Teddy, don't become a stranger
There are a few people sitting in a room. You don't know who they are, where they came from, where they're going to, or what they're up to. Neither do they, most likely. They're devious, duplicitous, and ambiguous. Every word they let slip could have at least five possible implications or meanings. They stay controlled, demure for the most part. They will stand on their feet and they will think it very important that you ought to sit down. They're polite, articulate and they can be uproariously funny, but they're tearing each other to pieces. You can't trust these rotters as far as you could throw them.
When I started reading Pinter in sixth form, it was the first time I had ever found any literature with which I could really personally identify. Within weeks I had ordered everything at Belfast Waterstones, and devoured the lot. Later I sought out the films, particularly the Losey trilogy, and the stuff is so good and so rich it makes my head spin. It's 12 years ago now but I still pick a bit of Pinter off the shelf and have a read through Old Times or Betrayal. His work was done, but it's been such a big influence in my life that I found myself stunned and quite upset to hear that he is dead. He's like Bowie- one of those ubermensch who you just can't imagine as a mortal, getting sick and dropping dead.
Well, he's left a lot of bloody brilliant stuff behind and I'm sure I will keep reading it until I too drop dead. It was an honour to meet him and get a letter from him when I was a teenager. By coincidence we have tickets for the Michael Gambon/David Walliams revival of No Man's Land on New Year's Day, and when I get back to work I hope I can rustle up enough books to make a great big display. After all, he was a Hackney lad.
When I started reading Pinter in sixth form, it was the first time I had ever found any literature with which I could really personally identify. Within weeks I had ordered everything at Belfast Waterstones, and devoured the lot. Later I sought out the films, particularly the Losey trilogy, and the stuff is so good and so rich it makes my head spin. It's 12 years ago now but I still pick a bit of Pinter off the shelf and have a read through Old Times or Betrayal. His work was done, but it's been such a big influence in my life that I found myself stunned and quite upset to hear that he is dead. He's like Bowie- one of those ubermensch who you just can't imagine as a mortal, getting sick and dropping dead.
Well, he's left a lot of bloody brilliant stuff behind and I'm sure I will keep reading it until I too drop dead. It was an honour to meet him and get a letter from him when I was a teenager. By coincidence we have tickets for the Michael Gambon/David Walliams revival of No Man's Land on New Year's Day, and when I get back to work I hope I can rustle up enough books to make a great big display. After all, he was a Hackney lad.