SOURCE: Sterling, Eric. Review of Various Voices, by Harold Pinter. World Literature Today 73, no. 4 (autumn 1999): 750-51.

In the following review, Sterling asserts that Various Voices provides valuable insight into Pinter's work and is essential reading for scholars and students of British drama. He further observes that Pinter's prose is intelligent, insightful, creative, thought-provoking, and enjoyable to read.

Harold Pinter, known primarily as a playwright who authored many excellent absurdist dramas, divides his book Various Voices into four sections: prose, prose fiction, poetry, and politics. His prose writings, like his plays, are intelligent and thought-provoking yet esoteric.

Pinter begins his collection with “A Note on Shakespeare,” which may be considered his personal reaction to reading the Bard's dramas. Pinter discusses the complexity and diversity of the Shakespearean canon. He creates lists of various professions, languages, and voices to imply the universality of Shakespeare's works, that his plays speak to...