Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 Speculation

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Davus

Reader
Hamishe22 said:
Academia has been engaged in a decades-long attempt to "reform the canon" and they're mostly proud of considering gender, race, sexuality, etc as an important factor.
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Especially in Iran, I suppose.

But whatever. Here's hoping that they choose someone deserving. For the first time in 4 years.
 
B

Ben Jackson

Well-known member
Davus said:
I disagree. I find Handke, Ishiguro, Modiano or even Gurnah or Dylan far more interesting than Ernaux, Tokarczuk or Munro. But it's obviously matter of personal taste. :)
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Agree with Handke (one of the century's best choices, politics aside), Modiano and Gurnah been very interesting than Ernaux, but Dylan? Even Ishiguro, apart from Remains of the Day, I'm not inspired to read anything further. Haven't read Munro apart from one or two stories online, but Tokarczuk's surely one of the best female writers to win the Prize.
 
Bartleby

Bartleby

Moderator
Marba said:
On the radio today they were discussing the Nobel.

3 critics were discussing 7 names the show had decided on, here are some of the comments made:
  • Can Xue: tops the betting lists which could mean something (betting favourites have been awarded before); it was a long time ago since Asia/China was awarded; women have never been awarded the Nobel back-to-back; how well does the SA know Chinese literature nowadays?; Can Xue has been translated quite a lot into English
  • Anne Carson: a favourite among culture journalists and literature students; it is still too soon since Munro and Glück were awarded; Carson deserves the prize
  • Jamaica Kincaid: writes about colonialism and family-relations; My Brother is really good bok; there are similarities to Ernaux in the autobiographical elements so maybe not this year for Kincaid; from North America it is more likely to be a grand epicist that gets awarded
  • László Krasznahorkai: a favourite among literary critics; writes late-modernism that reminds of Beckett; LK would be an old-school Nobel laureate as often old European men are awarded; it is a different kind of Swedish Academy nowadays so maybe LK does not have the right profile anymore
  • Ngugi wa Thiong'o: used to be higher up on the lists; he has been in the shadow since Gurnah was awarded; Gurnah could be considered a cowardly choice as he does not write in an African language like Ngugi does; he has been discussed during many years; like with Adonis it might be the last chance for Ngugi due to old age; are the authorships still relevant after such a long time? The SA could probably consider them to be as Handke, Lessing and Pinter were all awarded late in their careers
  • Salman Rushdie: would become a very discussed laureate due to how the Swedish Academy has handled the Rushdie situation throughput the decades; he could be seen as a political choice and the same for Ulitskaya if she will be awarded; Rushdie has become a more boring writer in his later career but the authorship as a whole could be deserving of the Nobel
  • Jon Fosse: would definitely be a timely choice; is very influential on contemporary drama; has a large span, is stable and has received many awards; the latest Nobel to someone who is mainly a playwright was to Harold Pinter in 2005; Fosse has grown as a novelist in recent years; Norway has a strong generation of writers so one of them should be awarded at some point; Fosse is the strongest candidate of the 7 discussed writers
The critics were then asked to pick one favourite each outside of the 7 above (1 picked 2 writers, so 4 names):
  • Jenny Erpenbeck: for her portrayals of today's and yesterday's Europe, maybe she is too young now but she could be a candidate in a few years
  • Roland Schimmelpfennig: an influential German playwright with a post-dramatic tendency
  • Edmund White: for his witness literature and autobiographical trilogy
  • Dag Solstad: is funnier than Fosse, gigantic existentialism with the historic experience in the centre, all books portray in different ways life in the Nordic-model welfare state
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I think I speak for everyone here when I say how grateful I am for your time and effort in transcribing these conversations. Also got to know a new author (one I realise has been mentioned in previous years of speculation, but not this time), Roland Schimmelpfennig. Now that would be a name I'd like to hear come out off Malm's mouth ?
 
Hamishe22

Hamishe22

Well-known member
Davus said:
Especially in Iran, I suppose.

But whatever. Here's hoping that they choose someone deserving. For the first time in 4 years.
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Here in Iran we mostly copy/paste the American academia curricula, especially when it comes to the study of non-Persian literature.
 
B

Ben Jackson

Well-known member
Hamishe22 said:
Why Okri would be shocking?
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I would say Okri might have the same problem Grass had before publishing My Century few months before winning the prize. Great works initially, but later stages more of mixed bag, though I haven't read his recent work Freedom Artist and his republished work Master Board, formerly Starbook (2008). Wasn't really impressed with Age of Magic (2010).
 
J

Johnny

Well-known member
Sevastefo said:
It's true that Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" and "The Satanic Verses" are great books, but they've changed over the years. Rushdie's work may be read and interpreted differently today than it was three decades ago, don't you agree? In that sense, masterpieces do die and, perhaps, the opportunity to award Rushdie with the Nobel Prize has come and gone, and there's no guarantee it will come around again. :( (Perhaps this year's award will prove me wrong...)
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These are all personal opinions. I find Rushdie’s work bloated, self indulgent and boring. On the other hand I find Ernaux wonderful, captivating and brutally honest. Different views that’s all.
 
