Collected Poems and Prose by Harold Pinter

Collected Poems and Prose Reviews

• 
  Steven Godin

  I have thrown a handful of petals on your breasts.
  Scarred by this daylight you lie petalstruck.
  So your skin imitates the flush, your head
  Turning all ways, bearing a havoc of flowers over you.
  
  Now I bring you from dark into daytime,
  Laying petal on petal.
  
  
  This book features 39 poems and 10 short prose pieces from the renowned English playwright spanning a period of about 40 years, with the first piece of prose, Kullus being written when Pinter was only nineteen. There are some links to his plays here, including the short story Tea Party and the poem A view of the Party, as well as a few love poems. Much preferred the poems to be honest, although it was interesing to see the development of his prose writing through the years. He certainly had a way with words and images, and rightly belongs with the other English literary greats of the 20th century.
  
  Would have nudged towards four stars, but there are a couple of pieces here on cricket - and I have zero interest in cricket. So 3/5 it is.
• 
  Ter

  Some of the poetry I really enjoyed. The prose not so much. My favorite in the book was “American Football”
• 
  Sparrow .

  This singular book presents pieces that are not exactly poetry, fiction, doodles, essays, or anything else I’ve ever read. They are quite successful, and never seem FINISHED:
  
  The obese stars
  Dumb stones dumb lumps of light
  
  Before the gasp before they
  
  Before they gasp
  And spit out their last blood
  
  [From “Before They Fall”, 1983]
• 
  Derek Emerson

  Pinter won the Nobel prize for literature, but likely the focus was on his plays. This collection of poems and prose is good, but uneven. The poetry is stronger than the prose, which is experimental and now alsys successful.
• 
  Colin Bruce Anthes

  Pinter's early poems are good, but his later poems are phenomenal. Amongst his prose, the anecdotal "Mac" about the actor-manager Anew McMaster is funny, deeply felt, and unforgettable.
• 
  Jason

  freak 2...