British playwright Harold Pinter has won the US$1.3 million Nobel prize for literature in the week of his 75th birthday.
Quite apart from Pinter's indisputable literary merits ('The Caretaker', 'The Birthday Party', 'The Homecoming' and 'The Betrayal'), it's a provocative choice: Pinter is resolutely and increasingly anti-American.
It reminds us of the way fellow winner Solzhenitsyn, 30 years ago, denounced Soviet censorship ... the Nobel committee said Pinter's work 'uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms'.
That's a guarded hint if there ever was one. Dubya must be quaking in his boots.
16 Oct 05 | Filed by Chris | Add your comment (1 so far)
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Comment by pohanginapete ~ October 18, 2005 7:19 AM
As an aside, Pinter also wrote the screenplay for "Turtle Diary" (1985), an under-recognised film starring Ben Kingsley, Glenda Jackson, Michael Gambon, Nigel Hawthorne and others—including Pinter (he has a cameo as the "man in the bookshop"). It's based on Russell Hoban's book (same title). This is one of my favourite films, but before you rush out and rent it, be warned: some people disagree with my assessment—vehemently. Check it out only if you appreciate understatement, subtlety and Pinteresque dialogue.
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