Harold Pinter and the twilight of modernism / Varun Begley.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Viewing his plays as a series of responses to fundamental aesthetic and political questions within modernism, Begley argues that, collectively, they narrate a prehistory of the postmodern.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

As Begley (College of William & Mary) notes, "Pinter is now the subject of almost constant reinterpretation"--a phenomenon that Pinter's 2005 Nobel Prize will certainly accelerate. In this dense monograph, Begley uses Pinter as "an exemplary figure" who can reveal much about "the late stages of modernism." Three chapters focusing on a range of Pinter's work, including Moonlight and The Caretaker, follow an extensive introduction that engages with critical and cultural studies. Emphasizing the placement of Pinter in a late modernist milieu, the author concludes with a consideration of Ashes to Ashes, in which he argues that "Pinter's works of the 1970s and 1980s achieve a kind of Hegelian synthesis." Some readings of individual plays are limited--e.g., a discussion of No Man's Land diverts into a discourse on Howard Brenton's drama--but others, such as the discussion of A Slight Ache, are insightful. Begley largely ignores Stoppard (an important contemporary) and Joyce (an acknowledged formative influence), and he does not engage noted critical voices such as Steven Gale (Sharp Cut, CH, Jan'04, 41-2658) or Susan Hollis Merritt (Pinter in Play, CH, Jun'91, 28-5567). Accordingly, Begley's work is better regarded as a contribution to modernist theoretical discourse than to Pinter study. ^BSumming Up: Optional. Extensive graduate and research collections. W. Baker Northern Illinois University