Does knowledge of a writer"s private life help to explain his works? It"s an age-old question, but it"s
also one in which interest is aroused (激起) again by Antonia Fraser"s book about her life with Harold
Pinter, Must You Go?. The book is obviously a personal account rather than a study of the plays. All the
same, I"d argue it throws a good deal of light on Pinter the dramatist (剧作家).
I start from the belief that all information about a writer is helpful. In fact, one of the pleasures of
writing Pinter"s biography was discovering that nearly all his plays were started by some strong personal
memory. This got me into trouble with some scholars. I remember Martin Esslin, a great Pinter scholar,
arguing that I had reduced the value of Pinter"s Betrayal by linking it to the dramatist"s seven-year-long
love affair with Joan Bake well. But, as I saw it, that was simply the play"s origin. All I had done, I hoped, was to remind people that Pinter was a writer who would make use of his own life experience.
That point can also be seen from Antonia"s book. There"s an interesting account of a dinner with Tom
Stoppard where Pinter says that he doesn"t plan his characters" lives and then asks his fellow dramatist:
"Don"t you find they take you over sometimes?", to which Stoppard firmly replies: "No." That says a lot.
One reason why The Homecoming is a great play is that Pinter allows his characters, almost unconsciously, to take over. Despite Stoppard"s many strengths, he tends to keep his characters under a much tighter
control.
Again, there"s an eye-opening passage in Antonia"s book where she recalls a moment in 1983 when
Pinter refers back to his relationship with his former wife, Vivien: "While she was alive, if you think about
it, so much of my work was about unhappy frozen married relationships."
In short-as Stoppard once wrote-information, in itself, about anything, is light. And modern biography, particularly in the hands of masters, has been helpful to literature by opening writers" lives to public eyes.
For that reason, among many others, I welcome Antonia Fraser"s book.
The mountain town of Canton is at an elevation(海拔) of
6,000 feet. It is 1 by thick underbrush and pine trees.
Because of six years of drought, thes 2 are a major fire
danger. Thousands of trees and tons of underbrush are going to
be 3 over the next five years at a minimum cost of $ 3
million. The 4 will be removed first, then the trees will
be overturned and removed. A cleared nonflammable area will
then 5 surround the town of 4,000.
Residents look forward to the work, 6 it will help
their town survive a future inferno(地狱). "But there are two
7 ," said one resident. "All the extra trucks are going to
make traffic 8 bad. Once the area is cleared, we have to
make sure dirt bikers don"t try to make the 9 area their
personal playground. "
A recent fire burned 4,000 acres and destroyed 11 homes
in 10 Hamilton. The fire was raging(汹涌)toward Canton,
but a sudden rainstorm 11 the fire. Residents know that
they won"t get lucky twice, so they are 12 this massive
clearing operation.
Ninety percent of the cutting and clearing will be paid
13 federal funds. Unfortunately, if the trees are on private
property, they must be paid for by the residents 14 . Prices
can range as high as $1,000 to cut and remove one tree.
15 say that residents can apply for state and federal loans
if 16 .
"Well, what good does that do me?" asked Thelma, a 65-
year-old widow. "I"m living on 17 security. I"ve got four
trees on my property. The government"s not going to 18
me money when they know there"s no way I can pay it back.
19 what am I supposed to do? These planners with all their
big ideas ought to think of the 20 people. "
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