Daniel del Real

Daniel del Real

Moderator
Ben Jackson said:
Agree with Handke (one of the century's best choices, politics aside), Modiano and Gurnah been very interesting than Ernaux, but Dylan? Even Ishiguro, apart from Remains of the Day, I'm not inspired to read anything further. Haven't read Munro apart from one or two stories online, but Tokarczuk's surely one of the best female writers to win the Prize.
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His Japanese novels are quite good, especially An Artist of the Floating World.

Regarding Tokarczuk I fell in love with her Primeval & Other Times, years before she won the Nobel. After it, Drive your plow over the bones of the dead & Fligths have been a total disappointment.
 
Z--

Z--

Member
My own two cents. Transparently, I've been quite unimpressed by the first three 2020 choices, especially compared to the first three in 2000 or 2010.

While I read far less poetry than I do novels or theater, it's disheartening that Adonis -- whom I believe a far more deserving winner than most -- is likely precluded because the SA opted for Gluck. Nothing against her, but if one is to choose a poet once every 10 years or so, it's a shame it hadn't been someone as revolutionary as him. He'd be my first choice. A worthy successor to the magnificent Mahfouz selection over three decades ago.

If we are going by trends, the fourth choice in 2000 is Coetzee, a fantastic selection, whereas conversely in 2010 it had been the utter mediocrity that is Modiano, who reads to me as a second-rate Sebald (who died too early for that particular nomination) or Drndic (who ought to have received it in his place). I can understand the divisiveness of Ishiguro, Dylan or Handke, but surprised Modiano is always lumped in as one of the great selections of the past decade. Anyways, I digress.

For tomorrow, I think Fosse is most likely to win if they stick to Europe, though an Asian winner is seemingly overdue. If Asia, I think Lianke.

Edit: I realized that 2010s fourth choice was Munro (not Modiano). She is fantastic.
 
Daniel del Real

Daniel del Real

Moderator
Z-- said:
My own two cents. Transparently, I've been quite unimpressed by the first three 2020 choices, especially compared to the first three in 2000 or 2010.

While I read far less poetry than I do novels or theater, it's disheartening that Adonis -- whom I believe a far more deserving winner than most -- is likely precluded because the SA opted for Gluck. Nothing against her, but if one is to choose a poet once every 10 years or so, it's a shame it hadn't been someone as revolutionary as him. He'd be my first choice. A worthy successor to the magnificent Mahfouz selection over three decades ago.

If we are going by trends, the fourth choice in 2000 is Coetzee, a fantastic selection, whereas conversely in 2010 it had been the utter mediocrity that is Modiano, who reads to me as a second-rate Sebald (who died too early for that particular nomination) or Drndic (who ought to have received it in his place). I can understand the divisiveness of Ishiguro, Dylan or Handke, but surprised Modiano is always lumped in as one of the great selections of the past decade. Anyways, I digress.

For tomorrow, I think Fosse is most likely to win if they stick to Europe, though an Asian winner is seemingly overdue. If Asia, I think Lianke.

Edit: I realized that 2010s fourth choice was Munro (not Modiano). She is fantastic.
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Here's how I'd grade the laureates from 2010 to present

2010 MVLL A-
2011 Tomas Tranströmer B+
2012 Mo Yan D+
2013 Alice Munro N/A
2014 Patrick Modiano A
2015 Svetlana Alexievich B-
2016 Bob Dylan F
2017 Kazuo Ishiguro B
2018 Olga Tokarczuk B-
2019 Peter Handke B-
2020 Louise Glück C
2021 Abdulrazak Gurnah B
2022 Annie Ernaux B-
 
redhead

redhead

Blahblahblah
I have a feeling it will be Jon Fosse or Yan Lianke, and I'm leaning towards the latter at the moment. I read two of his novellas yesterday, The Years, Months, Days and Marrow. He's better than I remember, and I really liked the first one, though Marrow was mediocre. But I think I'd prefer pretty much any of the other literary contemporary Chinese writers I've read, poet or prose, and a Lianke win would most likely rule them all out, so I hope my gut feeling is wrong.
 
redhead

redhead

Blahblahblah
Daniel del Real said:
Here's how I'd grade the laureates from 2010 to present

2010 MVLL A-
2011 Tomas Tranströmer B+
2012 Mo Yan D+
2013 Alice Munro N/A
2014 Patrick Modiano A
2015 Svetlana Alexievich B-
2016 Bob Dylan F
2017 Kazuo Ishiguro B
2018 Olga Tokarczuk B-
2019 Peter Handke B-
2020 Louise Glück C
2021 Abdulrazak Gurnah B
2022 Annie Ernaux B-
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Who else from the prize's history would be an A for you? Or an A+?
 
Daniel del Real

Daniel del Real

Moderator
redhead said:
I have a feeling it will be Jon Fosse or Yan Lianke, and I'm leaning towards the latter at the moment. I read two of his novellas yesterday, The Years, Months, Days and Marrow. He's better than I remember, and I really liked the first one, though Marrow was mediocre. But I think I'd prefer pretty much any of the other literary contemporary Chinese writers I've read, poet or prose, and a Lianke win would most likely rule them all out, so I hope my gut feeling is wrong.
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Still struggling to finish The Four Books, though I have to admit it is getting better towards the end. The hunger part is just chilling!
 
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