What do you think?
Rate this book
The Essential Pinter: Selections from the Work of Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter is one of our most profound poets and playwrights, with work ranging from his plays The Caretaker , The Homecoming , and Betrayal to such poems as "The Bombs" and "Death." A writer known for his searing exploration of power, Pinter gives us an electrifying look into the often uncomfortable relationships between people — whether family members or political opponents. The Essential Pinter , which includes key plays, poetry, essays, and screenplays, is an indispensable companion for anyone wishing to delve into the astonishingly dazzling and frequently ominous world of Harold Pinter. In voyaging in, we not only come to fully appreciate the breadth of a body of work spanning over fifty years, but acquire a better understanding of human interaction.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
9 people are currently reading
243 people want to read
About the author
Harold Pinter
394 books777 followersHarold Pinter was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming (1964) and Betrayal (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include The Servant (1963), The Go-Between (1971), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), The Trial (1993) and Sleuth (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television and film productions of his own and others' works.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 24, 2022
Harold Pinter murió en 2008 (de hecho el 24 de diciembre) después de ganar el Premio Nobel de Literatura en 2005. Era un buen poeta y un dramaturgo estupendo —como fielmente atestigua este libro que tengo entre manos— y resulta increíble, por decir lo menos, que en español sea prácticamente imposible allegarse sus libros. Sí, aparece en la colección Visor de poesía y Losada editó, hace tiempo, muchas de sus obras; pero le invito a que trate de conseguirlas actualmente: la mayoría están descatalogadas y se cotizan a precio de oro en las librerías de segunda mano. ¿A qué se debe esta situación?
Tal vez se deba al papel que Pinter ejerció como crítico del intervencionismo, arbitrario y abiertamente secundado por el Reino Unido, que los EE. UU. han ejercido desde el fin de la segunda guerra mundial. Esto quedó plasmado no solo en su conferencia de aceptación del Nobel, /Art, Truth & Politics/, sino en obras como /One for the Road/ y /Mountain Language/, así como en los poemas /The Bombs/ y /Death/, por poner unos ejemplos.
Pinter, independientemente de sus compromisos políticos o al margen de cualquier ideología, fue un autor increíble que exploró, al menos en todas las obras contenidas en este libro, las maneras —no siempre edificantes— en que el poder se ejerce y atraviesa las vidas de los ciudadanos de a pie, pero sin caer en el juego fácil de la (re)victimización. Dio pruebas de una especial atención a la belleza fonética del inglés y dejó en claro su dominio absoluto de los recursos escénicos, ya fuera dentro del teatro del absurdo de sus primeros años (la famosa “comedia de amenaza” cercana a Ionesco y más aún a Beckett) o del realismo “pinteresco” de los sketches y su última obra, /Celebración/, también incluida en este volumen.
Por todo lo anterior (y lo que nos queda por descubrir) leamos más a Harold Pinter.
Tal vez se deba al papel que Pinter ejerció como crítico del intervencionismo, arbitrario y abiertamente secundado por el Reino Unido, que los EE. UU. han ejercido desde el fin de la segunda guerra mundial. Esto quedó plasmado no solo en su conferencia de aceptación del Nobel, /Art, Truth & Politics/, sino en obras como /One for the Road/ y /Mountain Language/, así como en los poemas /The Bombs/ y /Death/, por poner unos ejemplos.
Pinter, independientemente de sus compromisos políticos o al margen de cualquier ideología, fue un autor increíble que exploró, al menos en todas las obras contenidas en este libro, las maneras —no siempre edificantes— en que el poder se ejerce y atraviesa las vidas de los ciudadanos de a pie, pero sin caer en el juego fácil de la (re)victimización. Dio pruebas de una especial atención a la belleza fonética del inglés y dejó en claro su dominio absoluto de los recursos escénicos, ya fuera dentro del teatro del absurdo de sus primeros años (la famosa “comedia de amenaza” cercana a Ionesco y más aún a Beckett) o del realismo “pinteresco” de los sketches y su última obra, /Celebración/, también incluida en este volumen.
Por todo lo anterior (y lo que nos queda por descubrir) leamos más a Harold Pinter.
December 6, 2014
A masterful collection of one of the most distinct playwrights who ever lived. High praise, granted, and yes I'm woefully under-read in my theater and haven't seen as much as I should have. But this is something I hope to rectify as soon as time and sanity allow (living that grad student life).
