Three years after Godot, Beckett premiered this equally bleak yet entertaining scenario with four characters. At an indeterminate time in an indeterminate place (which could be one of the last rooms standing after a nuclear war, or, judging from its design, the inside of a human skull), Hamm, blind and seated in a wooden armchair on casters, makes speeches and orders around Clov, who is able to stand and walk, but not to sit down (and might be his son). Also in the room are Nagg and Nell, a legless but optimistic and loving couple who are Hamm's parents, inhabit garbage cans, and occasionally reminisce (although Nell eventually goes silent and may die in the course of the action). Hamm and Clov expect something to happen soon -- an ending, perhaps! -- yet also fear possible consequences and are unable to act, though they constantly threaten to do so.
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The review of this Book prepared by David Loftus
