The Nobel Library
- Thread starter Vazquez
- Start date
Yes, my friends, they suffer...
Bad news for fans of Stephen King: they have just one of his books. So, I believe, no prize for him for now!
They suffer, but they are not masochists.
By sheer coincidence, it´s one of the few books of him I have the displeasure of reading (Desperation). It´s bad...
Bad news for fans of Stephen King: they have just one of his books. So, I believe, no prize for him for now!
They suffer, but they are not masochists.By sheer coincidence, it´s one of the few books of him I have the displeasure of reading (Desperation). It´s bad...
Liam
Administrator
Oh my God!!! Just looking at her bibliography online: 44 novels (and counting), 38 volumes of short stories, 18 books of essays and 11 poetry volumes. This in addition to novellas, dramas, young adult and children's fiction, AND she also wrote and published other books under TWO pseudonyms. Does she not sleep?
Ater Lividus Ruber & V
我ヲ學ブ者ハ死ス
And imagine the member returning: "Friends, comrades, I have read all of Mrs. Oates works. I have not left the house for nine months. I have read nothing but Oates. I have read everything you tasked me with reading."
"That is terrific, but please go back and check our library. In the time you were away, she published four new novels, with an average of 470 pages. We must reach a decision soon. Hurry!"
Stevie B
Current Member
Not sure which is bigger - Oates' literary output or the size of her glasses in the 1980s.
And she tweets like a maniac, almost non-stop, it's unbelievable. How did she manage to have two husbands?
Daniel del Real
Moderator
Probably she reached the top of the genetics field and cloned herself back in the 90's
By the way, is there anything from Bob Dylan at the Nobel Library?
If somebody wanna go full detective (although this will be more useful some months from now), you can check if somebody is reading an author.
I pick up randomly about 5 books from some authors - Oatescool, Wa Thiong´o, Gullar, Pynchon, Roth. Nobody is reading them...
But Ko Un - some books were borrowed!
(Suspicious...)
I pick up randomly about 5 books from some authors - Oates
cool, Wa Thiong´o, Gullar, Pynchon, Roth. Nobody is reading them...But Ko Un - some books were borrowed!
(Suspicious...
)
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redhead
Blahblahblah
Just went full detective. Right now the academy should be working with a long list of 15-20 authors that they'll whittle down in May, so it makes sense if only a few books are checked out for an author.
Authors with one or more books out:
Elena Ferrante
Mircea Cartarescu
Ko Un
Marilynne Robinson
Karl Ove Knausgaard
Javier Marias
Enrique Vila-Matas
Don DeLillo
Anne Carson
Signs they're on the long list?? Interestingly, Jon Fosse doesn't seem to have any books checked out (although I was clicking randomly and not systematically going through his book list), and after the hype around him/his recent award win, I thought he would have had a decent chance this year. Also, despite the hype, the academy has few Vollmann books and only one or two volumes by Maryse Conde. Other authors not checked out: Can Xue, Hwang Sok-yong, Yi Mun-yol, Cesar Aira, Cormac McCarthy, Pynchon, Ngugi, Mia Couto and Krasznahorkai. Although, who knows if this actually tells us anything.
Edit: Got bored at work so I did a bit more exploring and thinking about what it might mean to have books checked out. Ultimately I'd say I'd give the authors with checked out books a closer look later in the speculation thread but not rule out someone who didn't. Paul Auster and Ishiguro also had some volumes checked out; Ishiguro had like 5 or 6 books all due back in May. Even if this method of looking at checked out material is completely wrong, I'd still guess Ishiguro is on the long list.
Authors with one or more books out:
Elena Ferrante
Mircea Cartarescu
Ko Un
Marilynne Robinson
Karl Ove Knausgaard
Javier Marias
Enrique Vila-Matas
Don DeLillo
Anne Carson
Signs they're on the long list?? Interestingly, Jon Fosse doesn't seem to have any books checked out (although I was clicking randomly and not systematically going through his book list), and after the hype around him/his recent award win, I thought he would have had a decent chance this year. Also, despite the hype, the academy has few Vollmann books and only one or two volumes by Maryse Conde. Other authors not checked out: Can Xue, Hwang Sok-yong, Yi Mun-yol, Cesar Aira, Cormac McCarthy, Pynchon, Ngugi, Mia Couto and Krasznahorkai. Although, who knows if this actually tells us anything.
