Pulitzer Prizes
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Refus de Sejour
Reader
Re: Pulitzer Prize 2010
from the link:
Has anyone read it?
(BTW, I wonder if Bubba hates hallucinations in novels as much as he hates dreams?)
from the link:
Well, it's hard to tell much from this kind of summary, but it sounds interesting.
Has anyone read it?
(BTW, I wonder if Bubba hates hallucinations in novels as much as he hates dreams?)
Refus de Sejour
Reader
Re: Pulitzer Prize 2010
The first paragraph:
The first paragraph:
"Flop" is an odd way of describing falling panes of glass, but otherwise, I like it.
Re: Pulitzer Prize 2010
This is the longer quote:
Extract from Tinkers by Paul Harding
If somebody adds a little we will get the whole novel.
This is the longer quote:
Extract from Tinkers by Paul Harding
If somebody adds a little we will get the whole novel.
Richard Sheehan
Reader
Re: Pulitzer Prize 2010
I'm listening to the audio and I'm enjoying it a lot.
The richness and depth of his narrative reminds me of Cormac McCarthy while there's a little of Roth about his descriptions of the trade of the horologist.
Half-way through, I'm impressed.
I'm listening to the audio and I'm enjoying it a lot.
The richness and depth of his narrative reminds me of Cormac McCarthy while there's a little of Roth about his descriptions of the trade of the horologist.
Half-way through, I'm impressed.
Re: Pulitzer Prize 2010
Richard Sheehan, it will be interesting to know your thoughts after your listening the novel. Maybe it is worth its own thread.
Richard Sheehan, it will be interesting to know your thoughts after your listening the novel. Maybe it is worth its own thread.
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Re: Pulitzer Prize 2010
Haven't read the book or even heard of Paul Harding but I love the idea of a small press book winning such a prestigious prize. At a time when media hype seems to dictate what we are supposed to like and dislike, it's nice to see that the little guy can still make a loud noise now and then if he has got something worthwhile to say...
Haven't read the book or even heard of Paul Harding but I love the idea of a small press book winning such a prestigious prize. At a time when media hype seems to dictate what we are supposed to like and dislike, it's nice to see that the little guy can still make a loud noise now and then if he has got something worthwhile to say...
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miobrien
Reader
http://www.pulitzer.org/node/8501
2011 Pulitzer Winners and Finalists will be announced April 18.
Last year's winner, Tinkers by Paul Harding, was a letdown. Started off well, and had a beautiful style like Marilynne Robinson's, but soon I realized it was unfinished and limited. Hopefully something better this year...
2011 Pulitzer Winners and Finalists will be announced April 18.
Last year's winner, Tinkers by Paul Harding, was a letdown. Started off well, and had a beautiful style like Marilynne Robinson's, but soon I realized it was unfinished and limited. Hopefully something better this year...
Mirabell
Former Member
DB Cooper
Reader
Re: Pulitzer Prizes 2011
Any thoughts on who should take the prize? This one consistently lets me down. Since 1990 Ive read exactly one Pulitzer winner, which was The Road. Ive thought about reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, but Im never able to talk myself into actually buying it. I dont have a real tangible reason, but a gut feeling tells me I wont like Chabon's work.
Any thoughts on who should take the prize? This one consistently lets me down. Since 1990 Ive read exactly one Pulitzer winner, which was The Road. Ive thought about reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, but Im never able to talk myself into actually buying it. I dont have a real tangible reason, but a gut feeling tells me I wont like Chabon's work.
Re: Pulitzer Prizes 2011
I'm not sure how you can say it's a letdown if you've only read one winning book in twenty-some years. I quite like the Pulitzer choices (often the shortlistees more so than the winner, but still...). I've read several winning choices (by no means all) and for the most part enjoyed what I read. Updike's 'Rabbit at Rest', Annie Proulx with 'The Shipping News', Richard Ford's 'Independence Day', Richard Russo's 'Empire Falls', to name just a few. Also, I like that they don't overlook short stories: Robert Olen Butler's 'Good Scent from a Strange Mountain' and Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Interpreter of Maladies' were both very good.
I haven't read Franzen's new one, but I'd prefer to see the Pulitzer going to someone who could actually do with the exposure (I feel the same way about the Nobel Prize). Franzen doesn't need it, except as a stoking of his ego. Everyone in the western world already knows about him and his book. Time to spread the joy a little, methinks. I'm not sure that it's been the greatest year for American fiction but I'm sure there must be some worthy selection out there who's been hovering under the radar.
I haven't gotten round to reading Tinkers either (though it is part of the leaning tower of bedside books) so I can't comment on whether or not it was a deserved winner, but one thing that was good about last year's prize was the fact that a small press got some recognition. Small presses are the lifeblood of literary publishing the world over.
I'm not sure how you can say it's a letdown if you've only read one winning book in twenty-some years. I quite like the Pulitzer choices (often the shortlistees more so than the winner, but still...). I've read several winning choices (by no means all) and for the most part enjoyed what I read. Updike's 'Rabbit at Rest', Annie Proulx with 'The Shipping News', Richard Ford's 'Independence Day', Richard Russo's 'Empire Falls', to name just a few. Also, I like that they don't overlook short stories: Robert Olen Butler's 'Good Scent from a Strange Mountain' and Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Interpreter of Maladies' were both very good.
I haven't read Franzen's new one, but I'd prefer to see the Pulitzer going to someone who could actually do with the exposure (I feel the same way about the Nobel Prize). Franzen doesn't need it, except as a stoking of his ego. Everyone in the western world already knows about him and his book. Time to spread the joy a little, methinks. I'm not sure that it's been the greatest year for American fiction but I'm sure there must be some worthy selection out there who's been hovering under the radar.
I haven't gotten round to reading Tinkers either (though it is part of the leaning tower of bedside books) so I can't comment on whether or not it was a deserved winner, but one thing that was good about last year's prize was the fact that a small press got some recognition. Small presses are the lifeblood of literary publishing the world over.
Mirabell
Former Member
Re: Pulitzer Prizes 2011
You'll love it. Other Chabon books maybe not. You'll love this one. Cross my heart.
You'll love it. Other Chabon books maybe not. You'll love this one. Cross my heart.
Mirabell
Former Member
Re: Pulitzer Prizes 2011
I'm currently reading both books and Egan's is vastly better than Franzen's. Egan's would actually deserve the prize (well, I don't know the others on the shortlist, so...).
I'm currently reading both books and Egan's is vastly better than Franzen's. Egan's would actually deserve the prize (well, I don't know the others on the shortlist, so...).
Liam
Administrator
Corswandt
FAFO
Pulitzer prize for fiction 2011
Jennifer Egan - A Visit from the Goon Squad
I got The Keep because I remembered it being reviewed at the AV Club (really). Liked it, found it much more straightforward and fun (+ well crafted: another female writer who can build plausible male characters, the opposite being so rare) than you'd think considering the reviews/complaints I read afterwards. [damning with false praise] I felt it was the sort of book that Palahniuk would write if he had any actual talent.[/damning with false praise]
Anyways, this one was already getting a shitload of praise, and is said to be quite experimental, or do they just mean "weird/edgy by the standards of the stuff that usually gets considered for middlebrow literary awards"?
Jennifer Egan - A Visit from the Goon Squad
I got The Keep because I remembered it being reviewed at the AV Club (really). Liked it, found it much more straightforward and fun (+ well crafted: another female writer who can build plausible male characters, the opposite being so rare) than you'd think considering the reviews/complaints I read afterwards. [damning with false praise] I felt it was the sort of book that Palahniuk would write if he had any actual talent.[/damning with false praise]
Anyways, this one was already getting a shitload of praise, and is said to be quite experimental, or do they just mean "weird/edgy by the standards of the stuff that usually gets considered for middlebrow literary awards"?
Re: Pulitzer prize for fiction 2011
Read it, really didn't find it to be "experimental". Each chapter focuses on a different character (in varying first, second, third person) at a different time; if you chose, you could read each chapter as it's own short story. So yeah, it's a little more "experimental" than most bestsellers (is it a bestseller?) I suppose, but each chapter's written straightforward enough. I'm sure the multi-narrator with nonlinear time's enough to throw a lot of readers, but any reviews calling the novel experimental I would have to question. Sidenote: I liked it.
Read it, really didn't find it to be "experimental". Each chapter focuses on a different character (in varying first, second, third person) at a different time; if you chose, you could read each chapter as it's own short story. So yeah, it's a little more "experimental" than most bestsellers (is it a bestseller?) I suppose, but each chapter's written straightforward enough. I'm sure the multi-narrator with nonlinear time's enough to throw a lot of readers, but any reviews calling the novel experimental I would have to question. Sidenote: I liked it.