Nobel Prize in Literature

[flipbutt]

I'm guessing Arthur Miller, but he's dead?

[Arzoo]

Okay, let me share two stories regarding the Nobel Prize. While the Swedish Guys have done some great work from time to time; they have also bungled in a commensurate proportion.

1) When Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in the 1970s, he had spontaneously recommended Nabokov for the prize, saying VN had done more for the Russian Literature than he had yet. But of course, Nabokov was then thought of as a dandy, hauteur and what not. Even his colleague and a respected critic, Harry Levin, thought him a great writer but all style. Brian Boyd (VN's biographer) has been quoted saying "When I met Mr. Levin, he asked me what interested me most in Nabokov. I replied : His philosophy. Levin smiled, and said but He has none."

2) Samuel Beckett's Nobel award apparently caused him much distress (according to James Knowlson bio). Beckett received the following message from a close friend, "Dear Sam and Suzanne (his wife), in spite of everything they've given you the Nobel. I advise you to go into hiding. With affection." He replied to Swedish Academy in the following manner : "Your Majesty, I'm deeply honored to receive the prize; but please forgive my absence from a formal acceptation speech." The above close friend apparently, received the prize and did the formal obligations. Most of the prize money, Beckett donated quickly. The reasons which Mr. Knowlson goes into are these: Beckett hated publicity and had always maintained that his fame (Godot) was based on a misunderstanding.


Interested people may consult for reference, Nabokov : Selected Letters and Knowlson's bio : Damned to Fame available on the internet. Brian Boyd's Nabokov : The American Years also covers the matters.....

[flipbutt]

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...

http://thewire.in/68114/two-careless-aca...ul-editor/

Have a look here, it addresses your 'Martyrdom vs Artistic Merit' quibble.  Also I suggest you read more deeply into her work. Seeing her occasional articles in the newspapers make you prone to contextualize her from your existing political viewpoint. It's true I may be far more sympathetic to her work because I'm politically on the left side of the spectrum, but she's a woman of rare courage and honesty and I certainly feel she's one of the most valuable voices in our literature.

[Arzoo]

http://thewire.in/68114/two-careless-aca...ul-editor/

Have a look here, it addresses your 'Martyrdom vs Artistic Merit' quibble.  Also I suggest you read more deeply into her work. Seeing her occasional articles in the newspapers make you prone to contextualize her from your existing political viewpoint. It's true I may be far more sympathetic to her work because I'm politically on the left side of the spectrum, but she's a woman of rare courage and honesty and I certainly feel she's one of the most valuable voices in our literature.

The point that you raise is difficult for me to address without going in deep about what the different viewpoints of Literature are, and what I'm willing to defend till the last drop of my ink. But, that will be totally off the current topic.

But, suffice to say that what you say about Mrs. Roy are true. She writes against the current, so as to speak which testifies to her courage and honesty. But I'll send you a PM (later on) which I hope will elaborate on my "Minor Quibble".

[AareOnaKakanfo]

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

Arthur Miller
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/62/016.html

[anmisto]

Well, personally, I'm all up Haruki Murakami, for Nobel Prize, this year. If it ever happens.

[flipbutt]

Guess we were all shorted ... well, whatever our feelings we certainly can't complain for lack of surprise. First American in 25 years and the first songwriter (unless you count Tagore), what a wildcard.

[workerbee]

And the winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature is . . . Bob Dylan "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

[AareOnaKakanfo]

I thought it was a joke at first. But it's not.

[workerbee]

I was watching the announcement live and my jaw dropped when I heard Dylan's name. You could hear the audible astonishment among those assembled in the hall. I imagine there are many people who will think it's a practical joke when they first hear the news. Six hours later, I'm still a little taken aback by it all, not sure what to make of it.

At least one singer-songwriter will finally have a little money in his pocket. For the proverbial rainy day when the hard rain falls.