Nobel Prize in Literature

[workerbee]

If tradition holds, this year's Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced on October 6.  I've always looked forward to the announcement, but I've also been seriously disappointed by many of the results.

What author/authors do you think are particularly deserving of the award, and why?

[flipbutt]

If tradition holds, this year's Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced on October 6.  I've always looked forward to the announcement, but I've also been seriously disappointed by many of the results.

What author/authors do you think are particularly deserving of the award, and why.

I've been rooting for Philip Roth for a while now, and while he's pretty often pumped in the horse race, I don't think he'll ever be the ticket, even more so since his writing days are behind him. That said, I believe his work is a caustic antidote of sorts to most literary sensibilities, being extremely funny, cruel, and wrenchingly incisive at the same time. It'd certainly be a very welcome surprise if he wins the prize at all before he dies. A toast to the Dying Animal if you will.

While Roth is my favourite, I'd also be reasonably happy if a non-white author got the prize- more so if it was someone from an activist-dissident background- from my own country, someone like Arundhati Roy or Mahaswetha Debi (who unfortunately passed away this year)and from other places, people like Taslima Nasreen, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Teju Cole, Junot Diaz, Rita Dove, Yu Jie, etc- someone else would provide a better list. However, the Committee doesn't have too distinguished a history of supporting such people with a few exceptional cases.

Another favourite of mine is Ursula K. Le Guin, though fantasy authors generally get the short end of the stick as well.

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Interested in knowing who you'd be plugging for.

[workerbee]

I'd also be very happy to see Philip Roth take the prize.  The last time an American won was in 1993 (Toni Morrison), so maybe it's time again.

If I were to bet on a "non-white" author, it would be for long-time contenders Ngugi wa Thiong'o (Kenya) or Haruki Murikami (Japan).  Another name that has circulated for years is the Syrian poet Adonis (or Adunis), who easily falls into your "activist-dissident" category.  Only one other author in Arabic, Naguib Mahfouz, has ever won.  Given the slaughter-house that is modern Syria, imagine the implications, political and otherwise, of awarding the prize to him.

All the above would be worthy recipients.  My personal favorite, however, has to be Amos Oz (Israel), whose work I've followed for many years.  He is a tireless campaigner for Israeli-Palestinian peace but it is his fiction that has established his international presence.

[joew771]

I'm not sure who should win the prize. I think it's a total stroke fest nowadays. But I know that Philip Roth shouldn't win. He hasn't written a truly good novel since 'Portnoy's Complaint', which was awesome. Any man who doesn't sympathize with spraying cum all over the place isn't a real man. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, read 'Portnoy's Complaint'.

[Arzoo]

I had been under the impression that Amos Oz had been a recipient of the Nobel Prize. Now, I open @workerbee's upload to see missing, the usual Nobel Prize in Literature.. I'm surprised really - I had read his A Tale of Love and Darkness many moons ago and it was one of the best memoirs (even better than Pamuk's Istanbul) I'd ever read. Is his candidature been never sent or what? Of course, one should remember that Leo Tolstoy was chosen over some Nobody in maybe 1900s...

I would strongly recommend anyone to peruse Oz's memoirs A Tale of Love and Darkness; it's amazing. I think Portman made a film recently which is to be released soon.  In short, its Amos Oz all the way....

A Minor Quibble - I greatly dislike Arundhati Roy's articles that is published every now and then in the newspapers. As for Taslima Nasreen, I'd met her once in Kolkata Book Fair and felt an automatic aversion. Martyrdom and Artistic Merit are two very different things.... But then again, its the Nobel that we are talking of...

[workerbee]

Is his candidature been never sent or what? Of course, one should remember that Leo Tolstoy was chosen over some Nobody in maybe 1900s...

It's my understanding that Oz has been nominated on multiple occasions.  Who can fathom the deliberations of the Swedish Academy?  So many worthy, world-class authors, including of course Leo Tolstoy, have been passed over that it's almost criminal.  (I assume your Tolstoy reference is a typo.)

I'm also looking forward to Natalie Portman's film!

[AareOnaKakanfo]

I'd say Salman Rushdie, but he's too "popular".

[flipbutt]

I'll just leave this here. https://electricliterature.com/who-will-....o7j2wavgh

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Popularity isn't going to DQ someone like Rushdie; there have been plenty of writers with large followings. Marquez is just one example. Rushdie's more likely not to win the prize because of the political shitstorm that would ensue and especially during a time like this what with the wars and immigration hangups going on. I personaly can't say I like his style, though it certainly is ambitious and lively stuff.

[AareOnaKakanfo]

I'll just leave this here. https://electricliterature.com/who-will-....o7j2wavgh

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Popularity isn't going to DQ someone like Rushdie; there have been plenty of writers with large followings. Marquez is just one example. Rushdie's more likely not to win the prize because of the political shitstorm that would ensue and especially during a time like this what with the wars and immigration hangups going on. I personaly can't say I like his style, though it certainly is ambitious and lively stuff.

The organisers have been quoted saying writers like Rushdie and Miller are "too predictable, too popular."

[workerbee]

Where did you read the Swedish Academy dismissing "popular" writers?  They're generally a pretty secretive and close-mouthed bunch.  And who is Miller?