Hamm, blind and unable to stand, sits in a chair in a bare room, giving orders to his servant Clov, who cannot sit. Hamm's parents, Nagg and Nell, live in two trash cans at the side of the stage. Outside, the world seems to have ended, and Clov looks out of two windows with a telescope, reporting that nothing is there. Samuel Beckett's one-act play from 1957 follows their rituals of insults, stories and games, as they wait for the end of a "game" that never quite finishes. The language is clipped, cruel and funny.
Theater readers and students of the absurd will find a bleak, compact text. It is a good second step after Waiting for Godot.
Deep, contemplative, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Literary Connoisseur. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1957
- Publisher
- Éditions de Minuit
- ISBN
- 9782707300706
- Language
- FR