Edit: Got bored at work so I did a bit more exploring and thinking about what it might mean to have books checked out. Ultimately I'd say I'd give the authors with checked out books a closer look later in the speculation thread but not rule out someone who didn't. Paul Auster and Ishiguro also had some volumes checked out; Ishiguro had like 5 or 6 books all due back in May. Even if this method of looking at checked out material is completely wrong, I'd still guess Ishiguro is on the long list.
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Red, I have only read your "edit" today. But what a coincidence!
Well, before that, I was checking my bi-monthly magazine from Folio collection and there is a book from Kazuo Ishiguro. Ok, never read him - just watched once a movie based on one of this books (Remains of the Day, great movie). And then: let´s check this guy... (I can´t explain the reason - it was like my sixth sense).
Right. If he had 5 or 6 books due, today he has 10 books! There are books with more than one copy and every copy is lent.
I have checked dozens of authors, and the only one before with a couple of books lent was Ko Un. But 10 books!!!!!
As I´ve said, never read him, but I would bet he is in the short list...
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redhead
Blahblahblah
I've read a few of his books. On the basis of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, I think he'd be a worthy winner. I'm reading his latest, The Buried Giant, and while I'm not blown away the book isn't bad, just average. An interesting concept that probably would have been better suited for a novella or short story.
As for other possibilities on the short list, I have no idea. Checking the authors I listed above, only Ferrante has a book that's due after June, but it's only one book and their selection of her is far from large. They are ordering some new books by her, though, so maybe in the future. And I'm sure at least 1 or 2 are obscure authors we wouldn't ever guess.
As for other possibilities on the short list, I have no idea. Checking the authors I listed above, only Ferrante has a book that's due after June, but it's only one book and their selection of her is far from large. They are ordering some new books by her, though, so maybe in the future. And I'm sure at least 1 or 2 are obscure authors we wouldn't ever guess.
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redhead
Blahblahblah
Went through the database again, Claudio Magris has a lot of books checked out due either very late in July or in August, if this method is actually legit he's probably on the short list too. Winning the Kafka Prize recently probably doesn't hurt. Interestingly, he was not on our radar for the long list, either having no books checked out then or only one or two very far down.
Here are some that have a few books checked out. Not as many as Ishiguro and Magris, but still a fair amount, although some might just be from the long list and not yet returned (although I think for most of them there might be more by them out than before; I didn't keep records of that stuff. In an attempt to be more systematic for later, I'm listing the books currently out):
Ko Un-Maninbo: peace and war, Die Sterne über dem Lande der Vater, Ten Thousand Lives (due...June 10th? What?)
Ferrante-My Brilliant Friend, Those Who Stay and Those Who Leave, The Story of a New Name (due in August!)
Javier Marias-Dark Back of Time, The Infatuations, A Heart so White, 1st 2 volumes of Your Face Tomorrow
Lobo-Antunes-Swedish translation of Os Cus de Judas, The Splendor of Portugal, and The Fat and and Infinity and History
Out of these ones, I'm rooting most for Marias and Lobo-Antunes (although a Korean laureate would be cool). Going off of these, Marias is the one most likely to be on the short list, although a part of me wonders if Academy members could have copies of their own, especially for Ko Un and Lobo-Antunes who have been probably been nominated for quite a while now (although I'd imagine Magris would fall into this category and there are still a ton of his books out). Interestingly, no Jon Fosse or Mircea Cartarescu seems checked out. They're so young I would've been surprised if they had won, but all the critics assumed they'd be at least considered.
And there are a few people with only 1 or 2 books out, probably more for leisure reading/making sure the academy doesn't go insane reading the same few authors for a couple months straight. Those above could also be check out for this reason. Some of the younger ones here could be indicative of what's to come in the future:
Can Xue (it looks like they've been getting more of her stuff, too)
Yan Lianke
Paul Auster
Anne Carson
Rushdie
Dag Solstad
Lydia Davis
Other writers checked out include Pynchon, DeLillo, and Dacia Maraini, but only one or two, not enough to draw conclusions, and given their ages, we can't really say it means anything going forward.
Edit: Also wanted to say I went back to Ishiguro. He has even more books out now. So maybe not every member has their books checked out yet. Looking up some of the above authors in a week or 2 could reveal revealing.
