Kim, it sounds like you think you are arguing against me, but you are making the same point I was making. That is that taste in literature is subjective. Of course there are people who really enjoy William Faulkner. There are also people who really enjoy a porn novel. I don't happen to see either as more legitimate than the other. It is a personal choice. After all, it is just fiction. There is no objective way of judging a work of fiction like you can judge a textbook on auto mechanics for example. If one person reads a textbook on auto mechanics and another person reads another textbook on auto mechanics and one of them immediately becomes more proficient at repairing cars and if you can eliminate other factors such as level of interest in the subject and prior learning then you have a way to determine that one textbook is better than the other. Fiction is fiction though. There is no objective criterion to determine which is really better. Nevertheless, there are some people who proclaim their own form of entertainment as superior to all other people's entertainment and sneer at other people for their choice in entertainment. That is snobbery. It is a very flimsy basis for feelings of self superiority. Sometimes groups of people appoint themselves as the determiners of the most superior types of entertainment and they use social connections to get onto committees that hand out awards to certain items of entertainment and claim that those awards and prizes make that entertainment superior to all other entertainments Since they are the ones who consume that entertainment then it follows that they are superior people. That is snobbery. As far as I am concerned the books that get these literary awards are just as legitimate as the aforementioned porn novel and it is fine with me that some people read them and prefer them. What is not fine with me is that those people who read those kind of books sneer at me for enjoying the kind of literature that I enjoy, that is, science fiction. They would never think of granting a literary prize to a science fiction novel unless they deny that it is science fiction. And that does happen from time to time, but the self appointed literary elite will never admit that it is science fiction. If they did that they might have to admit that they are not superior people.
On 3/11/2012 4:16 PM, Kim Friedman wrote:
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 COllectionsThis 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 LewisThe 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 LiteratureOn 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 workI 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> <mailto:siss52@xxxxxxxxxxxx> *To:* bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto: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 <mailto:popularplace@xxxxxxxxx> *Sent:* Saturday, March 10, 2012 11:28 PM *To:* bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto: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> <mailto:mayrierenae@xxxxxxxxx> *To:* bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto: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> [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On Behalf Of *Sue Stevens *Sent:* Saturday, March 10, 2012 6:35 PM *To:* bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto: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 <http://www.avg.com> Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2114/4863 - Release Date: 03/10/12
