The Theatre of the Absurd

The Theatre of the Absurd
by Martin Esslin

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Book Summary Information

Author: Martin Esslin
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-01-06
ISBN: 1400075238
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Vintage
Product features:

ISBN13: 9781400075232
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of The Theatre of the Absurd

Book Review: If you care about the future (and past) of representative art
Summary: 5 Stars

Anyone interested in the problem of trying to understand and communicate what "reality" means to you on a deeply philosophical level and is curious about how some of the greatest minds in theatrical history have wrestled with this same issue in their own work should READ THIS BOOK. Even if you don't think you care about those things, read this book--you may find that you actually do and you owe it to yourself to find out. It is accessible and revelatory and continues to provide insights that would seem applicable to the future of theater/film/and all other representative artforms. We are still struggling with many of the issues Esslin addresses and our contemporary art has not yet fully integrated his insights into mainstream thought. We can't expect representative art to take any important leaps forward without first understanding the relevance of the Absurd. This book taught me that. I'm really glad I found it.

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Summary of The Theatre of the Absurd

In 1953, Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot premiered at a tiny avant-garde theatre in Paris; within five years, it had been translated into more than twenty languages and seen by more than a million spectators. Its startling popularity marked the emergence of a new type of theatre whose proponents-Beckett, Ionesco, Genet, Pinter, and others-shattered dramatic conventions and paid scant attention to psychological realism, while highlighting their characters' inability to understand one another. In 1961, Martin Esslin gave a name to the phenomenon in his groundbreaking study of these playwrights who dramatized the absurdity at the core of the human condition.

Over four decades after its initial publication, Esslin's landmark book has lost none of its freshness. The questions these dramatists raise about the struggle for meaning in a purposeless world are still as incisive and necessary today as they were when Beckett's tramps first waited beneath a dying tree on a lonely country road for a mysterious benefactor who would never show. Authoritative, engaging, and eminently readable, The Theatre of the Absurd is nothing short of a classic: vital reading for anyone with an interest in the theatre.

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