Samuel Beckett's Reading List

Samuel Beckett's Reading List

Samuel Beckett’s letters are full of the literary names he encountered through his work: authors he wrote about (Proust), poets he translated (Apollinaire), peers he monitored (Ionesco), and predecessors he admired (Joyce). But, in his non-professional life, Beckett was also an avid reader, discussing his favorite reads (and not-so-favorite) with many of his correspondents.

What did Beckett read in his spare time? These mentions from The Letters of Samuel Beckett, Volume 2 (published today!) shed some light on what was on the writer’s nightstand during the period from 1941 to 1956.

"Andromaque" by Jean Racine

Beckett reading

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