All Strange Away
Encyclopedia
All Strange Away is a short prose text by Samuel Beckett
first published in English in 1964. A special signed edition with illustrations by Edward Gorey
was published in 1976, and in a trade edition by Grove Press
(New York) of collected texts titled, Rockaby and Other Short Pieces in 1981. Beckett's British publisher, John Calder
, also printed the work independently in 1979 and again, in 1990, in a collection of late prose works under the title, As the Story was Told.
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
first published in English in 1964. A special signed edition with illustrations by Edward Gorey
Edward Gorey
Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books.-Early life:...
was published in 1976, and in a trade edition by Grove Press
Grove Press
Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United States. The Atlantic Monthly Press, under the aegis of its...
(New York) of collected texts titled, Rockaby and Other Short Pieces in 1981. Beckett's British publisher, John Calder
John Calder
John Mackenzie Calder is a Canadian and Scottish publisher who founded Calder Publishing in 1949.-Biography:John Calder was a friend of Samuel Beckett, becoming the main publisher of his prose-texts in Britain after the success of Waiting for Godot on the London stage in 1955-56...
, also printed the work independently in 1979 and again, in 1990, in a collection of late prose works under the title, As the Story was Told.
Plot
In a monologue with himself "in the last person", the nameless unseen protagonist begins with the words, "Imagination dead imagine". He then describes an enclosed space of bare walls that are "five foot square, six high and lit on and off from no visible source. Evoking a theatrical setting, he imagines light fading up on a stool surrounded by walls displaying women's faces while, in a corner, he perceives the "tattered syntaxes of Jolly and Draeger Praeger Draeger". The size and description of the space with "no way in, none out" is subject to change depending on the clarity of the protagonist's failing memory as he attempts to recall a love affair with Emma.Primary
- Beckett, Samuel (1990). "All Strange Away" in As the Story was Told. London: Calder Publishers ISBN 0-7145-4113-3
Secondary
- Ackerley, C.J. and Gontarski, A.E. (2004). The Grove Companion to Samuel Beckett. New York: Grove Press ISBN 0-8021-4049-1
External links
- All Strange Away Review by Peter Murphy
- Stage: Samuel Beckett’s All Strange Away NYT theater review by Mel Gussow