Some specifics, Pinter's writing is brilliantly precise in delineating what's implied and what's left out completely. A true master of ratcheting up dread and tension, Pinter gives his readers (and audiences) just enough to apprehend the ripples of something bigger and (usually) more horrible rumbling just beneath the surface of the dialogue and setting.
Coming as I do from a mostly prose background reading this collection was a crash course in mood and ambiance, in showing such restraint that you become a master of manipulating your audience's sense of frustration, anxiety, and, yes, even comedy too. Black Comedy, Kafkaesque definitely, but akin to the spirit of the rest of his abilities as a writer, Pinter's humorous asides are as well calculated as a finely tuned watch.
Though maybe not as hammer to your face effective as his predecessor and friend Samuel Beckett, Pinter trumps his friend in subtly with taut prose that talks around a story, a point, a philosophy and even an ideology in a way that would make Ernest Hemingway jealous.
In summation, this is an incredible collection and one that I'm already sorry to see go (it was a rental) but I will not soon forget the effect Pinter evoked with his words, his nuances, his infamous pauses, and most memorably, his absences on me. In what was left out and left behind for the sake of what was to be implied and hinted at, whispered towards, Pinter truly has no equal.
Some specifics, Pinter's writing is brilliantly precise in delineating what's implied and what's left out completely. A true master of ratcheting up dread and tension, Pinter gives his readers (and audiences) just enough to apprehend the ripples of something bigger and (usually) more horrible rumbling just beneath the surface of the dialogue and setting.
Coming as I do from a mostly prose background reading this collection was a crash course in mood and ambiance, in showing such restraint that you become a master of manipulating your audience's sense of frustration, anxiety, and, yes, even comedy too. Black Comedy, Kafkaesque definitely, but akin to the spirit of the rest of his abilities as a writer, Pinter's humorous asides are as well calculated as a finely tuned watch.
Though maybe not as hammer to your face effective as his predecessor and friend Samuel Beckett, Pinter trumps his friend in subtly with taut prose that talks around a story, a point, a philosophy and even an ideology in a way that would make Ernest Hemingway jealous.
In summation, this is an incredible collection and one that I'm already sorry to see go (it was a rental) but I will not soon forget the effect Pinter evoked with his words, his nuances, his infamous pauses, and most memorably, his absences on me. In what was left out and left behind for the sake of what was to be implied and hinted at, whispered towards, Pinter truly has no equal.
June 17, 2008
Éste es un libro editado en catalán por Edicions 62 que cogí de la biblioteca y que contiene algunas de las obras de teatro más famosas de Harold Pinter. Mi único contacto previo con Pinter era a través de algunos de sus guiones (dicho sea de paso, su guión para 'El sirviente' de Joseph Losey es una obra maestra, como toda la película). Y su teatro me ha sorprendido porque puede llegar a ser muy pero que muy angustiante. Me recuerda un poco a Samuel Beckett, por los personajes de los que no sabemos nada y que se dedican a mantener diálogos de besugos. Pero también me recuerda a Lynch porque muestra la angustia que se esconde entre los repliegues de la vida diaria.
Pero en realidad no se parece a nada de lo que haya podido ver. Es altamente desconcertante. Sus obras son peces que se muerden la cola. Cuando terminan, no sabes qué pensar, no tienes ni idea de qué es lo que ha pasado allí. Y esto siempre es muy bueno. También se puede argumentar que hay cierta influencia de Chéjov, porque Chéjov fue el primero en combinar comedia y tragedia. Pero Pinter va mucho más allá y no estás nada segura de si estás delante de una farsa o delante de una tragedia con todas las de la ley. Probablemente las obras de Pinter sean las dos cosas a la vez. Y esto me encanta.
De las presentes en el libro, las obras que más me han gustado son 'The Room' y 'The Dumb Waiter'. Son obras oscuras, con muchas puertas cerradas. No sabemos qué hay detrás de éstas, y esto nos angustia. Son obras en las que los personajes están isolados en medio de un vacío formado por habitaciones que no conocen. No sabemos quién hay detrás. Y los personajes se dedican a pasar el tiempo hablando de nada. A veces parece que sólo son monigotes. O autómatas. Las escenas son aparentemente banales pero luego llega el desenlace que es sorprendente, pero cae el telón y realmente no sabemos nada de los personajes ni qué les ha pasado ni qué les pasará.
