Nobel Prize in Literature 2009 Speculation

[Scott89119]

Originally Posted by Mirabell

And I don't want them to cave to the "Give it to Roth already" pressure.

I would LOVE it if they caved into that pressure.

[alik-vit]

ladbrokes awake: Ladbrokes Home | Sports Betting, Poker, Casino, Bingo & Betting Games At first time in list we can see Luis Goytisola! And in third place!

[Eric]

Bob Dylan is a musical icon, and deserves many prizes. But I think that giving the Nobel for literature would be a disastrous mistake, as it would open the floodgates to people who've written lyrics for folk and pop music, creating yet another genre to be considered.

Literature is, in my opinion, novels, stories, plays, essays and a bit of Dadaïst in-betweenishness. But the lyrics of songs are like the librettos of operas. I don't think that too many librettists have won the Nobel. Nor would Jacques Brel, Bulat Okudzhava, Edith Piaf, Lennon & McCartney have been the right sort of candidates although they were great lyric-writers.

Odense-based Professor of Literature Anne-Marie Mai is not really precise or convincing when she says:

Hans digtning har et stærkt element af myter i sig. Han tager fat i hverdagssproget og formår at skabe nogle fantastiske billeder, at være sanselig og ramme utrolig præcist med sproget.

In other words:

His writing has a powerful element of myth. He takes hold of everyday language and manages to create fantastic imagery, to be perceptive (/sensual) and use language in a very precise way.

But he's still not really a poet pur sang, but a writer and singer of lyrics set to music.

Professor Mai is getting worked up about Nobel choices being "puritanical", and she has a downer on "élitism". The fact that Odense Univerity just happens to be having a Dylan seminar in a few days' time suggests she's simply out to make publicity for that.

The article Flower saw is presumably: Derfor skal Bob Dylan have Nobelpris - Fyens Stiftstidende - Underholdning

[Stiffelio]

Originally Posted by alik-vit

ladbrokes awake: Ladbrokes Home | Sports Betting, Poker, Casino, Bingo & Betting Games At first time in list we can see Luis Goytisola! And in third place!

That link asks me to register and it's for actual online betting, mostly on sports and casino games. Can you gives us the exact link to the Nobel Prize odds?

[alik-vit]

Ladbrokes Home | Sports Betting, Poker, Casino, Bingo & Betting Games
sports
specials
awards
2009 Nobel literature prize

[saliotthomas]

Originally Posted by alik-vit

sports
specials
awards
2009 Nobel literature prize

The cheek of the guy.

An a wet t-shirt contest for the female nominee?

[promtbr]

Fuentes & Achebe @ 51 ? Oates tied with Roth? No Labunes or Skevoreky? Dunno bout this list... Fuentes odds would be a sweet payoff...If I was a bettin' man...

I do like Djebar. She IS good, but not much of an ouevre yet.

I wonder how much they pay the guy who puts together this list..(I hope not much)


---

[peter_d]

About Dylan:

I don't know... I'm a huge Dylan fan. Does poetry disqualify as soon as a melody is put to it? Jokerman, Mr. Tambourine Man, It's Allright Ma I'm only bleeding. It's all great great poetry in my view. But the Nobel? It just doesn't feel right...

About Ladbrokes:

WHERE'S KADARE for god's sake? Have they gone out of their minds? How can they be so offensive...

[Flower]

Originally Posted by Eric

Bob Dylan is a musical icon, and deserves many prizes. But I think that giving the Nobel for literature would be a disastrous mistake, as it would open the floodgates to people who've written lyrics for folk and pop music, creating yet another genre to be considered.

Literature is, in my opinion, novels, stories, plays, essays and a bit of Dadaïst in-betweenishness. But the lyrics of songs are like the librettos of operas. I don't think that too many librettists have won the Nobel. Nor would Jacques Brel, Bulat Okudzhava, Edith Piaf, Lennon & McCartney have been the right sort of candidates although they were great lyric-writers.

Odense-based Professor of Literature Anne-Marie Mai is not really precise or convincing when she says:



In other words:


But he's still not really a poet pur sang, but a writer and singer of lyrics set to music.

Professor Mai is getting worked up about Nobel choices being "puritanical", and she has a downer on "élitism". The fact that Odense Univerity just happens to be having a Dylan seminar in a few days' time suggests she's simply out to make publicity for that.

The article Flower saw is presumably: Derfor skal Bob Dylan have Nobelpris - Fyens Stiftstidende - Underholdning

Eric,
I have not read this article you link to!
She was on the news after returning from the usa, where she told about the students reactions to her suggestion.

I only wrote this as I had never heard of any such suggestion before, not because I agree with her.
There are prizes for musicians and there are prizes for writers, and somehow it would not feel right if the Nobel Literature prize was given to a musician. Thats just how I feel.

[Daniel del Real]

Ok this list doesn't make sense at all in many ways.

First of all the date is wrong. Although there is no certain date , the most probable is October 8th, or maybe one week later. There's no way they are going to give in Oct 1st.

Then, Luis Goytisolo (by the way is not Goytisola)? and as 3rd? This doesn't make any sense. His brother Juan Goytisolo, obviously the most known of the three brothers (only two alive) is not even in the list. I thinks this is a mistake.

Fuentes 50/1 chances are ridiculous. He must be way ahead on the list.

I agree with Peter, where is Ismail Kadaré? He must be in the top 10 contenders. Lobo Antunes and Javier Marías are huge omissions also.

Atiq Rahimi? Ok, he has only published 4 books, he's only 47, and last year was awarded to someone who writes in french? Who's the idiot that is going to bet for him? 16/1 you gotta be kidding.

