Jimmy4559

I completed my first Wikipedia article on 10th January 2007, an entry on Beckett's Not I. As of today (14th June 2007) I’ve completed all the minor stage plays, all the radio, television and film plays and I'm just putting the finishing touches to a complete rewrite of the Waiting for Godot article which has taken me weeks to research.

I've been a fan/student of Samuel Beckett since my late teens when I blundered into Waiting for Godot (Thank God for the Open University) and have gradually worked my way through just about everything he's done. I own everything significant he's written and more reference books than most libraries probably keep in stock.

I'm 48 years of age, a writer (4 novels, loads of short stories and poems, a couple of plays and even a kids book) but no one you'll ever have heard of. In addition to literature I am quite passionate about the cinema and have a huge and eclectic music collection. I'm also a Trekkie but no one's perfect.

Interests (the highlights for now)

Literature

In Watermelon Sugar: Richard Brautigan is one of the few authors I can read anything by and love but this was the first I ever picked up and I’d never seen anything like him.

A Scanner Darkly: Philip K. Dick is not necessarily a great writer but he has an incredible imagination so he’s forgiven.

Drama

Not I: I would be lying if I said that Waiting for Godot doesn’t mean a lot to me and I’ve seen it more times than any of his other plays but the one that had the most impact on me has to be this one. I’ve seen Billie Whitelaw’s television performance several times and I can’t imagine anyone bettering it.

The Birthday Party: When I first saw this play I didn’t get it. What the hell was he on about? I felt much the same way about The Caretaker too. Then I was introduced to Beckett and suddenly Pinter started to make sense.

Poetry

Mr Bleaney: Philip Larkin’s bleak little poem is of immense importance to me. It was the first poem I got. It wasn’t about daffodils or wandering down to the sea. And – most importantly – it didn’t have any answers.

The Locust Tree in Flower: I discovered this odd poem by William Carlos Williams in an essay by the Scottish poet Tom Leonard and it was so bare a stripped down.

Cinema

Hannah and her Sisters: Woody Allen is a genius but I’ve never thought of Annie Hall as his masterpiece.

The Man Who Loved Women: This is probably my favourite movie of all time. This list changes constantly but this struck such a cord with me that nothing’s ever come near it. And we are talking the Truffaut version not the crappy American remake.

Music

The Hours: When I first heard Philip Glass’s music it was his early work and I hated it. Nowadays I’d buy anything by him without hearing it first. I have two versions of The Hours, the soundtrack and a solo piano version and both are magnificent.

Quinoa: I first started collecting Tangerine Dream as a bit of a challenge. Now with about 60 of their albums I’m willing to give in. This was the one I always wanted to get though.

Field of Crows ‘: Fish, for my money, is an incredibly underrated songwriter. I have all his work with Marillion too.

TV

Carnivàle: This was a beautifully crafted series, slow and graceful, thought provoking and different. It was doomed from the start. I was amazed – and very grateful – we got a second series.

The Prisoner: This was a sixties version of the above and it was never going to get a second series. God alone knows what the new version’s going to be like.

Art

Empire of Light: Magritte is an artist who can do no wrong but this is the one I had on my wall for years.