Luego está 'The Lover', que podría ser sólo una historia más de un matrimonio que se derrumba con cuernos por el medio, pero gracias a un recurso de lo más original se convierte en un juego de espejos, que habla de incomunicación e insatisfacción, y que nos acaba diciendo que la vida es una serie de rutinas banales y vacías que se van repitiendo eternamente. También me ha encantado, aunque no con igual intensidad.
En mi lista de preferencias, luego vendría 'A Kind of Alaska' sobre una adolescente que quedó en una especie de coma y que después de treinta años se despierta sólo para volver a quedar en coma al cabo de unos pocos minutos. Sobrecojedor. Y es un dramón al uso como sería la película 'Despertares' con Robert De Niro y Robin Williams, que tiene el mismo punto de partida, sino que la historia sirve sólo como excusa para hablar de memoria y consciencia, para reflexionar acerca de la frontera entre consciencia e inconsciencia, el mundo de los sueños y el mundo real.
Y finalmente ya quedarían las obras que si bien más o menos siguen lo que parece que són los patrones de la obra de Harold Pinter, no tienen la misma intensidad. Se trata de 'Family Voices', 'Victoria Station' y 'One For the Road'.
Sin embargo, se trata en conjunto de una lectura muy recomendable, por lo desconcertante que puede llegar a ser, por la complejidad que esconde bajo una capa de acciones banales y diálogos absurdos.
Pero en realidad no se parece a nada de lo que haya podido ver. Es altamente desconcertante. Sus obras son peces que se muerden la cola. Cuando terminan, no sabes qué pensar, no tienes ni idea de qué es lo que ha pasado allí. Y esto siempre es muy bueno. También se puede argumentar que hay cierta influencia de Chéjov, porque Chéjov fue el primero en combinar comedia y tragedia. Pero Pinter va mucho más allá y no estás nada segura de si estás delante de una farsa o delante de una tragedia con todas las de la ley. Probablemente las obras de Pinter sean las dos cosas a la vez. Y esto me encanta.
De las presentes en el libro, las obras que más me han gustado son 'The Room' y 'The Dumb Waiter'. Son obras oscuras, con muchas puertas cerradas. No sabemos qué hay detrás de éstas, y esto nos angustia. Son obras en las que los personajes están isolados en medio de un vacío formado por habitaciones que no conocen. No sabemos quién hay detrás. Y los personajes se dedican a pasar el tiempo hablando de nada. A veces parece que sólo son monigotes. O autómatas. Las escenas son aparentemente banales pero luego llega el desenlace que es sorprendente, pero cae el telón y realmente no sabemos nada de los personajes ni qué les ha pasado ni qué les pasará.
Luego está 'The Lover', que podría ser sólo una historia más de un matrimonio que se derrumba con cuernos por el medio, pero gracias a un recurso de lo más original se convierte en un juego de espejos, que habla de incomunicación e insatisfacción, y que nos acaba diciendo que la vida es una serie de rutinas banales y vacías que se van repitiendo eternamente. También me ha encantado, aunque no con igual intensidad.
En mi lista de preferencias, luego vendría 'A Kind of Alaska' sobre una adolescente que quedó en una especie de coma y que después de treinta años se despierta sólo para volver a quedar en coma al cabo de unos pocos minutos. Sobrecojedor. Y es un dramón al uso como sería la película 'Despertares' con Robert De Niro y Robin Williams, que tiene el mismo punto de partida, sino que la historia sirve sólo como excusa para hablar de memoria y consciencia, para reflexionar acerca de la frontera entre consciencia e inconsciencia, el mundo de los sueños y el mundo real.
Y finalmente ya quedarían las obras que si bien más o menos siguen lo que parece que són los patrones de la obra de Harold Pinter, no tienen la misma intensidad. Se trata de 'Family Voices', 'Victoria Station' y 'One For the Road'.
Sin embargo, se trata en conjunto de una lectura muy recomendable, por lo desconcertante que puede llegar a ser, por la complejidad que esconde bajo una capa de acciones banales y diálogos absurdos.
April 2, 2010
Read Birthday Party, Homecoming, and Caretaker. Homecoming is by far the most unsettling. Will forever have my professor mimicking one of the characters in a cockney accent screaming "I knew my FATHER!" The best, though, is his Nobel prize speech for '05, which is absolutely scathing against Bush and America.
