The 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature: Let’s Bet Cash Money on This
This award will go to someone you have never heard of, or a duck.
Next month, the winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced, and literary types have already started speculating, and even betting, on who might be this year’s winner. This is pointless, because the winner is going to be, in all likelihood, an anarcho-syndicalist playwright or pamphleteer from Moldova or something like that. It might be a duck, as long as it’s a duck that likes Gramsci but not America or television. It probably will not be anyone you have ever heard of. But you might pretend you have after he or she wins, if you, like me, are kind of a dick. The winner will definitely be alive, per Nobel rules, at the time of the nomination, though. Sorry, Updike!
One thing is for sure: the announcement will catapult the winner to worldwide reality show-level fame, and magazines will speculate about his or her sexual orientation, and nobody will be able to stop talking about the latest Nobelist for years to come. Remember when that happened with Dario Fo? And Elfriede Jelinek? Huh? Huh? Anyway, we discuss the bookmakers’ odds for what might, sadly, be the most exciting contest of the year…after the fucking jump!
OK. So according to the latest Ladbrokes odds – apparently people in the United Kingdom bet on things other than cockfighting, oooooh, you’re so civilized, British people – the favorite to win this year is Israeli novelist Amos Oz (4-1), a member of the “Zionist left,” which means his victory would assure peace in the Middle East forever. Boring! He’s followed by two people I know nothing about (unless one of them wins, in which case I’ll be all like, “Oh, yeah, I went through this big Luis Goytisolo phase in high school”), so let’s skip right on down to Joyce Carol Oates and Philip Roth, tied at 7-1. Oates might have an edge because she has published 873 novels – OK, 874, it went up as I was writing this – but unfortunately for her, 870 of those novels haven’t been read by a single person ever. And the Nobel committee won’t like Roth’s foray into dance music this year. So they’re out.
Haruki Murakami and Thomas Pynchon are both tied at 9-1, followed by the awesomely named “Thomas Transformer” at 12-1. Fuck yeah! I can totally get behind – OK, wait, it’s “Thomas Transtromer.” All of them are out, because people besides comparative-lit majors actually read Murakami sometimes, and Pynchon probably would skip the ceremony, and send a bong or Sacheen Littlefeather in his place. And Transtromer? You’re out because I thought your name was cool, and it’s fucking not. Asshole.
Don DeLillo and Mario Vargas Llosa are among the writers tied at 16-1, but the real fun starts at 25-1, where Alice Munro, Bob Dylan, and Margaret Atwood are tied. Munro’s too nice, even Jersey cops don’t recognize Bob Dylan (and he’s about to release a Christmas album, how dreadfully bourgeois), and Atwood? Whatever, Margaret Atwood. Then there’s some predictable names, blah blah blah Byatt Achebe Ondaatje Doctorow blah blah boring, and then Salman Rushdie at 80-1. Rushdie won’t win because he was in the Bridget Jones’s Diary movie. True, so was J. M. G. Le Clézio (he played the gay best friend, I’m pretty sure), but Rushdie is not a good actor. So: out.
Bringing up the rear are several authors at 100-1, including Julian Barnes, Cormac McCarthy, Ian McEwan, John Banville, Marge Piercy, Paul Auster, William H. Gass, and – God help me – Maya Angelou. (Seriously.) Which brings me to my suggestion – Blake, are you still reading this? – on how HTMLGIANT can use this contest to our financial advantage. Maybe if we pooled all of our money, and bet on Gass, we’d get lucky. And none of us would ever have to work again! Just think about it. I mean, if I put all the money in my checking account on Gass, and he pulled it off, I would have Three. Hundred. Dollars. And that’s just me! We just need to put someone in charge of collecting the money, and placing the bet in the UK, and incurring any legal responsibility for it. Taylor. It’s got to be Taylor. If he gets busted, he can charm his way out of it. Maybe Baumann.
Anyway, I’m going to go brush up on my Cees Nooteboom, so I can sound smart if he wins. Now there’s a cool name. Suck it, Transtromer.
(Coming tomorrow, unless I get bored with this: A Brief History of Past Nobel Prize in Literature Winners! I’ve got some fucking dynamite material on Karl Adolph Gjellerup.)
Tags: Nobel Prize 2009, Thomas Transformer
Perhaps controversial opinion, but the nobel prize has gotten kind of lame. Seems like the list of people who’ve failed to get one is a lot more impressive than those who have (Ibsen, Tolstoy, Kafka, Borges, etc.)
