Beckett's Voices

Sarah West's study is an informative and well-written exploration of the performative voice in Beckett's plays. It charts the process by which, from the late fifties onwards, the performative voice determines the drama in Beckett's plays and pays attention both to dramatic speech and to technical aspects of sound reproduction. Although disappointingly written in "dissertationese," this is nevertheless a worthwhile book that convincingly demonstrates that voice is to a large extent responsible for maintaining tension in Beckett's dramatic works.