[bksvol-discuss] Re: Nobel Prize winners in Literature from 1901 was Special COllections
- From: Cindy <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2012 14:37:30 -0700 (PDT)
If you read the criteria on which the prize was awarded to each author you can
see the committee wasn't a Literary snob. My liking for a book is somewhat like
Kim's. I tried to Faulkner but couldn't get "into": him. I never did like
Dickens, and still don't, except for Tale of Two Cities (the other bks are too
depressing fr me. We started watching the recent Masterpiece Theater production
but gave up for that reason. I did enjoy the Sinclai Lewis book I proofed. It
was a long time ago, but as I recall it satirized society and was was written.
The Good Earth got me very in volved with the characters and,and ofcourse,
like any good historical novel with the China of the time. I did proof one or
2 (2, I think), Booker prize winners. There your criticism, Roger, of the
judging panel might be warranted. The 2 books were interesting more because of
the different styles of writing--where they placed the characters in time and
the very different
construction of the plot and setting. One I found very interesting on a purely
intellectual level; I admired the "differentness ": and cleverness of what the
author did. The other was a sort of science fiction and I didn'dt like it; it
wasn't really xcoherent, imo. and I couldn't get involved with the
characters.Like Kim, I l ike to become emotionally involved with the characters.
Ihaven't read any Doris Lessing
Cindy
>________________________________
> From: Kim Friedman <kimfri11@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012 1:16 PM
>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Nobel Prize winners in Literature from 1901 was
>Special COllections
>
>
>Message
>Hi,
Roger, I think it isn't necessarily the snob appeal which might win someone
a prize. I think William Faulkner won for his experimental writing style and
how
he tried to narrate the history in a pocket universe he created, Yoknapatawpha
County. Just because he may not be your choice of reading matter, he must have
appealed to some people who really enjoyed his style of writing and telling a
story. It seems to me there are all kinds of folk who read for a variety of
reasons: personally, I read for a good story and for me this involves caring
about and identifying with the characters. I suppose other people have
different
criteria. Speaking for myself, I couldn't enjoy Virginia Woolf's To The
Lighthouse because nothing really happened in the story. Sure, you found out
about the interior thoughts and feelings of the characters, but for me, this
wasn't enough to engage my interest. I suppose there are others who are first
caught by the mechanics the author uses in telling a story and are willing to
ferret out what makes the author appeal to them. They don't have to like the
characters (if any), but they might be delighted in how the author describes
the
setting or his/her word usage. I think what really struck me about Winston
Graham (I don't think he ever won the Nobel Prize) was how his word choice,
dialog, and powers of description got me to know the milieu of his stories, his
characters and the interest the author had in them and how he was able to make
me share his interest. In other words, I like someone who can tell a story. I
think readers of literature sometimes get so caught up in whatever they're
experiencing with the author that they forget about the storytelling part which
is so vital to most readers. I suppose there may be some folks who have
snobbery
about what constitutes literature with a capital L, but I wouldn't say that all
English teachers forget about the value of storytelling. I also think that some
works require the reader to have a bit more life experience so they can be
fully
appreciated. I think I appreciated Charles Dickens's works when I was older.
When I was required to read Great Expectations in Junior High, I couldn't
really
get into the story. When I read him in my thirties, I was struck by how he used
words in setting a scene and how his characters acted. He was quite theatrical.
I'm certainly willing to concede there may be folks who are snobbish or
pretentious, who might read something because it is the done thing or because
they feel they ought to like something but I don't know that the majority of
people are like that. I don't even know if the "intelligentsia" are like that.
Regards, Kim Friedman.
>-----Original Message-----
>From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
>Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012
8:44 AM
>To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Nobel Prize winners in Literature from 1901 was
>Special
COllections
>
>This kind of reinforces my disdain for literary
awards. They are based on the subjective judgements of people who have gotten
onto committees by way of their connections, that is, snob societies. If you
happen to share the tastes of the members of the Nobel Committee then you will
agree with their choices. If you don't then you are likely to think that the
Nobel Committee chooses some incredibly boring authors. I would suggest that if
you want to really enjoy books, that you follow your own interests in reading.
If you want to feel superior to the reading rabble then read the award winners
and, hopefully, you will not be turned off from reading like so many are by
English teachers who assign Literature with a capital L as the only worthwhile
reading material without regard to the students' interests.
>
>On 3/11/2012
6:52 AM, Cindy wrote:
>At first I thought you are right; then I began to think that maybe it was
>awarded for a body of work, so I went to a Nobel.org site and found this:
>so I guess it's not one particular book. For Sinclair Lewis I found this:
>>
>>
>>Sinclair Lewis
>>The Nobel Prize in Literature 1930 was awarded to Sinclair Lewis "for his
>>vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit
>>and humour, new types of characters".for Pearl Buck I found this:
>>
>>
>>
>>Facts on the Nobel Prize in Literature
>>On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving
>>the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes, the Nobel Prizes. As
>>described in Nobel's will one part was dedicated to “the person who shall
>>have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an
>>ideal direction”. Learn more about the Nobel Prize in Literature from 1901 to
>> 2011.