Perhaps controversial opinion, but the nobel prize has gotten kind of lame. Seems like the list of people who’ve failed to get one is a lot more impressive than those who have (Ibsen, Tolstoy, Kafka, Borges, etc.)
and when that dude was implying American writers don’t deserve the prize because the american public doesn’t’ read enough translated literature…
and when that dude was implying American writers don’t deserve the prize because the american public doesn’t’ read enough translated literature…
Don’t forget Joyce.
I’d like to see Cormac McCarthy got the nod this year. But we know that won’t happen.
Don’t forget Joyce.
I’d like to see Cormac McCarthy got the nod this year. But we know that won’t happen.
Well the list really goes on forever. Proust, Woolf, Stein, Twain, Chekov, Nabokov, Cortazar, Calvino, ad infinitum
Well the list really goes on forever. Proust, Woolf, Stein, Twain, Chekov, Nabokov, Cortazar, Calvino, ad infinitum
That sounds like a really obnoxious dinner party in the making.
That sounds like a really obnoxious dinner party in the making.
That’s true. Joyce is the first name that comes to mind when I think of Nobel shoulda-beens is all.
That’s true. Joyce is the first name that comes to mind when I think of Nobel shoulda-beens is all.
well if i can toss in $10 for the “Exquisite Corpse” i’m sure i’ve got a fiver around here i could place on gass
well if i can toss in $10 for the “Exquisite Corpse” i’m sure i’ve got a fiver around here i could place on gass
Just to overturn a British stereotype, betting on cockfighting went out with decimalisation. We now spend most of our time betting on which teenage hoodie is going to be the next one to be stabbed outside the local branch of Chicken Cottage. It’s great fun. I won some crack the other night when the 12-year-old stuck a broken bottle into the neck of the 9-year-old.
Just to overturn a British stereotype, betting on cockfighting went out with decimalisation. We now spend most of our time betting on which teenage hoodie is going to be the next one to be stabbed outside the local branch of Chicken Cottage. It’s great fun. I won some crack the other night when the 12-year-old stuck a broken bottle into the neck of the 9-year-old.
Yeah, cockfighting was banned in the UK over 150 years ago, which is pretty good, I guess. But the last state to ban cockfighting in the USA, I’m proud to say, did so in…2008 OH MY GOD MY COUNTRY IS SO FUCKED UP. Jesus.
Yeah, cockfighting was banned in the UK over 150 years ago, which is pretty good, I guess. But the last state to ban cockfighting in the USA, I’m proud to say, did so in…2008 OH MY GOD MY COUNTRY IS SO FUCKED UP. Jesus.
i got money on Dan Brown before William Gass, in this town
i got money on Dan Brown before William Gass, in this town
You’re on. If it’s Gass, I get executive producer credit on the Scorch Atlas movie.
You’re on. If it’s Gass, I get executive producer credit on the Scorch Atlas movie.
DENNIS COOPER FOR NOBEL LAUREATE. NOW, THAT WOULD ROCK!
DENNIS COOPER FOR NOBEL LAUREATE. NOW, THAT WOULD ROCK!
Too late. ;)
Too late. ;)
Until Philip Roth wins that prize, it’s a sham.
Until Philip Roth wins that prize, it’s a sham.
Dammit. Then can I have a cameo as an old lady singing “Rapper’s Delight,” perhaps at a wedding?
Dammit. Then can I have a cameo as an old lady singing “Rapper’s Delight,” perhaps at a wedding?
I second the whole Philip Roth + no Nobel = sham sentiment. I mean, the man created one of the great singular characters in all of literature, Philip Roth. Who was the last fiction writer to do that? And before you kids jump all over me with incredulous guffaws signifying my complete and total knobbery (you kids do have a tendency to do that here sometimes), think about what I am saying. Philip Roth is not only a writer, he is also a character, almost an archetype at this point. I know plenty of writers install themselves into their own fiction, but how many of these fictional selves have become as, what’s the word I’m looking for, (separate?) as the author who spawned them?
