Harold Pinter
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Review
"'An outstandingly good book.' Independent 'I found it virtually unputdownable.' Financial Times"
Product Description
Michael Billington brings up to date The Life and Work of Harold Pinter with an additional chapter and plate section covering the years 1996-2006.
During the past ten years Harold Pinter has written a new play, three film scripts, sheaves of poems, several sketches and created, with composer James Clarke, a pioneering work for radio, Voices. He has acted on stage, screen and radio, he has appeared on countless political platforms, and his work has been extensively celebrated in festivals at Dublin's Gate Theatre and New York's Lincoln Center. In 2005 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and in 2006, the European Theatre Prize. As if this were not enough, he has in the last five years twice come close to death. But he has faced hospitalisation with stoic resilience and his spirit remains as fiercely combative as ever. As he wrote in 2005 to Professor Avraham Oz, one of Israel's leading internal opponents of authoritarianism: "Let's keep fighting."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Michael Billington, theatre critic for The Guardian for as long as anyone can remember, was well-placed to set Pinter in a left-wing, theatrical context far removed from the absurdist, psychoanalytical tack taken by critics such as Martin Esslin. Pinter himself offered full co-operation with the writing of this book, and consequently it is full of fascinating, previously unknown information. Hitherto extremely reticent - not to say defensive - about what inspired his work, here Pinter revealed how many of his great plays evolved from incidents in his life and, in the case of his 1978 play Betrayal, divulged information sizzling enough to make the front page of at least one Sunday newspaper. Always a thoughtful writer, Billington's suspicion of the vague or grandoise makes for clarity of argument and helps to demystify somewhat this most mysterious of writers. The faults of the book are the unsophisticated, clod-hopping prose and the fact that his understandable admiration for Pinter is wholly unleavened by critical detachment. Nevertheless, this is an essential text for anyone studying Pinter's work.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Michael Billington clearly idolises Harold Pinter - and at the end of his marvellous book so did I. To the view that Pinter is the finest writer in the English language of the post-war era I would already have subscribed - but having read this remarkable analysis of his life as well as his works I am now in no doubt that his importance goes beyond even that. For Pinter has a consistency and integrity which combined with his scintillating intelligence, is very rare. From the impoverished eighteen-year-old refusing National Service to the grand old man of the Arts with a Nobel Prize he has not wavered. He believes in the truth at all times, is a stalwart fighter against hypocrisy and lies and has never deviated from the confidence always to say what he believes to be right. Pinter's Art promotes his principles often in so subtle a way that you cannot be offended - but his political views are so muscular and uncompromising that they may give offence - and we are all the better for that!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Absolutely love this book! Written with careful attention and scrupulous research it is also a great read, carrying the reader along and never dragging. I really appreciated the level of detail and the engaging style - it;s a long book but never dry. I never felt like putting it down. I really enjoy Billington's insights into Pinter's works, particularly things like films and TV productions which I was born too late to see. He creates a real affinity between the reader and subject early on by bringing to life Pinter's childhood/youth. Definitely one to read as an introduction to Pinter's works.
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