Includes bibliographical references (pages 216-235) and index
Preface "Reading Beckett's Reading: The Demented Particulars" - S.E. Gontarski -- - a - In which the Reader is introduced to the Text -- - b - critical debate -- - c - History and composition of the text -- - d - Beckett's reading -- - e - comic cosmos -- - Annotations [keyed to the Routledge and Grove Press editions, but also giving the Calder and Picador pagination] -- - Chapter 1 -- - Chapter 2 -- - Chapter 3 -- - Chapter 4 -- - Chapter 5 -- - Chapter 6 -- - Chapter 7 -- - Chapter 8 -- - Chapter 9 -- - Chapter 10 -- - Chapter 11 -- - Chapter 12 -- - Chapter 13 -- - Bibliography -- - a - By Beckett -- - b - Critical studies relevant to Murphy -- - c - General studies used in this work
Obscure Locks, Simple Keys is a comprehensive study of Samuel Beckett's most enigmatic text, Watt. Chris Ackerley's approach, which is similar to genetic editing, extensively reads the novel's different editions and manuscripts (including the French translation, overseen by Beckett himself), and his long introduction engages with the complex history of the book's making. One appendix deals with textual changes and errata in major editions of the novel, and the other confronts the novel's tangled evolution. Ackerley concentrates on Watt's disconcerting difficulties and the textual errors that ha