I second the whole Philip Roth + no Nobel = sham sentiment. I mean, the man created one of the great singular characters in all of literature, Philip Roth. Who was the last fiction writer to do that? And before you kids jump all over me with incredulous guffaws signifying my complete and total knobbery (you kids do have a tendency to do that here sometimes), think about what I am saying. Philip Roth is not only a writer, he is also a character, almost an archetype at this point. I know plenty of writers install themselves into their own fiction, but how many of these fictional selves have become as, what’s the word I’m looking for, (separate?) as the author who spawned them?
say what Gramps? us kids don’t get that. what be this ‘archetype’ word?
say what Gramps? us kids don’t get that. what be this ‘archetype’ word?
i had to spit out the piece of straw i was chewin’ when m&c did all that fancy mathin’ up above yonder
i had to spit out the piece of straw i was chewin’ when m&c did all that fancy mathin’ up above yonder
People read the wrong Philip Roth books (usually Portnoy’s Complaint is one of them) and make their judgments from too little information. This practice is something like reading “The Body Artist” and “End Zone” and deciding you’ve tried DeLillo and he’s not for you, or reading “Vineland” and “Inherent Vice” and deciding you know Pynchon. Most writers have greater and lesser work, and since Roth did most of his best work long after the height of his run of culture-shaping commercial popularity in the Seventies, a lot of people think he’s just screwing around all the time.
The place to start are the two novels that are the best of each of Roth’s two poles (profane prophet of extreme means v. soberish chronicler of history), and those are Sabbath’s Theater and American Pastoral. Then: The Ghost Writer, The Counterlife, The Human Stain (all Zuckerman books, like American Pastoral); Operation Shylock (a Roth Book); Patrimony (a memoir); and Deception (a novel proceeding entirely in dialogue.) If you take in all of that, and see how many things he’s tried, and how he is, fundamentally, a writer whose passion is formal experimentation toward quite serious and traditionally novelistic ends (and often, concurrently, the undermining of those ends), then you have the right to say he’s ____________.
People read the wrong Philip Roth books (usually Portnoy’s Complaint is one of them) and make their judgments from too little information. This practice is something like reading “The Body Artist” and “End Zone” and deciding you’ve tried DeLillo and he’s not for you, or reading “Vineland” and “Inherent Vice” and deciding you know Pynchon. Most writers have greater and lesser work, and since Roth did most of his best work long after the height of his run of culture-shaping commercial popularity in the Seventies, a lot of people think he’s just screwing around all the time.
The place to start are the two novels that are the best of each of Roth’s two poles (profane prophet of extreme means v. soberish chronicler of history), and those are Sabbath’s Theater and American Pastoral. Then: The Ghost Writer, The Counterlife, The Human Stain (all Zuckerman books, like American Pastoral); Operation Shylock (a Roth Book); Patrimony (a memoir); and Deception (a novel proceeding entirely in dialogue.) If you take in all of that, and see how many things he’s tried, and how he is, fundamentally, a writer whose passion is formal experimentation toward quite serious and traditionally novelistic ends (and often, concurrently, the undermining of those ends), then you have the right to say he’s ____________.
meems too. ‘incredulous guffaws.’ is that like, old guy talk for LOL? i confused-ed
duuuuuh, dude. get a klew.8=====D ~
meems too. ‘incredulous guffaws.’ is that like, old guy talk for LOL? i confused-ed
duuuuuh, dude. get a klew.8=====D ~
what r these wordses mean?
what r these wordses mean?
I don’t know man. I think worrying about phillip roth getting the Pulitzer is like worrying whether barack obama was really gonna buy a dog once he got to office.
I don’t know man. I think worrying about phillip roth getting the Pulitzer is like worrying whether barack obama was really gonna buy a dog once he got to office.
I just said that same thing yesterday, except substitute “Eddie Deezen” for “Philip Roth” and “Lifetime Achievement Academy Award” for “that prize.”
(Seriously, though, I’m with you; I do think he deserves it, absolutely.)
I just said that same thing yesterday, except substitute “Eddie Deezen” for “Philip Roth” and “Lifetime Achievement Academy Award” for “that prize.”
(Seriously, though, I’m with you; I do think he deserves it, absolutely.)
You certainly have a hard time being eloquent when you’re not aping Marcus or Lutz or Evenson, don’t you? When you stop writing in what you think is an adult voice and start writing in your natural cadence (which as of now seems to be stuck in perpetual Vice-mag mode) you’ll become as good a writer as you think you are. Until, then, you should probably keep writing your liner-notes prose, because it seems to be working for you. Or you could take a peek at Gulcher and see how it’s really done. The point being: soy milk is no subsitute for cream, Blaine.
You certainly have a hard time being eloquent when you’re not aping Marcus or Lutz or Evenson, don’t you? When you stop writing in what you think is an adult voice and start writing in your natural cadence (which as of now seems to be stuck in perpetual Vice-mag mode) you’ll become as good a writer as you think you are. Until, then, you should probably keep writing your liner-notes prose, because it seems to be working for you. Or you could take a peek at Gulcher and see how it’s really done. The point being: soy milk is no subsitute for cream, Blaine.
tee hee
tee hee
I think html giant needs to do an “archetype” “archetype” piece.