>>
>>
>>That dosn't make it very clear, though; does "most outstanding work mean one
>>book or body of work
>>I checked the Nobel site for Sinclair Lewis and found this:
>>The Nobel Prize in Literature 1930 was awarded to Sinclair Lewis "for his
>>vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit
>>and humour, new types of characters".
>>For Pearl Buck I found this:
>>
>>The Nobel Prize in Literature
1938 was awarded to Pearl Buck "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of
peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces". , . for Pearl
Buck I found this:
>>
>>The Nobel Prize in Literature 1938 was awarded to Pearl Buck "for her rich
>>and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her
>>biographical masterpieces". and for Rudyard Kipling, this:
>>
>>
>>
>>The Nobel Prize in Literature 1907 was awarded to Rudyard Kipling "in
>>consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination,
>>virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the
>>creations of this world-famous author".I also learned that Kipling was the
>>youngest author to receive the prize ( That year The Jungle Book was
>>mentioned whenhe won. Doris Lessing was the oldest winner, age 88 (I think
>>it was 2007, but now I don't remembered, even though I just read it.
>>
>>I don't hink
we'd necessarily have to have all the books a prizewinner wrote, maybe just
one or a few that are representative of the author. It's odd to hink that The
Jungle Book was mentioned when Kipling won when he wrote so many others--or
maybe I'm thinking og pems, like Kim (was that a book). I know Pearl Book
wrot
a lot of books about China because I've read most of them, especially her
children's book, The Chinese Children Next Door). The award mentioned her
biographies. I didn't know she wrote biographies. Her most famous book is
probably The Great Earth, but there were sequels, too which I read--all very
good.
>>Cindy
>>
>>From: Sue Stevens <siss52@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2012 11:55 PM
>>>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Nobel Prize winners in Literature from 1901
>>>was Special COllections
>>>
>>>
>>>Wow, Cindy! Thanks for all this info!!
>>>
>>>Sue S.
>>>
>>>
>>>From: Cindy
>>>Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2012 11:28 PM
>>>To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Nobel Prize winners in Literature from 1901
>>>was Special COllections
>>>
>>>For those who want more information about the Nobel Prize for Literature,
>>>here's some general info,including a list of all winners since 1901.If
>>>anyone wants to make a project of scanning any of the books we don't have
>>>I'd be happy to proof them, although I don't know how we could do
>>>non-English books unless they have been translated. I knosw there'a at
>>>least one Sinclair Lewis book because I proofed it, and Kipling's poetry is
>>>in,because Amy scanned that and I proofed it. I don't know about his
>>>novels; and I'm sure, though I didn't check that The Good Earth must be in.
>>>Here's the info I copied
from online:
>>>
>>>All Nobel Prizes in Literature
>>>
>>>The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 104 times to 108 Nobel
>>>Laureates between 1901 and 2011. All Nobel Prizes in Literature
>>>
>>>The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 104 times to 108 Nobel
>>>Laureates between 1901 and 2011.
>>>
>>>
>>>Here's the list:
>>>
>>>
>>>2011
>>>Tomas Tranströmer
>>>2010
>>>Mario Vargas Llosa
>>>2009
>>>Herta Müller
>>>2008
>>>Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
>>>2007
>>>Doris Lessing
>>>2006
>>>Orhan Pamuk
>>>2005
>>>Harold Pinter
>>>2004
>>>Elfriede Jelinek
>>>2003
>>>John M. Coetzee
>>>2002
>>>Imre Kertész
>>>2001
>>>Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul
>>>2000
>>>Gao Xingjian
>>>1999
>>>Günter Grass
>>>1998
>>>José Saramago
>>>1997
>>>Dario Fo
>>>1996
>>>Wislawa Szymborska
>>>1995
>>>Seamus Heaney
>>>1994
>>>Kenzaburo Oe
>>>1993
>>>Toni Morrison
>>>1992
>>>Derek Walcott
>>>1991
>>>Nadine Gordimer
>>>1990
>>>Octavio Paz
>>>1989
>>>Camilo José Cela
>>>1988
>>>Naguib Mahfouz
>>>1987
>>>Joseph Brodsky
>>>1986
>>>Wole Soyinka
>>>1985
>>>Claude Simon
>>>1984
>>>Jaroslav Seifert
>>>1983
>>>William Golding
>>>1982
>>>Gabriel García Márquez
>>>1981
>>>Elias Canetti
>>>1980
>>>Czeslaw Milosz
>>>1979
>>>Odysseus Elytis
>>>1978
>>>Isaac Bashevis Singer
>>>1977
>>>Vicente Aleixandre
>>>1976
>>>Saul Bellow
>>>1975
>>>Eugenio Montale
>>>1974
>>>Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson
>>>1973
>>>Patrick White
>>>1972
>>>Heinrich Böll
>>>1971
>>>Pablo Neruda
>>>1970
>>>Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
>>>1969
>>>Samuel Beckett
>>>1968
>>>Yasunari Kawabata
>>>1967