February 16, 2011
Read this mainly to read Pinter's fiery Nobel Prize acceptance speech and "Birthday Party," but also enjoyed several of the shorter plays. Can't get enough Pinter: absurd, spare, run through with dark humor and the constant threat of violence and savagery, and filled with yearning and isolation.
July 10, 2012
An amazing sampling of his works, from his earlier esoteric works to the later political stuff, as well as his unbelievable Nobel Prize speech. Only true complaint is that Betrayal isn't in there, which is pretty damn "essential" if you ask me, but no one did.
October 10, 2018
Harold Pinter, on his birthday October 10
Comedies of dehumanization and existential dread, satires of power relations and the Sadeian-Freudian dynamics of sex and gender, a Nabokovian obsession with the illusions of self and memory, the tyranny of history and other people, a Sartrean defiance and revolt against authority and the tilting at windmills; Harold Pinter's Absurdism comes direct from the protege and collaborator of Samuel Beckett, but does not end there.
His is a broad and deep vision, his plays acts of transformation characterized by Rashomon-like multiplicities of meaning, prophecies, and a ferocious engagement with the forces of repression.
The Birthday Party, a Kafka-esque set of puzzles and Socratic questions which interrogate truth and lies, illusion and reality, meaning, being, history, the whole of our human condition from an Existentialist-Absurdist angle of view, must number among the immortal classics of theatre. An excellent introduction to his work, it contains many of his themes and dramatic methods.
As the Wikipedia entry has it, "The play has been classified as a comedy of menace, characterized by Pinteresque elements such as ambiguous identity, confusions of time and place, and dark political symbolism."
The Homecoming depicts the re-integration of a shattered self as the protagonist Ruth subsumes lost and untethered satellite identities; it is both political satire and a journey to wholeness as therapy. Power asymmetries in relations of all kinds but of gender especially are examined, as well as the moral values underlying family dynamics and social structures. It references and is informed by a close reading of Simone de Beauvoir's Feminist Existentialism. The play seems to have utterly baffled its critics, but to me is a clear and straightforward psychodrama which puts our civilization on the couch to diagnose our modern pathology of disconnectedness and loss of identity as direct effects of the malignity of power.
No Man's Land, an example of Harold Pinter's classic theme of a status quo's stasis energized and transformed by an intrusive revolutionary, has a title taken from its final line; "You are in no man's land. Which never moves, which never changes, which never grows older, but which remains forever, icy and silent." Eliot's Prufrock is confronted by Nietzsche's Zarathustra, King Lear is redeemed by his Jester, and Leonora Carrington escapes from the madhouse guided by the Hatter and riding Gregor Samsa in his magnificent chthonic form, terrible and beautiful and bearing the icon of St Beatrice of the Absurd.
Celebration, his final play, is a brilliant comedy of masks and the struggle for control of identity between self and others, an investigation of memory and history as shaping forces of identity, and of authorized versions of ourselves and the social and political power structures which are their boundaries and limiting factors.
As described by the Swedish Academy;
"Pinter restored theatre to its basic elements: an enclosed space and unpredictable dialogue, where people are at the mercy of each other and pretence crumbles. With a minimum of plot, drama emerges from the power struggle and hide-and-seek of interlocution. Pinter's drama was first perceived as a variation of absurd theatre, but has later more aptly been characterised as 'comedy of menace', a genre where the writer allows us to eavesdrop on the play of domination and submission hidden in the most mundane of conversations. In a typical Pinter play, we meet people defending themselves against intrusion or their own impulses by entrenching themselves in a reduced and controlled existence. Another principal theme is the volatility and elusiveness of the past."
One might begin with the excellent Grove Press book The Essential Pinter. Read also the wonderfultribute Harold Pinter: A Celebration by Richard Eyre (Editor).
Comedies of dehumanization and existential dread, satires of power relations and the Sadeian-Freudian dynamics of sex and gender, a Nabokovian obsession with the illusions of self and memory, the tyranny of history and other people, a Sartrean defiance and revolt against authority and the tilting at windmills; Harold Pinter's Absurdism comes direct from the protege and collaborator of Samuel Beckett, but does not end there.
His is a broad and deep vision, his plays acts of transformation characterized by Rashomon-like multiplicities of meaning, prophecies, and a ferocious engagement with the forces of repression.
