colin smythe ltd barnes and noble books (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Published simultaneously in Great Britain & the United States in 1988. Bright, clean & tight copy, unread, in FINE condition. "Ever since the first appearance of PROUST in 1931, Samuel Beckett has responded extremely ambivalently, both praising and belittling his subject. Captivated by his occasionally contagious enthusiasm for it, Beckett's own critics have praised PROUST as the ideal guide to both its subject and its author, creating the myth that their concerns are somehow one and the same. Nicholas Zurbrugg's BECKETT AND PROUST---itself virtually a trilogy of critical studies---offers a timely antidote to this confusion. It is the first major comparison between the two authors, and Dr. Zurbrugg has had the advantage of being able to study Beckett's annotations in his copies of Proust's novel. He begins by reassessing the Proustian vision before considering Beckett's PROUST, when he examines the evolution of this essay with particular reference to Beckett's own annotated copies of the work. Finally, Dr. Zurbrugg reassesses Beckett's fictional vision, arguing that its peculiarly anti-Proustian character may be traced from Beckett's first, unpublished novel, DREAM OF FAIR TO MIDDLING WOMEN, to COMPANY and his most recent writings of the 'eighties. As Dr. Zurbrugg suggests, comparison of Proust's and Beckett's writings reveals their startlingly antithetical yet complimentary character, and helps redefine Beckett's vision as the very reverse of the search for self-knowledge that critics usually associate with his writings. BECKETT AND PROUST will be welcomed as a valuable guide to the transition between 'Proustian' Modernist tradition and the 'Beckettian' impulse within Post-Modern literature." Pristine copy, unread, unmarked, w/sharp corners & crisp edges, a square & tight binding, no age toning on pages, very slight foxing on text block top/side; quite presentable & collectible. See my listings RUB1293 DREAM OF FAIR TO MIDDLING WOMEN & RUB1294 ELEUTHERIA, posthumously published by Beckett's estate.