Premio Princesa de Asturias de las Letras

[Daniel del Real]

Ismail Kadar? has been awarded with the Premio Pr?ncipe de Asturias del as Letras 2009.
This award is given every year since 1981 to the individual, group of persons or institution whose creative or researching works represents a relevant contribution to universal culture in the fields of Literature or Linguistics.

More information here:

Kadare honoured with Asturias Literature prize - Prince of Asturias Awards : news, world | euronews

Here's the list of previous winners

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premio_Pr%C3%ADncipe_de_Asturias_de_las_Letras

As you can see, and in my point of view, this jury of this prize is being doing things good lately, awarding such an important elite of world writers such as Paul Auster, Amos Oz, Claudio Magris, Margaret Atwood, Doriss Lesing and now Kadar?. I might think they are doing a better job than the Nobel prize in the last years by awarding really important writers who deserve to be recognized.

 

[heroi]

Re: Premio Principe de Asturias 2009

I have to agree with you.In my personal opinion Asturias and some others such as the Man Booker price have been doing a better job then Nobel prize wich have been a disapointment in the last few years.But then again many great writers were not awarded Nobel.

 

[Stewart]

The Prince of Asturias Awards 2010

The Prince of Asturias Awards (Spanish: Premios Pr?ncipe de Asturias) is a series of annual prizes given in Spain by the Prince of Asturias Foundation (Fundaci?n Pr?ncipe de Asturias) to individuals, entities and/or organizations from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, or public affairs. Established on 24 September 1980, the awards are presented in Oviedo, the capital of the Principality of Asturias at a ceremony presided by Felipe, Prince of Asturias. A sculpture expressly created by Spanish sculptor Joan Mir? is presented to the yearly recipients.

The recipient of the Literature award, announced today, was Amin Malouf.

Amin Maalouf, a France-based writer born in Beirut, has won the 2010 Prince of Asturias Award for literature, Spain's most prestigious arts award.

Maalouf, 61, is author of Samarkand, The Gardens of Light and The First Century After Beatrice, which examines a world in which a drug guarantees the birth of male children.

His literature and essays explore the Mediterranean world and the Middle East's many conflicts from an unusual perspective. "Through historical fiction and theoretical reflection, [Maalouf] has managed to lucidly address the complexity of the human condition," the jury said in its citation.

It praised his message of tolerance and his ability to outline "a bridge that extends deeply into the shared roots of peoples and cultures."
​

Source: CBC News

 

[Bjorn]

Re: The Prince of Asturias Awards 2010

That's good news, Maalouf is an excellent writer. I have to see if I can find some more of his books.

 

[Stewart]

Re: The Prince of Asturias Awards 2010

That's good news, Maalouf is an excellent writer. I have to see if I can find some more of his books.

I remember saliotthomas recommending Leo The African to me ages ago. Thomas, if you're reading, I managed to pick up a copy about a month ago. It's a step in the right direction.

 

[Daniel del Real]

Re: The Prince of Asturias Awards 2010

I'm sure Thomas will be very happy with this decision. I agree with Bjorn and I'm also very pleased to see this award going to this brilliant writer. He manages to write books dealing with history and the relationships between Christians and Muslims with cleverness, dissecting the past and showing its impact in the present days.
I start believing what Thomas said: Best authors writing in french nowadays are not from France.

 

[Daniel del Real]

Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

First of all I didn't know that he was a writer. Apparently he has published novels, short stories and poetry, being the last his strongest literary field. Now he has been listed as a finalist for this years Prize along Ian McEwan and Alice Munro.
Other names dropped through selection were Philip Roth, Javier Marías, Antonio Lobo Antunes, Nicanor Parra, Antonio Tabucchi, Milan Kundera, Norman Manea, Margo Glantz, etc.
The only thing for sure is that yet another writer in English language will win an important International award this year: First the Man Booker International (Roth), then the Kafka Prize (Banville)and the Reino de Redonda (McEwan) and now one of these tree. I think everything is aiming to an English language writer to win the Nobel this year.
The final name will be announced tomorrow morning. Anyone here have read anything by Leonard Cohen?

 

[Rumpelstilzchen]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

First of all I didn't know that he was a writer. Apparently he has published novels, short stories and poetry, being the last his strongest literary field. Now he has been listed as a finalist for this years Prize along Ian McEwan and Alice Munro.
Other names dropped through selection were Philip Roth, Javier Marías, Antonio Lobo Antunes, Nicanor Parra, Antonio Tabucchi, Milan Kundera, Norman Manea, Margo Glantz, etc.
The only thing for sure is that yet another writer in English language will win an important International award this year: First the Man Booker International (Roth), then the Kafka Prize (Banville)and the Reino de Redonda (McEwan) and now one of these tree. I think everything is aiming to an English language writer to win the Nobel this year.
The final name will be announced tomorrow morning. Anyone here have read anything by Leonard Cohen?

