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: Waiting for Godot
Review: In the book Waiting for Godot there is a strong emphasis on repetition. This makes for an exciting read for anyone looking for an interpretive book of any sort. Waiting for Godot raises many questions, such as the existence of God and the question "Does he care about us?" Throughout the play the reader gets a sense that more and more of the text is symbolic of something. The main characters, Didi and Gogo, are two homeless men who have banded together to comfort one another, and so neither one will be "alone." With their days spent waiting for Godot to arrive, they talk of many different things, such as suicide, who they really are, and what they have done. After act two, the reader realizes something strange is has happened, but may not be able to place their finger on it for a while. The cast of characters is very interesting and diverse, and proves to be plethoras of information and knowledge. The veteran reader may, at the end of the play, feel somewhat enlighten, as Beckett's style of writing is very witty, and very good at getting the author's point across. This book may not be for the novice reader, or someone that is looking for a work of escape literature. It includes an enormous amount of interpretation, and could possibly agitate anyone who does not enjoy that sort of book.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Ever Happens. . .
Review: One of the most striking plays written in the 20th century, Samuel Beckett's, "Waiting for Godot," is a must read for any serious student of theater, lover of the theater of the absurd, or those interested in high thought as seen through the eyes of a couple of nobodys. An absurd play, it is stirring, chilling and unreprentively satirical. The characters even poke fun at the play that they are in as one of the states that, "nothing ever happens," and he is right. Stark and empty, the play has an air of waiting for something to happen. Not only are the main characters, Didi and Gogo (Vladimir and Estragon), waiting for something monumental, but so are the readers. The potential bleakness of the world that we live in comes to a head in this play where every action hinges on the appearance of Godot, who strikes a resemblence (acording to the players) to God himself. Beckett was quoted as saying that if he had meant, "God," he would have said "God." Godot, is ambiguous and powerful; as is the play that carries his name. An excellent, though thick read. The play is dark, and by no means uplifting. By this point in time, "Waiting for Godot," should have been read by everyone. This piece is the center of the theater of the absurd movement, and has been quoted, and been alluted to more often then any play since its writing. It is perhaps only less well read than, "Hamlet," and "Private Lives," by Shakespeare and Coward, respectively.
Rating:
Summary: Waiting for Godot
Review: Samuel Beckett's tragicomedy, Waiting for Godot, was surprising entertaining,
though nothing happened throughout the two acts. The two protagonists of the play,
Estragon and Vladimir, two hobo looking men, are waiting on a country road by a tree.
The setting is bare and dark. The two men discuss matters of life and religion while
waiting for a man named Godot who was to meet them there. During the play, they are
visited only by three others, a messenger boy who works for Godot, and Pozzo who has a
servant named Lucky. While Estragon insists numerous times that they leave the place,
Vladimir reminds him they are waiting for Godot. The men remain there for what appears
to be the changing of a season because leaves have grown on the once barren tree;
however, Godot never comes.
While the two men represent all mankind, Vladimir is the more philosophical of the
two. He understands the constant struggle of man to give his life meaning and he knows
that we do not have that power; he knows that they must wait for Godot to tell them what
to do. He grasps the idea that men never accept their own faults and often blame their
society. On the other hand, Estragon, or Go-Go as his friend calls him, is the more
materialistic of the men. When asked if he remembered reading the Bible, he replied that he
remembered the pictures. Both are well-developed, complex, and plausible characters.
Religious themes are often brought into Waiting for Godot. The tree which they wait beside is a reminder of the two trees in the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life and the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The road on which they stand symbolizes a
purpose or direction in life, somewhere to go. The general tone of the play is one of
isolation, despair, and loneliness. One of the first conversations between our protagonists
is about Estragon being beaten at night. He says no one was there to help him. There was
no good Samaritan; we do not get much help from our fellow man. Man's inhumanity to
man is constant. Vladimir ignites a conversation about four Evangelists in the Bible of
whom only one spoke of one of two thieves being saved. The two thieves are an ironic
parallel between the two hobos, Vladimir and Estragon.
Waiting for Godot ventures into the universal human conditions of life. Beckett's
Christian Existential beliefs shine through in the essential idea of his play: there is nothing
to be done. Humans do not have the power to give their lives meaning. It is a play about
hope, waiting, and meaning in our lives, mixed with irony (the existence of the name God
in Godot) and humor. Although Beckett never discredits God, he does discredit human
theories for explaining the existence of God. Our lives are unfinished. We can never
come to a final conclusion about God because language and reason fall short of
explanation. We may have certain assumptions about God, but we can never come to
logical conclusions. Nothing is ever established beyond all doubt and we must live with
doubt. Doubt becomes a motif of the play. Beckett also touches on the point that life is
short. We can never be sure of anything.
Reading Waiting for Godot is an eye opening experience. Because of the things
our society has taught us for so long, we have excepted them as truths when in reality,
there are no truths. Men were born sinners. The play's themes are both well-developed
and implied. Beckett's original, interpretive fiction deals with more than just human
conditions, it explores the consciousness of man as well as concerns beyond man.
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.
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