JAMES KNOWLSON

Samuel Beckett''s long-standing friend, James Knowlson, recreates Beckett''s youth in Ireland, his studies at Trinity College, Dublin in the early 1920s and from there to the Continent, where he plunged into the multicultural literary society of late-1920s Paris. The biography throws new light on Beckett''s stormy relationship with his mother, the psychotherapy he received after the death of his father and his crucial relationship with James Joyce. There is also material on Beckett''s six-month visit to Germany as the Nazi''s tightened their grip. The book includes unpublished material on Beckett''s personal life after he chose to live in France, including his own account of his work for a Resistance cell during the war, his escape from the Gestapo and his retreat into hiding. Obsessively private, Beckett was wholly committed to the work which eventually brought his public fame, beginning with the controversial success of "Waiting for Godot" in 1953, and culminating in the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. James Knowlson is the general editor of "The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett".

Samuel Beckett est né le 13 avril 1906 à Dublin, dans une famille irlandaise protestante. Après des études de français, il arrive à Paris, en 1928, en qualité de lecteur d’anglais rue d’Ulm. C’est à

Images of Beckett combines John Haynes unique repertoire of photographs of Becketts dramatic opus alongside three newly written essays by Becketts biographer and friend, James Knowlson. Haynes captures images of Becketts work in progress and performance and includes hitherto unknown portraits of Beckett himself. Haynes was privileged to be present at the Royal Court Theatre, London, when Beckett directed his own plays. Amongst the 75 plates are compositions that include the leading interpreters of the plays. Knowlsons first essay combines a verbal portrait of Beckett with a personal memoir of the writer; the second considers the influence of paintings that Beckett loved or admired on his theatrical imagery; and the third offers a detailed, often first-hand, account of Becketts work as a director of his own plays. The essays are the result of personal conversations with Beckett and attendance at rehearsals, and provide a privileged glimpse into the world of one of the theatres most influential and enduring playwrights.