He made it!!!

I only know his songs (I guess all of them) and those are among the best ever written. He actually started his career as a writer of poetry in the 50s and 60s and only later turned to music (end of 60s). In the last 20 years he only published one book of poetry as far as I know. Philip Glass composed a song cycle based on this a few years ago.

In general it is probably about time that a another North American English writing person gets the Nobel. It won't be Leonard Cohen though...

 

[anchomal]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

He also wrote two novels 'The Favourite Game' and 'Beautiful Losers' before he ever made a record. I read both several years ago and really liked them a lot, though I was a big Cohen fan at the time and that might have swayed my judgement a little. I probably need to revisit the books, just to see if they still hold up, but my memory of them is that they possessed all the usual Cohen traits, love, sex, beautiful language.
Also, it is true that he hasn't published much poetry in the past twenty years but through the 60s, 70s and 80s he put out quite a few volumes.

 

[Daniel del Real]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

Well, as previously mentioned by anchomal, Cohen is the winner. So many times before we discussed about the value of song lyrics as literary merits, specially in the case of Bob Dylan who every year is the underdog to take the Nobel Prize in many polls. Now Cohen, another guy who has song writing as part of his works has won this award that has become an important one in the last few year. Although he has published two novels and some poetry, it is obvious that his figure and status as a singer/songwriter helped him getting this prize, specially if he hasn't written much poetry in the last two years. Now I'm very curious and I'll try to get some poetry but while this happens, any of you fans can recommend songs he has with brilliant lyrics in your opinion?

 

[Rumpelstilzchen]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

Now I'm very curious and I'll try to get some poetry but while this happens, any of you fans can recommend songs he has with brilliant lyrics in your opinion?

Just a few examples (you are hopefully aware that you should listen to them!!!):

A letter song "Famous Blue Raincoat":

It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.
I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You're living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lili Marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane's awake --

She sends her regards.

And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear --

Sincerely, L. Cohen


Prayer-like song "If it be your will":

If it be your will
That I speak no more
And my voice be still
As it was before
I will speak no more
I shall abide until
I am spoken for
If it be your will
If it be your will
That a voice be true
From this broken hill
I will sing to you
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing

If it be your will
If there is a choice
Let the rivers fill
Let the hills rejoice
Let your mercy spill
On all these burning hearts in hell
If it be your will
To make us well

And draw us near
And bind us tight
All your children here
In their rags of light
In our rags of light
All dressed to kill
And end this night
If it be your will

If it be your will.


Social criticism "Democracy":

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that this ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we'll be making love again.
We'll be going down so deep
the river's going to weep,
and the mountain's going to shout Amen!
It's coming like the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious,
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on ...

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.


And two of my personal favorits:

"Avalanche"

Well I stepped into an avalanche,
it covered up my soul;
when I am not this hunchback that you see,
I sleep beneath the golden hill.
You who wish to conquer pain,
you must learn, learn to serve me well.
You strike my side by accident
as you go down for your gold.
The cripple here that you clothe and feed
is neither starved nor cold;
he does not ask for your company,
not at the centre, the centre of the world.

When I am on a pedestal,
you did not raise me there.
Your laws do not compel me
to kneel grotesque and bare.
I myself am the pedestal
for this ugly hump at which you stare.

You who wish to conquer pain,
you must learn what makes me kind;
the crumbs of love that you offer me,
they're the crumbs I've left behind.
Your pain is no credential here,
it's just the shadow, shadow of my wound.

I have begun to long for you,
I who have no greed;
I have begun to ask for you,
I who have no need.
You say you've gone away from me,
but I can feel you when you breathe.

Do not dress in those rags for me,
I know you are not poor;
you don't love me quite so fiercely now
when you know that you are not sure,
it is your turn, beloved,
it is your flesh that I wear.


"The Stranger Song"

It's true that all the men you knew were dealers
who said they were through with dealing
Every time you gave them shelter
I know that kind of man
It's hard to hold the hand of anyone
who is reaching for the sky just to surrender,
who is reaching for the sky just to surrender.
And then sweeping up the jokers that he left behind
you find he did not leave you very much
not even laughter
Like any dealer he was watching for the card
that is so high and wild
he'll never need to deal another
He was just some Joseph looking for a manger
He was just some Joseph looking for a manger

And then leaning on your window sill
he'll say one day you caused his will
to weaken with your love and warmth and shelter
And then taking from his wallet
an old schedule of trains, he'll say
I told you when I came I was a stranger
I told you when I came I was a stranger.