I think html giant needs to do an “archetype” “archetype” piece.
I don’t think Pynchon is ever going to win – may go the way of ….
McCarthy may, someday, but I think not quite yet.
I’d put my $$ on Roth.
well, gawlee. i really used to really like milk and cookies.
I don’t think Pynchon is ever going to win – may go the way of ….
McCarthy may, someday, but I think not quite yet.
I’d put my $$ on Roth.
well, gawlee. i really used to really like milk and cookies.
THIS JUST IN:
MILK AND COOKIES SIGNED TO TWO BOOK DEAL WITH HARPER PERENNIAL!
THIS JUST IN:
MILK AND COOKIES SIGNED TO TWO BOOK DEAL WITH HARPER PERENNIAL!
i think eggers could get a nobel someday
i think eggers could get a nobel someday
Grandpa’s got a real point, actually. “Philip Roth” is the greatest literary hoax since “Tao Lin.” No but seriously, Milk & Cookies- I’m with you.
Grandpa’s got a real point, actually. “Philip Roth” is the greatest literary hoax since “Tao Lin.” No but seriously, Milk & Cookies- I’m with you.
I say Pynchon’s not winning it. I have to believe that the rest of the world sees through his bullshit, if only because nobody here does. Oates, no way. She’s written some worthy stuff, but she’s too pop. Among the Americans, Roth’s probably a strong bet, though personally I’d rather see it go to DeLillo.
I say Pynchon’s not winning it. I have to believe that the rest of the world sees through his bullshit, if only because nobody here does. Oates, no way. She’s written some worthy stuff, but she’s too pop. Among the Americans, Roth’s probably a strong bet, though personally I’d rather see it go to DeLillo.
Among future and youngish American candidates, I’d think Edwidge Danticat and Jeffrey Eugenides are strong possibilities.
Among future and youngish American candidates, I’d think Edwidge Danticat and Jeffrey Eugenides are strong possibilities.
I think they will throw a bone to America because we elected Obama. I think McCarthy has better odds than they say. Between him, Delillo and Roth I’d say he has the best chance because of the recent megapublicity. They gave it to Pamuk right after he was arrested. Though with oodles of Bolano love I won’t be suprised by a Bush-like twist of the law.
Darkhorse: William Trevor
I think they will throw a bone to America because we elected Obama. I think McCarthy has better odds than they say. Between him, Delillo and Roth I’d say he has the best chance because of the recent megapublicity. They gave it to Pamuk right after he was arrested. Though with oodles of Bolano love I won’t be suprised by a Bush-like twist of the law.
Darkhorse: William Trevor
I think it’s hilarious that A) anyone here thinks an American has any real chance of winning it, and B) that if an American doesn’t win, it’s a sham. Really? The benign egoism of B is part of the reason why A rarely comes true. The rest of the world reads our books, but they don’t have to like it and they certainly don’t have to give us prizes when we have the self-confidence to congratulate our own literature approximately every 3 1/2 seconds.
Also, Transtromer has some beautiful lines.
I think it’s hilarious that A) anyone here thinks an American has any real chance of winning it, and B) that if an American doesn’t win, it’s a sham. Really? The benign egoism of B is part of the reason why A rarely comes true. The rest of the world reads our books, but they don’t have to like it and they certainly don’t have to give us prizes when we have the self-confidence to congratulate our own literature approximately every 3 1/2 seconds.
Also, Transtromer has some beautiful lines.
It is already a sham, see above.
However the problem is not with an american winning or not winning this year, but with America being so constantly shunned despite its importance in world literature. Anyway, the fact that the academy would not award a worthy author so they can “stick it” to the american public or something just shows how lame the prize has gotten (or maybe always was I guess, since their early choices were horrible)
It is already a sham, see above.
However the problem is not with an american winning or not winning this year, but with America being so constantly shunned despite its importance in world literature. Anyway, the fact that the academy would not award a worthy author so they can “stick it” to the american public or something just shows how lame the prize has gotten (or maybe always was I guess, since their early choices were horrible)
“I know plenty of writers install themselves into their own fiction, but how many of these fictional selves have become as, what’s the word I’m looking for, (separate?) as the author who spawned them?” Well, there’s Ellery Queen.
“I know plenty of writers install themselves into their own fiction, but how many of these fictional selves have become as, what’s the word I’m looking for, (separate?) as the author who spawned them?” Well, there’s Ellery Queen.
I don’t understand why a writer’s nationality would keep them from winning the prize for baddest writer in the world not dead or already awarded, if in fact they are the baddest writer in the world not dead or already awarded. This argument is lame, even though you made it more elegantly than the guy on the Nobel Prize committee made it.
I don’t understand why a writer’s nationality would keep them from winning the prize for baddest writer in the world not dead or already awarded, if in fact they are the baddest writer in the world not dead or already awarded. This argument is lame, even though you made it more elegantly than the guy on the Nobel Prize committee made it.
I’m not saying I hate American authors or that we don’t deserve to win the occasional Nobel prize if that’s the ultimate prize in literature. I’m just saying it’s a world prize, and instead of awarding it to the country with the most, best writers, as America quite arguably may be (it doesn’t help that we’re not humble), it would prefer to distribute it, I think, to a greater variety of people/nations and often has political reasons for the choices it makes. We can’t do anything about it and when it comes down to it, most American writers really DON’T NEED the Nobel prize, so I don’t really understand why we get so riled up. Transtromer would certainly benefit more from the money and attention more than Philip Roth or Carol Oates, don’t you think?
I’m not saying I hate American authors or that we don’t deserve to win the occasional Nobel prize if that’s the ultimate prize in literature. I’m just saying it’s a world prize, and instead of awarding it to the country with the most, best writers, as America quite arguably may be (it doesn’t help that we’re not humble), it would prefer to distribute it, I think, to a greater variety of people/nations and often has political reasons for the choices it makes. We can’t do anything about it and when it comes down to it, most American writers really DON’T NEED the Nobel prize, so I don’t really understand why we get so riled up. Transtromer would certainly benefit more from the money and attention more than Philip Roth or Carol Oates, don’t you think?
The above would make sense except for the fact that the academy is frequently derided for ignoring most of the world and NOT spreading the award around.
I mean lets go through the latest winners by country of origin: France, UK, Turkey, UK, Austria, South Africa, Hungry, UK, France, Germany, Portugal, italy, Poland, ireland,
So since 1995 all but two of the wards have gotten to European writers, mostly in the traditional western European powers. Turkey is sometimes considered a part of europe, but we can let that slide. South Africa is a former British colony and Coetzee writers in English and is probably really a part of that literary world. Maybe the only real non-european choice was France’s Gao who is Chinese by birth and writers in Chinese I believe.
So it really isn’t much of a world prize. Giving it to an american would actually increase the diversity at this point.
The above would make sense except for the fact that the academy is frequently derided for ignoring most of the world and NOT spreading the award around.
I mean lets go through the latest winners by country of origin: France, UK, Turkey, UK, Austria, South Africa, Hungry, UK, France, Germany, Portugal, italy, Poland, ireland,
So since 1995 all but two of the wards have gotten to European writers, mostly in the traditional western European powers. Turkey is sometimes considered a part of europe, but we can let that slide. South Africa is a former British colony and Coetzee writers in English and is probably really a part of that literary world. Maybe the only real non-european choice was France’s Gao who is Chinese by birth and writers in Chinese I believe.
So it really isn’t much of a world prize. Giving it to an american would actually increase the diversity at this point.
Two other points: The French and British are far more pompous about their literatures than the US is, and that doesn’t seem to bother the academy.
Secondly, the problem with the question of who needs or doesnt’ need the prize is that the prize is undermined by bad picks. I guess it depends on what kind of prize the nobel group wants it to be, but the award would be more weighty if the picks had been better.
Two other points: The French and British are far more pompous about their literatures than the US is, and that doesn’t seem to bother the academy.
Secondly, the problem with the question of who needs or doesnt’ need the prize is that the prize is undermined by bad picks. I guess it depends on what kind of prize the nobel group wants it to be, but the award would be more weighty if the picks had been better.
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We’re certainly overdue, but so is Canada, South America, Asia, Australia, Africa, and most of Europe. And I think you’re more likely to see them award it to someone from one of those countries before they make it back to us. Again, I love American literature, but we have 300 Nobel prizes total to our name which is about triple the next highest, the UK and Germany. Shouldn’t it be enough to just know how good we are instead of complaining about not getting the recognition?
I think it would be fantastic, by the way, if they awarded one for screenwriting, since playwrights get them. What would the odds be on William Goldman? The Coen brothers? Charlie Kaufman?
We’re certainly overdue, but so is Canada, South America, Asia, Australia, Africa, and most of Europe. And I think you’re more likely to see them award it to someone from one of those countries before they make it back to us. Again, I love American literature, but we have 300 Nobel prizes total to our name which is about triple the next highest, the UK and Germany. Shouldn’t it be enough to just know how good we are instead of complaining about not getting the recognition?
