Leseratte
Well-known member
Thanks, nagisa, for solving the mystery. Cell phones are of course forbidden in such a meeting!
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Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 Speculation
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Phil D
Well-known member
Anyone read Pierre Michon? He features high up in the bookies' favourites but I've never seen him discussed here. Haven't read anything by him myself, just curious about others' opinions.
Abhi
Well-known member
Among the members of the Academy, do we know which languages they're fluent in? For example, are there any Academy members who actually read, write or speak Arabic or Persian or Hindi? If not, when they're evaluating Al-Koni, are they only relying on translations into the languages they know?
Dante
Wild Reader
I've read La Grande Beune and Les Onze, but none of them impressed me. Anyway, after Ernaux's win last year, I can't see him as a likely contender anymore.
Jila Mossaed speaks and writes fluently in Persian and Tomas Riad may know Arabic, since his father is Egyptian. Most likely are they relying on and reading translations in English and Swedish and in some cases even in French, German and Russian.
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tiganeasca
Moderator
If you check his name in the Search box, you'll find he has been mentioned extensively. And mentions of him in the Recently Finished Books thread (and elsewhere) contain discussions of his works by a number of folks. Fortunately, Nabokov's been dead for a while or he'd hate Michon too.
P.S. Just searched for my reviews and it seems that I haven't noted any here. For what it may be worth, I've read Small Lives (Vies minuscules); The Origin of the World (La Grande Beune) and Winter Mythologies (Mythologies d'hiver) and Abbots (Abbés), published together in a slim volume. Easily my favorite. I would be pleased to see him win.
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Leseratte
Well-known member
Good question.
tiganeasca
Moderator
Well, I sure hope they're not reading al-Koni's Fetishists in its English translation. It was done by William M. Hutchins--who has translated several (but by no means all) of al-Koni's works. The more I read of Hutchins' translations, the less respect I have for him. He may be a brilliant scholar and he may be a superb teacher, but this is yet another translation of his which I've found to be more of an obstacle than a help. (The last problem I had with him was a Mahfouz work.) Since I have zero Arabic, I can't judge what's a problem with Hutchins and what the original Arabic says. But it's surprisingly hard work reading this book. As one simple example, antecedents like "he" and "him" and "his" are very common and it's often impossible to know which character is being indicated. Which makes comprehension slow going. Plus Hutchins has chosen--as is his right as translator--to leave certain words alone and stick them in a glossary at the back. The problem is that too often that is more confusing than helpful in this book. I've read enough other works by al-Koni to strongly suspect my problem is Hutchins...and it's a shame. (Elsewhere there is a thread, or portion of a thread, dedicated to this specific work and its translations. Too bad Elliott Colla stopped working on his translation 'cause I think it's needed.) If the SA is relying on Hutchins' translations into English, don't expect al-Koni to win the award any time soon. I hope they're reading better translations into Swedish or French or...anything else.
hayden
Well-known member
1.5 works.
The Origin of the World, which is a fantastic short book and an easy recommendation, and I'm halfway through Small Lives, which has a bookmark that hasn't moved in a while because it's kinda dull. Think I started it in April honestly.
I had Rimbaud & Son on my to-read list until very recently— decided to scratch it off last week after reading the first 3-4 paragraphs. Didn't think I'd enjoy it.
I don't think he'll win the Nobel, and so far I'm kinda mixed on the guy, but like I said, The Origin of the World is well worth the 1-2 hours it takes to read.
Americanreader
Well-known member
I Read Winter Mythologies a few years ago and was really unimpressed. I think the Ernaux win probably put him out of the running anyway. Just my two cents.
Abhi
Well-known member
Has the Academy actually ever specifically appointed/asked professional translators to translate one or more works by authors they want to know more about? I think I read somewhere that something like that happened with Naguib Mahfouz.
If I remember it right the prize can only be awarded posthumously if the awardee dies between the decision and the award ceremony so Cormac McCarthy can´t be awarded.
pinkunicorn
Reader
With the door open like that it doesn't make any difference what so ever if the phones are in or out. Probably not with the door closed either, actually.
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pinkunicorn
Reader
I know I've read that they do that when needed. I don't know how often it happens, though.
pinkunicorn
Reader
I have Les onze lying around here but since I don't really read French well I suspect I won't ever get more than a few pages into that, at best. But I hope to at least give it a try before the 5th.
Phil D
Well-known member
If you were going to do that, you'd want to put in the request well in advance.
pinkunicorn
Reader
OK, it was easy to find: https://www.svenskaakademien.se/nobelpriset/nobelaret-hur-utses-nobelpristagarna-i-litteratur
"Februari-mars
Nobelkommittén arbetar intensivt med att gå igenom ”långa listan” och skjuta till eventuella namn man finner saknas. Sammantaget brukar den långa listan omfatta cirka 200 namn. Därpå följer arbetet med att varsamt och eftertänksamt korta ner listan till en mer hanterlig mängd författarskap att studera närmare. Till sin hjälp har kommittén Nobelbiblioteket och dess tjänstemän. Det kan bland annat handla om specialbeställning av olika former av expertutlåtanden eller översättningar."
Quick translation:
February-March
The nobel committee works intensively by going through the "long list" and adding any names they feel are missing. In all, the long list usually contains about 200 names. Then follows the work to carefully and thoughtfully shorten the list to a workable number of authors to study closer. To their aid the committee has the Nobel library and its staff. Sometimes this can entail special orders of different types of expert statements or translations.
Phil D
Well-known member
I thought the same. Looks more like a performance of security than actual security. Caesar's wife etc. Pegasus still hearing every word of the conversation though.
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