But now another stranger seems
to want you to ignore his dreams
as though they were the burden of some other
O you've seen that man before
his golden arm dispatching cards
but now it's rusted from the elbows to the finger
And he wants to trade the game he plays for shelter
Yes he wants to trade the game he knows for shelter.

Ah you hate to see another tired man
lay down his hand
like he was giving up the holy game of poker
And while he talks his dreams to sleep
you notice there's a highway
that is curling up like smoke above his shoulder.
It is curling just like smoke above his shoulder.

You tell him to come in sit down
but something makes you turn around
The door is open you can't close your shelter
You try the handle of the road
It opens do not be afraid
It's you my love, you who are the stranger
It's you my love, you who are the stranger.

Well, I've been waiting, I was sure
we'd meet between the trains we're waiting for
I think it's time to board another
Please understand, I never had a secret chart
to get me to the heart of this
or any other matter
When he talks like this
you don't know what he's after
When he speaks like this,
you don't know what he's after.

Let's meet tomorrow if you choose
upon the shore, beneath the bridge
that they are building on some endless river
Then he leaves the platform
for the sleeping car that's warm
You realize, he's only advertising one more shelter
And it comes to you, he never was a stranger
And you say ok the bridge or someplace later.

And then sweeping up the jokers that he left behind ...

And leaning on your window sill ...

I told you when I came I was a stranger.

And some more songs that come to my mind:
-Master Song
-Suzanne
-Teachers
-Stories of the Street
-The Partisan
-Seems So Long Ago, Nancy
-Lady Midnight
-Joan of Arc
-The Guests
-Dance me to the End of Love
-Everybody Knows
-Waiting for the Miracle
-The Future
-Closing Time

 

[lionel]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

In the 19th century, or at least before the novel had really taken off, poetry could bring in a tidy sum. Now, not many poets, or at least barely any poets of note, can survive on earnings from poetry alone.

Trouble is, today there's far too much snobbery attached to singer-songwriters, who can often be as good as any poet. In English, though, such poets are few and far between.

In France, a superior wordsmith like Georges Brassens is known as a poet first and a singer second: the guy is a real poet who used music as a kind of add-on. Jacques Brel, and to a lesser extent Georges Moustaki and Francis Cabrel, come into this category also.

But Cohen - like a few English-language singing poets whose work also stands up as Literature to be analysed in detail - is very worthy of high prizes. Forget the music! As if you can, but the music is a plus!

BLOG

 

[lionel]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

Oh yeah, and going clear is pure and simply about Scientological perfection, no? Er, no, I don't think so, but there's a lot in Cohen, and that was just one example.

BLOG

 

[lionel]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

For what it's worth, Joni Mitchell, a fellow Canadian, is probably a better poet than Cohen.

You mean for what your opinion's worth? Transparent Mitchell better than opaque Cohen? What?

BLOG

 

[Rumpelstilzchen]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

Back then I read Beautiful Losers on someone's recommendation and found it to be a complete waste of my time. He has since garnered more fame through various artistic pursuits, which I haven't followed at all. I guess he's received some recognition as a poet, but I think his winning of a major prize would reflect badly on the awarder.[...] For what it's worth, Joni Mitchell, a fellow Canadian, is probably a better poet than Cohen.

I find it much more interesting why you are always giving you opinion about topics you apparently have practically no knowledge about? It always goes a bit like this: "I know one book/movie/whatever of this guy and this was complete shit (in my opinion), so the rest must be also shit, right? And I guess this other guy, of whom I also only know like one book/film/whatever must then be much 'better', because someone stated this in the New York Times lately." Such a crap... I give a shit about this award, I just like it when people get some recognition. And Cohen is great as a songwriter, on par with Dylan or other well known "literary" song writers. If such people should get major literary awards is a completely different question, which I do not care about much.

 

[Rumpelstilzchen]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

But Cohen - like a few English-language singing poets whose work also stands up as Literature to be analysed in detail - is very worthy of high prizes. Forget the music! As if you can, but the music is a plus!

Hmm, I think the music and the oral presentation of the lyrics should not be dismissed as mere add-on. I also do not think that Mr. Cohen would agree to this. By the way, also the jury explicitely gave him the award for the "creation of emotional imagery in which poetry and music are fused in an oeuvre of immutable merit". Bob Dylan got the Asturias Awards already some years ago, but in the "Arts" category not the "Letters" one.

