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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
'An exultant night - a man in total command of his talent.' Observer
'The most intense expression of compressed violence to be found anywhere in Pinter's plays.' The Times
When Teddy, a professor in an American university, brings his wife Ruth to visit his old home in London, he finds his family still living in the house. In the conflict that follows, it is Ruth who becomes the focus of the family's struggle for supremacy.
About the Author
Harold Pinter was born in London in 1930. He lived with Antonia Fraser from 1975 and they married in 1980. In 1995 he won the David Cohen British Literature Prize, awarded for a lifetime's achievement in literature. In 1996 he was given the Laurence Olivier Award for a lifetime's achievement in theatre. In 2002 he was made a Companion of Honour for services to literature. In 2005 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and, in the same year, the Wilfred Owen Award for Poetry and the Franz Kafka Award (Prague). In 2006 he was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize and, in 2007, the highest French honour, the Légion d'honneur. He died in December 2008.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
5 stars going on 10. It will take me weeks to digest this one. Little bit of a surprise, eh? So Pinter is not just a political campaigner.
The quality of the dialogue knocked me off my feet. Conventions seem well-established but aren't quite the expected conventions. The family is close but not quite the expected closeness. This is hardly a dysfunctional family: it's just a family not functioning as you might have been taught a family should.
I recently watched the 1973 American Film Theatre performance of this play on VHS. Vivian Merchant, who also starred in the American Film Theatre's version of Jean Genet's "The Maids", plays Ruth in "The Homecoming". How to expect a better cast? In the hands of those incredible actors, this play slammed into me. It will take me days to find suitable words to describe what hit me. Unlike the plays of Pinter's friend Beckett, "The Homecoming" can't be dismissed as Theatre of the Absurd. Not that there isn't absurdity, but that Pinter works hard to interwine it with familiar daily routines.
No boring moments. At the beginning the hostilities seemeed contrived but very soon a lot more was going on. Most of us aren't as creative as this family in finding a way to make the family work ... and most of us probably wouldn't want to be. But they are close and not just because of what they share during this visit. The father especially struck me as rising above his angers to find a love (however unconventional) for his sons and that warmth became unmistakeable as the play progressed. No? Well, something special is going on in "The Homecoming" and I'll probably need many passes to understand what it is. But, with such rich dialogue, many passes seem warranted.
The quality of the dialogue knocked me off my feet. Conventions seem well-established but aren't quite the expected conventions. The family is close but not quite the expected closeness. This is hardly a dysfunctional family: it's just a family not functioning as you might have been taught a family should.
I recently watched the 1973 American Film Theatre performance of this play on VHS. Vivian Merchant, who also starred in the American Film Theatre's version of Jean Genet's "The Maids", plays Ruth in "The Homecoming". How to expect a better cast? In the hands of those incredible actors, this play slammed into me. It will take me days to find suitable words to describe what hit me. Unlike the plays of Pinter's friend Beckett, "The Homecoming" can't be dismissed as Theatre of the Absurd. Not that there isn't absurdity, but that Pinter works hard to interwine it with familiar daily routines.
No boring moments. At the beginning the hostilities seemeed contrived but very soon a lot more was going on. Most of us aren't as creative as this family in finding a way to make the family work ... and most of us probably wouldn't want to be. But they are close and not just because of what they share during this visit. The father especially struck me as rising above his angers to find a love (however unconventional) for his sons and that warmth became unmistakeable as the play progressed. No? Well, something special is going on in "The Homecoming" and I'll probably need many passes to understand what it is. But, with such rich dialogue, many passes seem warranted.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Homecoming is a dark and complexing play which explores the underlying tensions within a family. The action takes place in a house in London: A Professor of Philosophy returns home with his wife to see the family, comprising of Max, a former butcher and the savage patriarch of the family, his brother, Sam, and his two sons, Lenny and Joey. What ensues is a power struggle, focussed on Teddy's (the professor's) wife, between the various members of the family. The outcome is shocking and in many ways inexplicable. However this should not detract anything from the enigmatic brilliance of The Homecoming. Definitely worth reading, but prepared to be shocked!
Format:Paperback
This without doubt is not only Pinter's greatest work but also one of English theatre's greatest plays and achievements. It revolves around a powerhouse performance by Paul Rogers as Max who dominates the film with what should have been an Oscar winning performance. It's full of Pinter's trade marks: scathing biting dialogue, extra long pregnant pauses and heart stopping dramatic performances by every member of the cast. The play has the power to shock like you've never been shocked before.
A short concise outline of the film is as follows: Max's long estranged son Teddy who is a Professor returns from America with his wife Ruth. Max is upset and shocked when they reveal they have arrived unannounced, the previous evening. Their arrival has an affect on the whole family with repercussions and devastating consequences. There are incredible performances as we observe the bitter old bullied brother Sam as he tries to outwit Max in a constant vengeful battle of wits. Younger brother Lenny is the crafty sarcastic jack the lad, who resents his father and what he stands for, while joey is the dim witted put upon son who dreams of boxing glory to lead him out of his life of drudgery. What ensues is a monumental clash of wills, personalities and ideals, leading to a devastating and shocking finale which still has the power to shock even in this day and age.
A short concise outline of the film is as follows: Max's long estranged son Teddy who is a Professor returns from America with his wife Ruth. Max is upset and shocked when they reveal they have arrived unannounced, the previous evening. Their arrival has an affect on the whole family with repercussions and devastating consequences. There are incredible performances as we observe the bitter old bullied brother Sam as he tries to outwit Max in a constant vengeful battle of wits. Younger brother Lenny is the crafty sarcastic jack the lad, who resents his father and what he stands for, while joey is the dim witted put upon son who dreams of boxing glory to lead him out of his life of drudgery. What ensues is a monumental clash of wills, personalities and ideals, leading to a devastating and shocking finale which still has the power to shock even in this day and age.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A brilliant and disturbing play
Pinter strongly resented reviewers who stressed the Jewish setting of the play, but its credibility depends on a reader realizing that the family described is not at all an... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Dr. Richard M. Price
lovely depressing tale
a must read for anyone who wants an insight into the absurdity of life in 1960s britain.
a bit heavy going at time, not for the prudish.
a bit heavy going at time, not for the prudish.
Published on 2 Feb 2010 by Sarah Lyons
Pinter: Literature's Greatest Hero
Harold Pinter's masterpiece, 'The Homecoming', is a triumph of intertextuality that resonates deeply with every single instinct and emotion that fuels my fervor for reading. Read more
Published on 22 May 2009 by Mrs Jane Simons
this book is slow to start but the ending is shocking
when i first started readin this play i thought it was a mundane account of the lives of some men, until teddy arrived with his wife, the plot is unbelievable and the events that... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2001
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