go. (They do not move)"-- Waiting for Godot
Review: Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is a play of subtle beauty and truth of humanity's search or lack of search for meaning. Beckett uses minimalist techniques such as one set for the two acts to achieve the idea that merely letting life pass one by is absurd. The play takes places on a road where is little scenery besides one tree, alluding to the tree of knowledge. However in the first act, the tree is leafless, symbolizing that knowledge is dead; thus, life is chaotic and absurd. Contrastingly in the second act, the tree has leaves illustrating that there is still some hope. However, Vladimir and Estragon do not utilize this hope since they never leave this area. They wait for Godot to come to them. This lack of action demonstrates that if meaning is to be found one cannot wait for knowledge or life to come to him, it must be sought out. Furthermore, the two men's inability to leave their situation illustrates the difficulty humans have in searching for meaning. Moreover, Beckett does not suggest that the searching for meaning is worthless but a struggle. For instances, the leaf filled tree signifies the existence of knowledge and the characters talk of other places to flee to; they are not bound to their area. However, they do not leave. They wait for Godot to come them and once he has not come they do not move. In Waiting for Godot the absurdity of life lies in its characters inability to search for meaning since they hope it will come to them eventually. Consequently meaning or knowledge never comes to a person, which explains the ludicrousness in the two men's worlds where they no longer have a grasp of reality. They are bound to a world of chaos by their choice.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't understand this entry
Review: This entry makes no sense. In one section of the "Editorial Review" it mentions that this hardcover is a recording of a production at the Toronto Stratford Festival starring "McCamus and Ouimette." Then the "Production Notes" state that it stars Zero Mostel and Burgess Meredith with Kurt Kaszner and Alvin Epstein and directed by Alan Schneider. Mostel and Burgess were in an early 1950's TV version - which is quite good. But what does that have to do with this "book"? What does either? Very unclear.
Rating:
Summary: But the night won't fall...
Review: This is truly one of the most impactful and meaningful pieces of literature I have ever read. I've been through it and through it and through it, and I never tire of the thought is provokes. While it seems to be one of those works that you either totally love, or totally hate, anyone with an interest in existentialism will find this to be an utterly delightful non-story.
I've noticed many reviewers state that this book is laced with Christian themes, that Godot is symbolic of God. This is not entirely correct, and should not really be dwelled upon. While Beckett himself denies the book's apparent biblical themes (He claims that the play is about shoes, and that the naming of the saviour comes from a road near his house, "Godot St."), one can almost declare that it doesn't matter who or what Godot is - you will find the story (Or lack thereof) to be much more profound if you focus not on the fact that Didi And Gogo are waiting for Godot, but merely that - much like all of us - they are waiting - and wait on.
Rating:
Summary: Complicated yet Interesting
Review: Waiting for Godot is a book that takes a lot of concentration and understanding. It holds a great amount of importance and significance dealing with life. You will find yourself very frustrated at imes because of the way Becket writes the book. The plot is very dull and boring. It takes place around a tree on the side of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The main characters are two men named Vladimir and Estragon. They spend the entire book waiting for Godot, a man in which neither of them have ever met. They need to talk to him because they have questions and no answers. While they wait they meet Pozzo and Lucky, two other important characters. The theme of hope plays a mojor part of the book. Hope is what Vladimir and estragon build while they spend days waiting for Godot. The two characters are faced with many situations in which their hope is a great importance. Their hope gets them a long way. Waiting for Godot is a good book once you are able to realy understand it. The author makes it difficult for readers to understand. Although it is frustrating at times there is strength in the book. That is the importance of our lives that is expressed to make a point to the readers. It makes you think about your life and the way you are spending it. Becket semed to make the book confusing which i believe could have been written just as good without being so confusing. At the end it would have been nice to know what happens. Maybe it was made to be like that but it would have been good to know the outcome and not just leave the reader with wonder. If you are able to take a challenge and read Waiting for Godot, I wish you luck. Once you understand Beckets writing, it really is quite an interesting book.
|
