Harold Pinter, patron saint of pretentious English majors and black turtle-necks (no coincidence), is this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. We wonder if his rabid anti-Americanism or his outright lies about Israel had anything to do with what increasingly seems like an award for anti-American hacks who write in verse.
A Left-wing, British Jew who makes up Israeli atrocities and then rails against them finds himself the recipient of international acclaim – we almost can’t believe it.
UPDATE: Roger Simon – who knows a thing or two about art – thinks the Nobel Committee made an admirable choice. Judith Weiss – who knows a thing or two about anti-Semitism – also thinks that the choice was a sound one. Just to clarify: we’ve had the honor of seeing several Pinter plays, and all ranged from the hauntingly suggestive to the genuinely moving. That doesn’t make Pinter any less of a nutcase, or the Nobel Committee’s award any less politicized. A contemporary analogy: George Bush nominated Chief Justice Roberts to the bench because Roberts is a genius – but also because Roberts is conservative. The Nobel Committee awarded Pinter the Prize for Literature because he’s a hell of a playwright – but also because he’s an anti-American moonbat.
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