Wonkette
An iconic postwar British playwright who hated America so much, Harold Pinter, died yesterday. He really despised George Bush’s war in Iraq, as well as the other American wars and killings: “The crimes of the U.S. throughout the world have been systematic, constant, clinical, remorseless, and fully documented but nobody talks about them.” Indeed, freedom is on the march. Let’s end with a happier quote: “When the storm is over and night falls and the moon is out in all its glory and all you’re left with is the rhythm of the sea, of the waves, you know what God intended for the human race, you know what paradise is.” [NYT]
History will prove Pinter prescient about the President.
Rest well, Mr. Pinter. You have fought the good fight.
Ah, the rhythm of the sea beneath a glorious moon! Why the fuck is THAT what God intended for the human race? I thought that was something for grunion.
Its right to have this point of view because Britan never did anything bad. ever.
Only thing worse than a hippie is a hippie who knows how to express himself with eloquence.
Bruno: Yeah, cause no other country in the world would ever even think about exploiting other nations.
Someone at gawker finds hippie Pinter’s hostility to US war-stuff was “increasingly dated”. Thoughts?
http://gawker.com/5118085/harold-pinter-nobel+winning-playwright
p-Sludge: It perhaps was “dated” until the US went to war in Iraq, but mainstream now; G must have plagiarized something written in the 90s when everyone was hysterical about blow jobs and Mother Mary with elephant dung and a little Cuban boat boy.
rambone: Pinter was just as harsh on the UK.
The film version of The Servant is one of my favorites. It’s such a good metaphor. As Bob Dylan used to sing it: “You gotta serve somebody.” Why not serve yourself first? That way you’ll be sure of getting some.
And let me introduce you to my sister.
Sad. Pinter was one of very few modern dramatists whose work I liked. As a bonus, he was right about W., too.
When the moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planet, and love will steer the stars… This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius.
In honor of his death,I wrote a few verses of what I believe should be the Eugoogalie (as read by Rick Warren) at his funeral. Peace be with him and also with you.
Brilliant guy but he did defend Slobodan Milosevic.
sad pause.
um, let’s not forget “one of the most influential playwrights of the latter half of the twentieth century” or why not make it the whole fucking twentieth century, political views be damned. i saw a production of The Birthday Party in Princeton a little while back and it reminded me of how incredible he was right from the start.
chascates: Luckily, Pinter’s wife (Lady Antonia Fraser) and his stepdaughter (Flora Fraser) are historians, so history can get an early start on how right he was.