Word: life
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...mere thought of taking any action or making any decision makes him burrow deeper under the covers in a paroxysm of inertia. Miss Guggenheim's "Oblomov'' told her that "ever since his birth he had retained a terrible memory of life in his mother's womb. He was constantly suffering from this and had awful crises, when he felt he was suffocating...
Metaphysical Blackout. Beckett's friend and mentor, James Joyce, once said: "Here is life without God. Just look at it!" In a way, Beckett's entire work is an agonized sermon on that text. In his world, the machinery of existence seems to be grinding to a halt. The titles Krapp's Last Tape, Endgame and Malone Dies suggest a civilization with terminal cancer. The suffocating womb becomes a death trap: the urns encasing the characters in Play, the mound of earth piled up to the heroine's neck in Happy Days, the ashcans of Endgame...
...tramps wait. To pass the time they play games. Games become a substitute for life and the loss of purpose. They are the contretemps of clowns. The clown is the only entertainer who consistently draws laughter through his own self-abasement. Beckett's ultimate position is that man is the clown of the universe. But he is a clown for whom Beckett weeps, and that is his saving compassion...
...shied from the word homosexual, in June permitted a homosexual writing under his own name, Freelance Critic Donn Teal, to contribute an article on "gay" themes in theater. In large cities, homosexuals have reached tacit agreements with police that give them the de facto right to their own social life...
Homosexual organizations across the country run discussion groups and record hops. A San Francisco group known as S.I.R. (Society for Individual Rights) organizes ice-skating parties, chess clubs and bowling leagues. Nor is it necessary for a homosexual to join a homophile organization to enjoy a full social life: homosexuals often are the parlor darlings of wealthy ladies ("fag hags"). Marriage in these circles can involve a homosexual and a busy career woman who coolly take the vows for companionship?and so that they can pool their incomes and tax benefits for a glittering round of entertaining...