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ReadySteadyBlog

One of the Guardian Unlimited Books' top 10 literary blogs: "A home-grown treasure ... smart, serious analysis"

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Beckett and "the absurd"

"... moral values are inaccessible. And they cannot be defined. In order to define them, you would have to pass judgement, which is impossible. That's why I could never agree with the notion of the theatre of the absurd. It involves a value judgment. You cannot even speak about truth. That's what's so distressful. Paradoxically, it is through form that the artist may find some kind of a way out. By giving form to formlesssness. It is only in that way, perhaps, that some underlying affirmation may be found."

Beckett and "the absurd" over on This Space.

Posted by Mark Thwaite
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Reader Comments

Wednesday 28 April 2010

Palimpsest says...

"Moral values are inaccessible" - wonderful. Beckett is so profound, so accurate.

Thursday 06 May 2010

Shelley says...

The period of my poetry, the Dust Bowl, fits exactly into what Beckett says about "giving form to formlessness." When you're studying a time when all the knowns seem to have dropped away, as he says, the form seems to be one of the few affirmations you can make.

Tuesday 13 July 2010

p90x says...

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p90x

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