Listen to a Rare Recording of Samuel Beckett Reading from 'Watt'

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It’s always interesting listening to an author reading from their own work. There are plenty of authors who’ve been perfectly willing to do so, but others are or were more reticent to do so. George Orwell was perhaps the most famous example, but Samuel Beckett was another — or, at least, he refused to be recorded doing so — which is why we were fascinated to see that Dangerous Minds have apparently unearthed a video of the late playwright and author reading a passage from his second novel Watt. Click through and listen after the jump — it’s rather fascinating to hear Beckett’s mellifluous Irish accent rendering his characteristically sparse prose, making his words sound a lot more beautiful and rhythmic than they look on the page.