And what the hell happened this year for Dylan to advance from 150/1 last year, to 25/1 this year. Did he publish an amazing work which I'm not aware of it? I frankly think is stupid they even put him in a list of contenders, as stupid as it is to simply mention Bono's name for the Peacer Prize.

[Bjorn]

Here's a short (and not very up-to-date) history of Dylan's nominations for the Nobel Prize.

Bob Dylan Nobel Page

Apparently, it was Allen Ginsberg's idea. Huh.

Dylan is a major American Bard & ministrel of the XX Century, whose words have influenced many generations throughout the world. He deserves a Nobel Prize in recognition of his mighty and universal powers.

If you say so, Allen. I tend to side with Eric in this case: Dylan's a giant, and he deserves every award there is... in music. Giving him the literature prize would be a bit like giving him a lifetime achievement award at the Oscars just because he's dabbled in acting now and then (very badly, at that).

[Daniel del Real]

I was double cheking the Ladbrokes list and there appeared a couple of names I haven't even heard about:

Vassilis Aleksakis
Adam Zagajewski
Eeva Kilpi
F. Sionil Jose
Kjell Askildsen
Rosalind Belben

Anyone familiarized with any of them? (some of them are not even available in wiki)

[Liam]

Originally Posted by Daniel del Real

Vassilis Aleksakis
Adam Zagajewski
Eeva Kilpi
F. Sionil Jose
Kjell Askildsen
Rosalind Belben

I'm ashamed to admit this, but I've never heard of a SINGLE one of these people...


L.

[LRiley]

Zagajewski is a Polish poet. He won the Neustadt Prize (prize sponsored by this site I believe--?) a few years ago. I have one of his books--'Without end'. It's pretty good--he wouldn't be at the top of my list though.

[Mirabell]

Originally Posted by Daniel del Real

I was double cheking the Ladbrokes list and there appeared a couple of names I haven't even heard about:

Vassilis Aleksakis
Adam Zagajewski
Eeva Kilpi
F. Sionil Jose
Kjell Askildsen
Rosalind Belben

Anyone familiarized with any of them? (some of them are not even available in wiki)

wow. I know zagajewski of course but the others...total blank.

[Bjorn]

Eeva Kilpi is a Finnish poet. Kjell Askildsen is a Norwegian short story writer.

I'm guessing that Ladbrokes are basing their odds partly on who's won Swedish literature prizes recently; Askildsen won the Swedish Academy's Nordic Prize this year, and Kilpi won the Nils Ferlin award 2 years ago. Of course, that may mean absolutely diddley-squat in the Nobel discussions, and Ladbrokes' list is, of course, nothing but wild guesses.

[promtbr]

I have Philipine novelist F. Sionil Jose's Dusk..Haven't read it bit it looks pretty interesting.

[Stiffelio]

Originally Posted by peter_d

About Ladbrokes:

WHERE'S KADARE for god's sake? Have they gone out of their minds? How can they be so offensive...

I agree with you......where's Kadare? It proves that those are not credible bets. I think somebody made the list up to lure add-on bets. C'mon some names are ridiculous....Maya Angelou?? Give me a break!

[Eric]

Kjell Askildsen (born 1929) is Norwegian as Björn points out. I first heard of the Finnish author Eeva Kilpi (born 1928) about 30-odd years ago, I bought her erotickish novel "Tamara" in both Finnish and Swedish, with grand plans to read them together to get the most out of the novel. Alas, I've still not read her. But if she wins the prize, I might.

I'd never heard of the Filipino author F Sionel José (born 1924) before, nor the Greek author Vassilis Aleksakis (born 1943), nor the British author Rosalind Belben (born 1941).

Adam Zagajewski (born 1945) is a major Polish poet and has been translated into English. He's the youngest, "only" 64 years old! But they often give the prize to older authors, so maybe he's too young, after all. Some of the oldies may stand a better chance. A plus point for Zagajewski is that he won the Neustadt, as L. Riley points out. That is a fine prize that, unlike the Nobel, changes its jury every time it's awarded.

But Ladbrokes loves all the profitable speculation, no doubt.

I've never read any Kadare. Which of his books would you recommend? I see that about a dozen (!) of his books are available in English, which gives people a good chance to choose and examine his writings. If he wins, the bookshops Europe-wide will be full of him. Then finding a novel of his will be easy. As with Kundera, there is a (minor) dispute as to how much he compromised with the authorities, this time the Albanian ones. But I doubt if that would stop him winning the Nobel.

Despite Ladbrokes, Kadare does look like a likely candidate.

[Eric]

Daniel del Real mentions on another thread how disappointed he is each year when the winner is announced.

While the Estonian author Jaan Kross was still alive (he died two years ago), I used to watch the telly on that fateful Thursday in October with bated breath. My horse could win the race (to use Ladbrokes terminology)! Kross was a hot candidate in the early 1990s. After that, his star began to wane. In one of his own novels (Professor Martens Departure) he pre-empts his own failure to win the prize by describing how the Professor Martens of the title, a legal expert, fails to win the Nobel Peace Prize back in 1905, when he was a candidate.

Every year, I too was disappointed, yet relieved that I wouldn't be asked to translate a novel by the winner in indecent haste by a publisher frantic for a bestseller. Translators need time to produce good material and after the Nobel is announced, there is a hideous scramble to get as many of his or her books out very quickly. Because as often as not, there is no mass market for a Nobel winner. So interest will wane within six months. And the publishers want to make profits while the going is good.