Something is taking its course

Good philosophical discussion of Samuel Beckett's works at K-Punk (thanks to Spurious for the link). The writer "Infinite Thought" was unhappy at the Barbican's Beckett Post War panel.

The problem lay in the staleness of the set-up, which contextualized Beckett in terms of 'existentialism', as if not only had the last forty years of Beckett reception in philosophy - Deleuze, Derrida, Blanchot, Badiou - not happened, but also that existentialism could still be understood in the same way that it was half a century ago.

The centenary excesses were continued on Newsnight Review too, only with slightly less focus on philosophy. It enabled Ellis Sharp to bask in the glory of NR regular Julie Myerson's critical acuity as she responded to Rockaby live at the same Barbican. It's not the first time we've had the pleasure.

PS: Channel 4 is reported to be showing the 19 films after having failed the first time. Let's hope some royal doesn't snuff it and spoil it like last time. Well, maybe it's a sacrifice I could make.