Did I mention before that I love Bono?...

Well...reading up on U2.com a couple of weeks ago I came across a news item about him performing a pastiche of Samuel Beckett during the launch of the Beckett Centenary Festival.

You can read a transcript here and listen to his performance of it here.

Ahhh the voice, the accent, the sheer talent....but I digress.

I know nothing really about Beckett, beyond that he wrote 'Waiting for Godot'. So was the pastiche good?...
(I like to think it was great, because it was Bono's work, of course...shallow? me?)

And so I've been reading and listening to Beckett related stuff, on and off, ever since.

I don't consider myself knowledgable enough to make an evaluation of Bono's piece BUT what I am getting, is a new spark, each time I listen after reading something new...a glint of understanding.

This article from Times Online contains a ton of information.

Included is the difference in vocabulary usage, between Joyce and Beckett.
The idea that Joyce would overuse words, whilst Beckett would intentionally underuse them, to make his work more 'true'.

Later in his life Beckett would write in French...one theory is that he did so because his vocabulary would then be more restricted and at root level.

...and then from Bono's piece there is this

Oh, Joyce had his revenge on they that put it in our mouth
His revenge
Was to chew it, bite into it, masticate and masterbate it Make chewing gum of it
Spit it into hand and stick it on the bottom of a schoolboy’s desk

Me… I shrank it, swallowed it, made a fart out of it, made a fart out of everyone who didn’t like the smell of it
Such confusion caused by ignoring the obvious
Metaphor… "

Now it makes sense!!

I'm waffling, I know...call me Joyce?

I have so much more to learn and a lot to understand...I'm finding it challenging and exciting...I love it.

Now, about the Irish singer in the leather pants....