The Birthday Party, a Kafka-esque set of puzzles and Socratic questions which interrogate truth and lies, illusion and reality, meaning, being, history, the whole of our human condition from an Existentialist-Absurdist angle of view, must number among the immortal classics of theatre. An excellent introduction to his work, it contains many of his themes and dramatic methods.
As the Wikipedia entry has it, "The play has been classified as a comedy of menace, characterized by Pinteresque elements such as ambiguous identity, confusions of time and place, and dark political symbolism."
The Homecoming depicts the re-integration of a shattered self as the protagonist Ruth subsumes lost and untethered satellite identities; it is both political satire and a journey to wholeness as therapy. Power asymmetries in relations of all kinds but of gender especially are examined, as well as the moral values underlying family dynamics and social structures. It references and is informed by a close reading of Simone de Beauvoir's Feminist Existentialism. The play seems to have utterly baffled its critics, but to me is a clear and straightforward psychodrama which puts our civilization on the couch to diagnose our modern pathology of disconnectedness and loss of identity as direct effects of the malignity of power.
No Man's Land, an example of Harold Pinter's classic theme of a status quo's stasis energized and transformed by an intrusive revolutionary, has a title taken from its final line; "You are in no man's land. Which never moves, which never changes, which never grows older, but which remains forever, icy and silent." Eliot's Prufrock is confronted by Nietzsche's Zarathustra, King Lear is redeemed by his Jester, and Leonora Carrington escapes from the madhouse guided by the Hatter and riding Gregor Samsa in his magnificent chthonic form, terrible and beautiful and bearing the icon of St Beatrice of the Absurd.
Celebration, his final play, is a brilliant comedy of masks and the struggle for control of identity between self and others, an investigation of memory and history as shaping forces of identity, and of authorized versions of ourselves and the social and political power structures which are their boundaries and limiting factors.
As described by the Swedish Academy;
"Pinter restored theatre to its basic elements: an enclosed space and unpredictable dialogue, where people are at the mercy of each other and pretence crumbles. With a minimum of plot, drama emerges from the power struggle and hide-and-seek of interlocution. Pinter's drama was first perceived as a variation of absurd theatre, but has later more aptly been characterised as 'comedy of menace', a genre where the writer allows us to eavesdrop on the play of domination and submission hidden in the most mundane of conversations. In a typical Pinter play, we meet people defending themselves against intrusion or their own impulses by entrenching themselves in a reduced and controlled existence. Another principal theme is the volatility and elusiveness of the past."
One might begin with the excellent Grove Press book The Essential Pinter. Read also the wonderfultribute Harold Pinter: A Celebration by Richard Eyre (Editor).
November 22, 2025
Recull de set obres de teatre de Harold Pinter.
“L'habitació” (The Room), 1957
“El muntaplats” (The Dumb Waiter), 1957
“L'amant” (The Lover), 1962
“Veus familiars” (Family Voices), 1980
“Una mena d'Alaska” (A Kind of Alaska), 1982
“Estació de França” (Victoria Station), 1982
“L'última copa” (One For the Road), 1984
És teatre, per tant bàsicament tot és diàleg. I els diàlegs de Pinter m’han semblat meravellosos. Meravellosos no vol dir agradables, ni tranquil·litzadors. Sovint, al contrari. Diàlegs plens d’incomunicació. Rèpliques i contrarèpliques farcides d’equívocs.
Diàleg de “El muntaplats”, l’obra que més m’ha agradat.
Espais interiors, una mica claustrofòbics, com a “L'habitació”, una altra del les obres que més m’ha agradat, encara que en aquest cas el final m’ha desconcertat.
Obres amb pocs personatges.
A “El muntaplats”, tot i que els temes de conversa d’en Ben i en Gus sovint són banals ―notícies del diari, futbol... ―, Harold Pinter ho dissenya de tal forma que mostrari les dues personalitats.
A mi em sembla veure, d’una banda, el tipus que es fa preguntes ―l’inquiet― i, de l’altra, el que no ―l’acomodatici―, ja li està bé tot com està.
Pinter ho accentua amb les reaccions, els posats, moviments, silencis, mirades. Situacions ambigües que ens desconcerten i ens fan estar molt atents, com a “L'amant”, l’altra obra que també m’ha agradat molt.
“Veus familiars” és diferent de les altres. Són cartes. Cartes que sembla que no arriben a destinatari. Incomunicació, altre cop. Incomprensió. Aïllament.