I think it would be fantastic, by the way, if they awarded one for screenwriting, since playwrights get them. What would the odds be on William Goldman? The Coen brothers? Charlie Kaufman?
why america is not likely to win any nobel peace prizes:
America…
America…
America, FUCK YEAH!
Coming again, to save the mother fucking day yeah,
America, FUCK YEAH!
Freedom is the only way yeah,
Terrorist your game is through cause now you have to answer too,
America, FUCK YEAH!
So lick my butt, and suck on my balls,
America, FUCK YEAH!
What you going to do when we come for you now,
it’s the dream that we all share; it’s the hope for tomorrow
FUCK YEAH!
McDonalds, FUCK YEAH!
Wal-Mart, FUCK YEAH!
The Gap, FUCK YEAH!
Baseball, FUCK YEAH!
NFL, FUCK, YEAH!
Rock and roll, FUCK YEAH!
The Internet, FUCK YEAH!
Slavery, FUCK YEAH!
FUCK YEAH!
Starbucks, FUCK YEAH!
Disney world, FUCK YEAH!
Porno, FUCK YEAH!
Valium, FUCK YEAH!
Reeboks, FUCK YEAH!
Fake Tits, FUCK YEAH!
Sushi, FUCK YEAH!
Taco Bell, FUCK YEAH!
Rodeos, FUCK YEAH!
Bed bath and beyond (Fuck yeah, Fuck yeah)
Liberty, FUCK YEAH!
White Slips, FUCK YEAH!
The Alamo, FUCK YEAH!
Band-aids, FUCK YEAH!
Las Vegas, FUCK YEAH!
Christmas, FUCK YEAH!
Immigrants, FUCK YEAH!
Popeye, FUCK YEAH!
Democrats, FUCK YEAH!
Republicans (republicans)
(fuck yeah, fuck yeah)
Sportsmanship
Books
***
i’m okay with it.
why america is not likely to win any nobel peace prizes:
America…
America…
America, FUCK YEAH!
Coming again, to save the mother fucking day yeah,
America, FUCK YEAH!
Freedom is the only way yeah,
Terrorist your game is through cause now you have to answer too,
America, FUCK YEAH!
So lick my butt, and suck on my balls,
America, FUCK YEAH!
What you going to do when we come for you now,
it’s the dream that we all share; it’s the hope for tomorrow
FUCK YEAH!
McDonalds, FUCK YEAH!
Wal-Mart, FUCK YEAH!
The Gap, FUCK YEAH!
Baseball, FUCK YEAH!
NFL, FUCK, YEAH!
Rock and roll, FUCK YEAH!
The Internet, FUCK YEAH!
Slavery, FUCK YEAH!
FUCK YEAH!
Starbucks, FUCK YEAH!
Disney world, FUCK YEAH!
Porno, FUCK YEAH!
Valium, FUCK YEAH!
Reeboks, FUCK YEAH!
Fake Tits, FUCK YEAH!
Sushi, FUCK YEAH!
Taco Bell, FUCK YEAH!
Rodeos, FUCK YEAH!
Bed bath and beyond (Fuck yeah, Fuck yeah)
Liberty, FUCK YEAH!
White Slips, FUCK YEAH!
The Alamo, FUCK YEAH!
Band-aids, FUCK YEAH!
Las Vegas, FUCK YEAH!
Christmas, FUCK YEAH!
Immigrants, FUCK YEAH!
Popeye, FUCK YEAH!
Democrats, FUCK YEAH!
Republicans (republicans)
(fuck yeah, fuck yeah)
Sportsmanship
Books
***
i’m okay with it.
Well my particular complaint is not about the academy ignoring America, although I do think we haven’t had as many as we should in recent history, but in the weakness of people selected in general.
Also I think the problem is less with America being overlooked but with the academy purposefully kind of thumbing their nose at America and saying silly things about the US being too isolated to deserve a prize.
I agree that there are other countries/areas of the world who have been overlooked just as badly or worse.
Well my particular complaint is not about the academy ignoring America, although I do think we haven’t had as many as we should in recent history, but in the weakness of people selected in general.
Also I think the problem is less with America being overlooked but with the academy purposefully kind of thumbing their nose at America and saying silly things about the US being too isolated to deserve a prize.
I agree that there are other countries/areas of the world who have been overlooked just as badly or worse.
Lincoln-
Got it. Le Clezio is unreadable in translation. But most of the people who have been picked the last few years are quite excellent.
Lincoln-
Got it. Le Clezio is unreadable in translation. But most of the people who have been picked the last few years are quite excellent.
yeah, the statement about the worthiness of american writers was lame and simple-minded. actually, the guy who said this, horace engdahl, is no longer the permanent secretary of the swedish academy. i’m really interested to see how this might influence the choice they make this year, it’s first with a new PS. also, it’s important to remember that the NPiL isn’t a popularity contest, nor a determination of an author’s skill or awesomeness or whatever. it’s about a contribution to literature. so, yeah, some of the choices have seemed odd (some of doris lessing’s books are to me unreadable) but she is undeniably significant in the history of world literature. also, again, this is just one prize. it can’t possibly be awarded to every worthy writer and the academy (just like we have) have their own biases and tastes; the idea that the nobel prize i some kind of totally objective determination of literary merit is really kind of silly.
yeah, the statement about the worthiness of american writers was lame and simple-minded. actually, the guy who said this, horace engdahl, is no longer the permanent secretary of the swedish academy. i’m really interested to see how this might influence the choice they make this year, it’s first with a new PS. also, it’s important to remember that the NPiL isn’t a popularity contest, nor a determination of an author’s skill or awesomeness or whatever. it’s about a contribution to literature. so, yeah, some of the choices have seemed odd (some of doris lessing’s books are to me unreadable) but she is undeniably significant in the history of world literature. also, again, this is just one prize. it can’t possibly be awarded to every worthy writer and the academy (just like we have) have their own biases and tastes; the idea that the nobel prize i some kind of totally objective determination of literary merit is really kind of silly.
[…] 4. Betting on the literature Nobel. […]
Yeah, what a fucken sham this whole “Nobel Prize” thing is! Nail’s in the coffin with no Roth. Pass this on to Nobel Prize committee: you are fucken dead to me with no Roth.
Does Roth need a Nobel Prize? I certainly don’t think so. I hate to get my feather’s all ruffled over this stupid prize, but I think it would be quite a shame if Roth won, not only because there are far more deserving writers out there but because it would effectively shut the door on all other potential American writers for the foreseeable future. Roth has received near-universal acclaim, he’s a perennial best-seller, and he churns out wildly defended crap, as approximations of intellectual provocation, year after year, each of which receives more notice than most writers will ever receive in their entire lives. The supposed conceit of the Nobel Prize is that it’s based purely on artistic value; but it would be absurd to defend this beyond a limited point. Ultimately, there’s a huge cash prize, immediate international recognition, with all of the author’s thus-translated works soaring to the tops of the best-seller lists, and a longer Wikipedia page. It comes down to how deserving the author is on two terms: the value and quality of their work and their renown–or lack thereof–is what the prize is about. No matter how much you like Roth, you have to wonder how much his being award would benefit the literary community; I suspect: not at all. And Roth would just toss it aside anyway because he’s an asshole.
Yeah, what a fucken sham this whole “Nobel Prize” thing is! Nail’s in the coffin with no Roth. Pass this on to Nobel Prize committee: you are fucken dead to me with no Roth.
Does Roth need a Nobel Prize? I certainly don’t think so. I hate to get my feather’s all ruffled over this stupid prize, but I think it would be quite a shame if Roth won, not only because there are far more deserving writers out there but because it would effectively shut the door on all other potential American writers for the foreseeable future. Roth has received near-universal acclaim, he’s a perennial best-seller, and he churns out wildly defended crap, as approximations of intellectual provocation, year after year, each of which receives more notice than most writers will ever receive in their entire lives. The supposed conceit of the Nobel Prize is that it’s based purely on artistic value; but it would be absurd to defend this beyond a limited point. Ultimately, there’s a huge cash prize, immediate international recognition, with all of the author’s thus-translated works soaring to the tops of the best-seller lists, and a longer Wikipedia page. It comes down to how deserving the author is on two terms: the value and quality of their work and their renown–or lack thereof–is what the prize is about. No matter how much you like Roth, you have to wonder how much his being award would benefit the literary community; I suspect: not at all. And Roth would just toss it aside anyway because he’s an asshole.
The rules of selecting the winner specifically state that nationality shall not have any effect on who wins. And I don’t hear anyone complaining that there are too few Argentinian winners. But when the USA doesn’t get any Nobel for literature (after getting several) it’s GOT to be because the entire academy supposedly hates good books if an American wrote them. Yeah, like the over 200 other countries in the world never wrote any good books.
The rules of selecting the winner specifically state that nationality shall not have any effect on who wins. And I don’t hear anyone complaining that there are too few Argentinian winners. But when the USA doesn’t get any Nobel for literature (after getting several) it’s GOT to be because the entire academy supposedly hates good books if an American wrote them. Yeah, like the over 200 other countries in the world never wrote any good books.