>>>Miguel Angel Asturias
>>>1966
>>>Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Nelly Sachs
>>>1965
>>>Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov
>>>1964
>>>Jean-Paul Sartre
>>>1963
>>>Giorgos Seferis
>>>1962
>>>John Steinbeck
>>>1961
>>>Ivo Andric
>>>1960
>>>Saint-John Perse
>>>1959
>>>Salvatore Quasimodo
>>>1958
>>>Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
>>>1957
>>>Albert Camus
>>>1956
>>>Juan Ramón Jiménez
>>>1955
>>>Halldór Kiljan Laxness
>>>1954
>>>Ernest Miller Hemingway
>>>1953
>>>Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
>>>1952
>>>François Mauriac
>>>1951
>>>Pär Fabian Lagerkvist
>>>1950
>>>Earl (Bertrand Arthur William) Russell
>>>1949
>>>William Faulkner
>>>1948
>>>Thomas Stearns Eliot
>>>1947
>>>André Paul Guillaume Gide
>>>1946
>>>Hermann Hesse
>>>1945
>>>Gabriela Mistral
>>>1944
>>>Johannes Vilhelm Jensen
>>>1943
>>>No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3
>>>allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize
>>>section.
>>>1942
>>>No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3
>>>allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize
>>>section.
>>>1941
>>>No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3
>>>allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize
>>>section.
>>>1940
>>>No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3
>>>allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize
>>>section.
>>>1939
>>>Frans Eemil Sillanpää
>>>1938
>>>Pearl Buck
>>>1937
>>>Roger Martin du Gard
>>>1936
>>>Eugene Gladstone O'Neill
>>>1935
>>>No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was with 1/3
>>>allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize
>>>section.
>>>1934
>>>Luigi Pirandello
>>>1933
>>>Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin
>>>1932
>>>John Galsworthy
>>>1931
>>>Erik Axel Karlfeldt
>>>1930
>>>Sinclair Lewis
>>>1929
>>>Thomas Mann
>>>1928
>>>Sigrid Undset
>>>1927
>>>Henri Bergson
>>>1926
>>>Grazia Deledda
>>>1925
>>>George Bernard Shaw
>>>1924
>>>Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont
>>>1923
>>>William Butler Yeats
>>>1922
>>>Jacinto Benavente
>>>1921
>>>Anatole France
>>>1920
>>>Knut Pedersen Hamsun
>>>1919
>>>Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler
>>>1918
>>>No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was allocated to the
>>>Special Fund of this prize section.
>>>1917
>>>Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Henrik Pontoppidan
>>>1916
>>>Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam
>>>1915
>>>Romain Rolland
>>>1914
>>>No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money was allocated to the
>>>Special Fund of this prize section.
>>>1913
>>>Rabindranath Tagore
>>>1912
>>>Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann
>>>1911
>>>Count Maurice (Mooris) Polidore Marie Bernhard Maeterlinck
>>>1910
>>>Paul Johann Ludwig Heyse
>>>1909
>>>Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf
>>>1908
>>>Rudolf Christoph Eucken
>>>1907
>>>Rudyard Kipling
>>>1906
>>>Giosuè Carducci
>>>1905
>>>Henryk Sienkiewicz
>>>1904
>>>Frédéric Mistral, José Echegaray y Eizaguirre
>>>1903
>>>Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson
>>>1902
>>>Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen
>>>1901
>>>Sully Prudhomme
>>>
>>>
>>>And here's the list of all winners since 1901
>>>
>>>Cindy
>>>
>>>From: Mayrie ReNae <mayrierenae@xxxxxxxxx>
>>>>To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2012 6:57 PM
>>>>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Special Collections
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Hi Sue,
>>>>
>>>>Is Pulitzer Prize the same thing but by a different name?
>>>>
>>>>If so, you can find the list of books here:
>>>>
>>>>http://www.bookshare.org/browse/collection/31/Pulitzer%20Prize%20Award%20Winners
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Hope that was what you're looking for!
>>>>
>>>>Mayrie
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Sue Stevens
>>>>Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2012 6:35 PM
>>>>To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Special Collections
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi All,
>>>>
>>>>In checking the special collections I do not see the Nobel Literature
>>>>prizewinners listed. Am I just missing them, or do we not have them?
>>>>
>>>>Sue S.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>No virus found in this message.
>>>Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
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2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2114/4863 - Release Date:
03/10/12
>>>
>>>
>
>
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