Ben Jackson
Well-known member
Oops, I will do as you say.
Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 Speculation
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Ater Lividus Ruber & V
我ヲ學ブ者ハ死ス
The truth is, I don't mind "painfully boring" (think Anatomy of Melancholy) as long as it is rewarding, but with Murakami, the question perpetually arises: is what you're reading actually rewarding you as a reader? Unless you're reading him for pure pleasure, in which case, the reward lies in the pleasure I guess, ?
No, the book is boring because it's eventless, cliché, and paint-by-the-numbers. There is no edifying philosophy; there are no beautiful sentences nor stimulating set pieces. The book is plain bad. Some of it is so bad that you can't help but laugh at how they published it, like Murakami finding it fascinating for the reader to discover that someone would elect to wear a kilt.
I was writing notes to a friend who can't read Japanese, is a big Murakami fan, and wanted the play-by-play of the novel. Maybe I'll post them in the Murakami thread, along with the Murakami bingo and other poorly photoshopped jokes of the novel I was sending her.
Liam
Administrator
Given Murakami's stature, I can just imagine him handing the manuscript over to his publishers, saying: "You're going to publish it as is. No editorial meddling." ?
alik-vit
Reader
Can't understand all this fuss about Murakami. I've read "A wild sheep chase", "The wind-up bird chronicle" and "Norwegian wood". And always result was zero. No one idea, no one image, no one twist of plot. Highbrow fastfood literature. IMHO, worst of all possible candidates for Nobel.
namelesshere
Reader
Indeed
Ater Lividus Ruber & V
我ヲ學ブ者ハ死ス
Murakami was huge for me in my teens. It was easy to get obsessed with him and his novels. There is something to be said for someone who inspires such feverish fanaticism in his readers. He has written some terrific novels, and he is a very talented short-story writer, as well as a non-fiction writer. It's just his production of late has not been good. His style has also been hugely influential, not just domestically but abroad. I would have celebrated (not that I would have been old enough) his win circa 2004. Now it's a bit more difficult.
This is actually something I'm researching at the moment. I'd say it's very much a symptom of Japanese publishing wherein editors do not excise but rather expand. This is bolstered with single novels being split into multiple volumes, increasing profit margins. With Murakami it's even more evident. He benefits from a ruthless editor.
This is actually something I'm researching at the moment. I'd say it's very much a symptom of Japanese publishing wherein editors do not excise but rather expand. This is bolstered with single novels being split into multiple volumes, increasing profit margins. With Murakami it's even more evident. He benefits from a ruthless editor.
Leseratte
Well-known member
About H. Murakami:
www.nytimes.com
literariness.org
Eight Ways of Looking at Haruki Murakami (Published 2021)
In “First Person Singular,” Murakami’s new story collection, one feels the author easing up, allowing his own voice to enter the narratives.
Analysis of Haruki Murakami’s Novels
If it is true that writers and artists should spend their entire lives and careers investigating, examining, and trying to understand the same themes, then Haruki Murakami (born January 12, 1949) i…
literariness.org
redhead
Blahblahblah
Agree completely. I adored his works in high school and college (though even then I wasn't as keen on his post-2000 output, with the exception of Kafka on the Shore). In my opinion, he's not much a wordsmith, but he is able to capture a certain vibe, a mood, in his pieces, a relatable loneliness and aimlessness without veering into a heavy depression, that I think a lot of people can find appealing.
Septularisen
Reader
No, that was Mr. Bob DYLAN, and the SA has already given him the Nobel!
Benny Profane
Well-known member
Meanwhile, at the SA...
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www.reuters.com
Nobel Foundation cancels Russia, Belarus, Iran invites to annual prize awards
The Nobel Foundation said it would not after all invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm this year.
www.reuters.com
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hayden
Well-known member
Meanwhile, in SA...
Nobel Foundation cancels Russia, Belarus, Iran invites to annual prize awards
The Nobel Foundation said it would not after all invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm this year.
I'm going to go on a whim and say that knocks off three countries.
It'd be way too much hullabaloo.
(Regardless of the potential laureate's patriotism)
Z--
Member
Amen, Septularisen, amen.
I've only read Kafka on the Shore, and it thought it was decent if not forgettable. I've certainly read worse. Would be a shame if he won, though.
That said, I can think of a few worse options. Heaven forbid the committee ever selecting: (i) King (McDonalds in your apt fast-food analogy) or (ii) Atwood (if anyone can name a worse work of "literature" than The Testaments, please let me know).
Liam
Administrator
Even the ones that left, like Ulitskaya? She lives in Germany now (I think)--
On the contrary, it might draw the attention to the situation (although it's already such a huge part of daily news, I mean, how much more can you highlight it, right?)--because Ulitskaya (and/or Shishkin) are 100% guaranteed to deliver an anti-Russian (in terms of its present government, not the culture as such) lecture. So who knows.
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Ben Jackson
Well-known member
Despite praising Wind-Up Bird Chronicle few days ago, I don't think he's a worthy candidate. Norwegian Wood was not great, but fine. 1Q84 for me was just so good that I stopped after few pages.
Ben Jackson
Well-known member
You have already said what I wanted to say. The answer is blowing in the wind.
Who knows if he was ever a compromise choice.
hayden
Well-known member
Yeah... I mean, the Nobel Peace Prize has gone to Russia back-to-back (w/ Belarus), so I get your point.
Not that any Russian nationalists are frontrunners or anything, but I suppose they'd keep the door open to those against the current regime.
For some reason I think the SA doesn't want to dip their toes into too much controversy at the moment, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's exactly what they want to do. (Albeit, I think if they were to go in that direction they'd try to choose a Ukrainian writer).
Perhaps you're right. I wasn't thinking full circle. Just think it'll stir something somewhere somehow if they bar representatives and then select a laureate from one of those countries. (Unless it's the exact opposite and the Nobel is doing this as possible a security/trust reason?... Have an Iranian writer win, etc etc, ambassador shows up and who knows what happens afterwards— the amount of high-profile Iranian artists being arrested for borderline nothing... Saeed Roustayi's recent sentence was ridiculous).
?
Daniel del Real
Moderator
Couldn't have said it better. The most idiotic decision the SA has ever made (along with the Churchill Prize).
alik-vit
Reader
I know nothing about King, but I've read a lot of novels and short stories by Atwood (although - not "The Testaments") and I feel great respect to her works and her position as social observer. She is inventive from the formal point of view and very sharp in her social critics. Usually she masters her plots and creates very convincing characters. Her weaker side is some "inertial power", I mean, when she writes pieces for all these collective projects like "Myths" or "Shakespeare today", etc. Maybe she is too much into this activity of literature as market. But again, maybe it's other side of her engagement with topical agendas.
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