Saturday, May 27, 2017

Islanders Read the Classics: Phil Weinstein on Samuel Beckett

Philip Weinstein, the Alexander Griswold Cummins Professor of English Emeritus at Swarthmore College, will present the next talk in the onging series "Islanders Read the Classics", with ‘Something Gone Wrong with the Silence: Reflections on Samuel Beckett.’ The free talk will be held at 7pm Tuesday, June 13th at the Katharine Cornell Theater in Vineyard Haven.

Samuel Beckett was one of the 20th century's greatest writers, winning the Nobel Prize in 1969, and this talk will attempt to provide some of the reasons for such an assessment. Born in Ireland to a well-to-do Protestant family, Beckett completed his education at the Sorbonne in Paris, writing a brilliant Masters thesis on Marcel Proust. After participating in the Resistance in the early 1940s, Beckett returned to Paris and began to write in French.  He is proficient in two genres--fiction and drama--and this talk will focus on one of his most remarkable plays, Krapp's Last Tape (1957). Participants are urged to read this very short, funny play prior to the talk on June 13th.

The "Islanders Read the Classics" series is presented by the Martha's Vineyard Library Association in partnership with the Martha's Vineyard Times. Once each month, an island library will host a free talk by an educator who has a passion for a specific book. Participants are encouraged to read the book in advance, however it is not required. Copies of the books may be requested through your local CLAMS library. Future events in the series include Nancy Aronie on Ram Dass at 5:30pm June 29th at Aquinnah Public Library, and John Hough on The Confessions of Nat Turner at 7pm July 25th at West Tisbury Library. For further details, contact the hosting library.

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