Sometimes it’s great to re-read something you haven’t opened in quite a while. In the case of “Waiting for Godot”, its probably over thirty years since I read it cover-to-cover, as it were. Not surprisingly, it’s still as unique now as it was then – and maybe with all those years having seen so much water flow under the proverbial bridge, perhaps it means a little more now too. As we get older, do we edge closer towards morphing into Vladimir or Estragon..?!
It’s also good to read something completely different too. Jeff Guinn’s “The Last Gunfight” is an authoritative account of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral – what led up to it, the fight itself, and Wyatt Earp’s subsequent ‘Vendetta Ride’. It’s a story – prompted by the Movies, of course! – that I’ve always loved. As with Godot, as you get older perhaps you change your view on the O.K. Corral too; what does it say that I’m more drawn to Doc Holliday these days than I was in the past..?! The book demonstrates that, in reality, it was never Good vs. Bad as the cinema would have us believe; maybe Bad vs. ever-so-slightly-less-Bad might be more accurate…
And a quick plug.
Just 10 days to my reading and book launch at the Ripon Poetry Festival.! Can’t wait!!
Ian Gouge - Writer 