WAITING FOR GODOT Samuel Beckett Illustrations by Quentin Blake
Published by Folio Society
Of course, anyone interested in serious drama will already have a dog eared, probably annotated, copy of Beckett’s famous 1955 play on their bookshelves. This very beautiful, illustrated, heavy duty hard back is something different – you’d never use it as a study or rehearsal text. But it would make a lovely (Christmas?) gift for someone who loves both the play and the tactility of a really well produced book.
Quentin Blake’s illustrations are the real distinguishing feature. We’re used to his work for children’s books. Although you can see his trademark angularity, the art is all flushed in purple and vague in outline to support the ambiguity of Becket’s meandering, but tightly controlled text.
I loved, for example the moment when Estragon and Vladimir exchange hats and Blake gives us a stocky figure and a lanky one with three hats between them and a degree of puzzlement. Or that lovely moment when the boy brings them a message from Godot and the conversation spins away surreally. Blake’s illustration captures, across a double page, the distance between them and the boy’s polite bewilderment.
This elegant book also includes some of the nicest brown endpapers
I’ve ever seen. It comes, like all
Folio Society books in illustrated hardback with a sturdy slipcover. Definitely one for bibliophiles.