It will be Assia Dejbar or Ko Un. A French spaeking Algerian born writer would cover a lot of topical bases. The tired list of the Roths, Oates and Las Vegas Llosas- remember when he conceded the presidency in Peru he addressed the press in French! Guess it was Magic Realism. All will be landfill in a few decades anyway. Then we we’ll be landfill as well. OK, maybe Tranströmer. But the Swedes out of Lutheran guilt don’t reward their own. Bet on Assia Dejbar to do this year’s reality show walk on.
It will be Assia Dejbar or Ko Un. A French spaeking Algerian born writer would cover a lot of topical bases. The tired list of the Roths, Oates and Las Vegas Llosas- remember when he conceded the presidency in Peru he addressed the press in French! Guess it was Magic Realism. All will be landfill in a few decades anyway. Then we we’ll be landfill as well. OK, maybe Tranströmer. But the Swedes out of Lutheran guilt don’t reward their own. Bet on Assia Dejbar to do this year’s reality show walk on.
Roth’s not churning crap, believe me. I should know it, I have to read every single word he publishes. He’s got a dying knack –novel writing is going to be an extinct job, like that of the bootblack. Soon there will be nobody that shine your shoes, nobody that write true novels for you. Roth still does that. He’s writing short novels you could read through while someone shines your shoes. And then you’ve got your feet brilliant and your brains powered, all for a few bucks.
And they say LUIS Goytisolo is more or less eligible, should “eligible” be the word to describe the uncanny goings-on in Sweden. Why LUIS Goytisolo in the name of commonsense? All the Archies and Mehitabels of the Spanish-language world know that is his brother JUAN Goytisolo, who deserve the Nobel and what-not, as one of the really few original writers NOT churning crap in Europe. And I do not say Luis is a bad writer, far from it. It’s just a has-been, eben though he’s younger than his brother, while Juan has somethin of the literary magician about him–like Roth, for instance.
And I’ll never forgive those Nobel Committee suckers for letting die Gilbert Sorrentino without having awarded him the bequest of the dynamiter.
Roth’s not churning crap, believe me. I should know it, I have to read every single word he publishes. He’s got a dying knack –novel writing is going to be an extinct job, like that of the bootblack. Soon there will be nobody that shine your shoes, nobody that write true novels for you. Roth still does that. He’s writing short novels you could read through while someone shines your shoes. And then you’ve got your feet brilliant and your brains powered, all for a few bucks.
And they say LUIS Goytisolo is more or less eligible, should “eligible” be the word to describe the uncanny goings-on in Sweden. Why LUIS Goytisolo in the name of commonsense? All the Archies and Mehitabels of the Spanish-language world know that is his brother JUAN Goytisolo, who deserve the Nobel and what-not, as one of the really few original writers NOT churning crap in Europe. And I do not say Luis is a bad writer, far from it. It’s just a has-been, eben though he’s younger than his brother, while Juan has somethin of the literary magician about him–like Roth, for instance.
And I’ll never forgive those Nobel Committee suckers for letting die Gilbert Sorrentino without having awarded him the bequest of the dynamiter.
[…] Very Brief History of the Nobel Prize in Literature verfasst. Die ist auch lustig zu lesen. Und in diesem Blogpost untersucht er die Wetten der britischen Seite ladbrokes.com auf die aussichtsreischsten […]
No, McCarthy’ll never get it, because he 1) is a White American Guy 2) doesn’t “write nice,” (although he’s getting nicer) and 3) is actually famous now.
No, McCarthy’ll never get it, because he 1) is a White American Guy 2) doesn’t “write nice,” (although he’s getting nicer) and 3) is actually famous now.
apparently the writer did not ready anything by Oz.
the reason he is up in the poles is the fact that his work is received with lots of praise in the more than 60 languages it is translated into. I recommend warmly My Micheal, and A tale of Love and Darkness (his auto biography). interesting enough he talks of his encounters as a boy with another Lit. Nobel Prize winner (Agnon).
apparently the writer did not ready anything by Oz.
the reason he is up in the poles is the fact that his work is received with lots of praise in the more than 60 languages it is translated into. I recommend warmly My Micheal, and A tale of Love and Darkness (his auto biography). interesting enough he talks of his encounters as a boy with another Lit. Nobel Prize winner (Agnon).
[…] AM I think back to this HTMLGiant post about a group of oddsmakers, and their picks for the prize. I scan for Mueller’s name, and […]
[…] riff on Nobel Prize oddsmaking by Michael Schaub at HTMLGiant. (via […]
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