 

[lionel]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

I find it much more interesting why you are always giving you opinion about topics you apparently have practically no knowledge about? It always goes a bit like this: "I know one book/movie/whatever of this guy and this was complete shit (in my opinion), so the rest must be also shit, right? And I guess this other guy, of whom I also only know like one book/film/whatever must then be much 'better', because someone stated this in the New York Times lately." Such a crap... I give a shit about this award, I just like it when people get some recognition. And Cohen is great as a songwriter, on par with Dylan or other well known "literary" song writers. If such people should get major literary awards is a completely different question, which I do not care about much.

Exactlly.

Hmm, I think the music and the oral presentation of the lyrics should not be dismissed as mere add-on. I also do not think that Mr. Cohen would agree to this.

Yes, I agree: if you check back to what I wrote, you'll find the 'add-on' comment specifically refers to Brassens, whose songs (to me at least) all seem to have the same tune. When I spoke about Cohen's music, I thought I was being obviously ironic when I said forget it.

BLOG

 

[Paul Dorell]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

I find it much more interesting why you are always giving you opinion about topics you apparently have practically no knowledge about? It always goes a bit like this: "I know one book/movie/whatever of this guy and this was complete shit (in my opinion), so the rest must be also shit, right? And I guess this other guy, of whom I also only know like one book/film/whatever must then be much 'better', because someone stated this in the New York Times lately." Such a crap... I give a shit about this award, I just like it when people get some recognition. And Cohen is great as a songwriter, on par with Dylan or other well known "literary" song writers. If such people should get major literary awards is a completely different question, which I do not care about much.

Apparently I'm different from you in that I don't enjoy most of what I read and actively attempt to screen out writers whom I know are likely to shower me with banality, commercialism, poor writing, uninteresting metaphors, bad ideas, etc. Of course, a lot of this comes down to personal taste, but that doesn't mean I'm missing something crucial about a writer I've dismissed. On your theory, if I read The Cat in the Hat and thereafter stopped reading Dr. Seuss, I would have no basis for expressing disinterest in his work. You would say "But you haven't read How the Grinch Stole Christmas!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_Grinch_Stole_Christmas!" I stand by my disappointment with Dylan, about whom Joni Mitchell said "We are like night and day, he and I." "Bob is not authentic at all. He's a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception." I wouldn't go quite that far, but the gist is right.

Your post also seems to imply that you and other posters do thorough studies of the oeuvres of the writers you comment on. Nothing could be further from the truth. The vast majority of the comments here are of the "liked it" and "didn't like it" variety. It is true that some posters here seem to be extremely well read, but that doesn't mean I would agree with them on their critical assessments of individual writers. This is not a serious forum for in-depth discussion of literature, as I discovered immediately upon joining. I've read all of the fiction of George Eliot and doubt that I could have a profitable discussion of her work here. The fact is that I find comments such as "Cohen is great as a songwriter" no more useful or informative than "Cohen sucks," which I did not say.

This site is mainly about expressing likes and dislikes, chatting, sparring, staving off boredom, etc. Don't get carried away with its high standards or importance.

 

[Rumpelstilzchen]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

On your theory, if I read The Cat in the Hat and thereafter stopped reading Dr. Seuss, I would have no basis for expressing disinterest in his work. You would say "But you haven't read How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"

I never said that you are not allowed to be disinterested in anything. You are completely missing the point. Read your former post. You were judging the awarders as well as Cohen himself apparently without having any solid knowledge of his work. Such a nonsensical post might help you overcome your boredom, but apart from this it is not needed at all, well maybe for entertainment of the other readers and contributors. If you want to spread your prejudices in this forum, please go on.

 

[Paul Dorell]

Re: Leonard Cohen favorite to win Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 2011

I never said that you are not allowed to be disinterested in anything. You are completely missing the point. Read your former post. You were judging the awarders as well as Cohen himself apparently without having any solid knowledge of his work. Such a nonsensical post might help you overcome your boredom, but apart from this it is not needed at all, well maybe for entertainment of the other readers and contributors. If you want to spread your prejudices in this forum, please go on.

My negative posts on Cohen, Dylan, Toole and others were all based on solid knowledge of their works, just not complete knowledge of their works. I think you're out of line to call the Cohen post "nonsensical." We had a similar disagreement on Kubrick even though I like his work and have seen almost all of his films. I think I'm qualified to comment on a Cohen thread that was started by someone who knows nothing about him. Basically, you seem to be saying that you like Cohen (without explaining why), and I'm saying that I didn't like Cohen and stopped following him years ago as a result. Neither statement is nonsensical.