“L'habitació” (The Room), 1957
“El muntaplats” (The Dumb Waiter), 1957
“L'amant” (The Lover), 1962
“Veus familiars” (Family Voices), 1980
“Una mena d'Alaska” (A Kind of Alaska), 1982
“Estació de França” (Victoria Station), 1982
“L'última copa” (One For the Road), 1984
És teatre, per tant bàsicament tot és diàleg. I els diàlegs de Pinter m’han semblat meravellosos. Meravellosos no vol dir agradables, ni tranquil·litzadors. Sovint, al contrari. Diàlegs plens d’incomunicació. Rèpliques i contrarèpliques farcides d’equívocs.
BEN: Que vagis a encendre-la.
GUS: Què he d’encendre?
BEN: La cuina.
GUS: Vols dir el gas.
BEN: Qui, ho vol dir?
GUS: Tu.
Diàleg de “El muntaplats”, l’obra que més m’ha agradat.
Espais interiors, una mica claustrofòbics, com a “L'habitació”, una altra del les obres que més m’ha agradat, encara que en aquest cas el final m’ha desconcertat.
Obres amb pocs personatges.
A “El muntaplats”, tot i que els temes de conversa d’en Ben i en Gus sovint són banals ―notícies del diari, futbol... ―, Harold Pinter ho dissenya de tal forma que mostrari les dues personalitats.
A mi em sembla veure, d’una banda, el tipus que es fa preguntes ―l’inquiet― i, de l’altra, el que no ―l’acomodatici―, ja li està bé tot com està.
Pinter ho accentua amb les reaccions, els posats, moviments, silencis, mirades. Situacions ambigües que ens desconcerten i ens fan estar molt atents, com a “L'amant”, l’altra obra que també m’ha agradat molt.
“Veus familiars” és diferent de les altres. Són cartes. Cartes que sembla que no arriben a destinatari. Incomunicació, altre cop. Incomprensió. Aïllament.
Quan em creuo amb gent pel carrer no s’adonen que no els conec de res. Ells coneixen d’altra gent i fins molta d’altra gent els coneix a ells, per tant pensen que si no els conec a ells conec els altres.
March 7, 2021
This guy is weird
April 12, 2009
I picked up this book because my friend Alex recommended that I read the play "One for the Road," but I figured I would read the rest of the works as well. There are some excellent plays in here that I would love to see performed. They are all somewhat ambiguous and can be interpreted in a number of ways.
My favorites of the long plays were probably "Homecoming" and "Old Times." The way the story plays out in the second act of "Homecoming" caught me completely by surprise, while the character ambiguity in "Old Times" allows for two very different but equally striking interpretations.
"One for the Road" is an excellent short, as is "Mountain Language." Harold Pinter clearly deserved to win a Nobel prize for his work - and did.
My favorites of the long plays were probably "Homecoming" and "Old Times." The way the story plays out in the second act of "Homecoming" caught me completely by surprise, while the character ambiguity in "Old Times" allows for two very different but equally striking interpretations.
"One for the Road" is an excellent short, as is "Mountain Language." Harold Pinter clearly deserved to win a Nobel prize for his work - and did.
December 16, 2016
"My work concerns itself with life all over, you see, in every part of the globe. With people all over the globe. I use the word 'globe' because the word 'world' possesses emotional political sociological and psychological pretensions and resonances which I prefer as a matter of choice to do without, or shall I say to steer clear of, or if you like to reject." --The character of Deeley, in Pinter's play "Old Times."
October 13, 2015
The play 'One for the road' in the collection was a fabulous surprise. I don't think I have ever read a play that is so sparsely written in its language and still was so hard-hitting that its impact felt like a body blow. Quite incredible.
Read
July 27, 2007It's always great when a playwright wins the Nobel Prize. Pinter's scathing indictment of U.S. foreign policy in his Nobel lecture should be required reading in high schools.
Read
September 13, 2017"We are here now." "Not really."
The game between lovers, at the end of a relationship, when everything has taken a double meaning or a hidden meaning and has come closer to relativity than to truth and sincerity.
When do we stop being honest and why?
The game between lovers, at the end of a relationship, when everything has taken a double meaning or a hidden meaning and has come closer to relativity than to truth and sincerity.
When do we stop being honest and why?
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews