Pinter

“A writer’s life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity. We don’t have to weep about that. The writer makes his choice and is stuck with it. But it is true to say that you are open to all the winds, some of them icy indeed. You are out on your own, out on a limb. You find no shelter, no protection — unless you lie — in which case of course you have constructed your own protection and, it could be argued, become a politician.”

(Harold Pinter, Art, Truth & Politics, 2005)

Harold Pinter, 1930-2008

Harold Pinter has passed away. [via The Elegant Variation]

No matter the magnitude of his contributions to theatre, Pinter has always struck me as an intensely intellectual and compassionate man who would (and did) fight for the the things he believed in. In writing, he was an unforgettable proposition and a force of nature. I will miss him, as all of us surely will.

Pinter, best known for his play The Birthday Party, was an immense figure in English theatre, and typically dealt with themes of identity in his works. His body of work was so unique that ‘Pinteresque’ has entered the modern dictionary. He also directed for theatre, television and film. He won the Nobel Prize in 2005. In that year, he also announced that he would stop writing plays, although he continued to be active in theatre as well as in politics. Aside from acting and directing, he was also involved in radio plays and television. He continued too to write poetry.

He died of cancer of the oesophagus, diagnosed in 2002.

A remarkable figure in modern literature, and–I have no doubt–a remarkable human being as well. Rest in peace, Mr. Pinter.

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