Here are some that have a few books checked out. Not as many as Ishiguro and Magris, but still a fair amount, although some might just be from the long list and not yet returned (although I think for most of them there might be more by them out than before; I didn't keep records of that stuff. In an attempt to be more systematic for later, I'm listing the books currently out):
Ko Un-Maninbo: peace and war, Die Sterne über dem Lande der Vater, Ten Thousand Lives (due...June 10th? What?)
Ferrante-My Brilliant Friend, Those Who Stay and Those Who Leave, The Story of a New Name (due in August!)
Javier Marias-Dark Back of Time, The Infatuations, A Heart so White, 1st 2 volumes of Your Face Tomorrow
Lobo-Antunes-Swedish translation of Os Cus de Judas, The Splendor of Portugal, and The Fat and and Infinity and History
Out of these ones, I'm rooting most for Marias and Lobo-Antunes (although a Korean laureate would be cool). Going off of these, Marias is the one most likely to be on the short list, although a part of me wonders if Academy members could have copies of their own, especially for Ko Un and Lobo-Antunes who have been probably been nominated for quite a while now (although I'd imagine Magris would fall into this category and there are still a ton of his books out). Interestingly, no Jon Fosse or Mircea Cartarescu seems checked out. They're so young I would've been surprised if they had won, but all the critics assumed they'd be at least considered.
And there are a few people with only 1 or 2 books out, probably more for leisure reading/making sure the academy doesn't go insane reading the same few authors for a couple months straight. Those above could also be check out for this reason. Some of the younger ones here could be indicative of what's to come in the future:
Can Xue (it looks like they've been getting more of her stuff, too)
Yan Lianke
Paul Auster
Anne Carson
Rushdie
Dag Solstad
Lydia Davis
Other writers checked out include Pynchon, DeLillo, and Dacia Maraini, but only one or two, not enough to draw conclusions, and given their ages, we can't really say it means anything going forward.
Edit: Also wanted to say I went back to Ishiguro. He has even more books out now. So maybe not every member has their books checked out yet. Looking up some of the above authors in a week or 2 could reveal revealing.
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I think you are right. I believe many authors have "exclusive" translations to Swedish. I remember this was the case with Mo Yan. One of the members translated most of Yan´s books to Swedish, even some already translated to English etc. And they use outside translators if they don´t have an specialist amongst them. Once I´ve read that they did this with Wisława Szymborska.
So, an author as Ko Un or A. L. Antunes - they must have personal copies that they share amongst them but can´t place at the library for copyright reasons.
redhead
Blahblahblah
In which case we definitely won't be able to figure out the full short list
A few months ago I posted some half-baked thoughts on "masterpieces" and the Nobel and blah blah... a much more thought out version of that is that it seems like unless the winner is a perennial candidate who easily could have won 10 years ago (like Magris), they've usually recently put out a work that pushes them over the edge. Sometimes this is hyped as one of their best books ever (though time isn't always forgiving to these, like Darkness Visible for Golding or Humboldt's Gift for Bellow), other times it's a head scratcher that for whatever reason the academy saw merit in (ex. Russell and History of Western Phil, Steinbeck and The Winter of Our Discontent, Le Clezio and The African). Not saying this is a rule or anything, but for speculation it could be useful as a springboard for younger writers/those who put books out in the past few years. Between Ishiguro and Magris I'd lean to Magris for no other reason than The Buried Giant was a pretty "meh" book and unless an academy member randomly likes it, I think it'll work against him.
Edit: Rushdie also has a few books out due in August, Shame and his latest one. It is a small number of books but with the academy condemning the fatwa finally, it could be his year.
A few months ago I posted some half-baked thoughts on "masterpieces" and the Nobel and blah blah... a much more thought out version of that is that it seems like unless the winner is a perennial candidate who easily could have won 10 years ago (like Magris), they've usually recently put out a work that pushes them over the edge. Sometimes this is hyped as one of their best books ever (though time isn't always forgiving to these, like Darkness Visible for Golding or Humboldt's Gift for Bellow), other times it's a head scratcher that for whatever reason the academy saw merit in (ex. Russell and History of Western Phil, Steinbeck and The Winter of Our Discontent, Le Clezio and The African). Not saying this is a rule or anything, but for speculation it could be useful as a springboard for younger writers/those who put books out in the past few years. Between Ishiguro and Magris I'd lean to Magris for no other reason than The Buried Giant was a pretty "meh" book and unless an academy member randomly likes it, I think it'll work against him.
Edit: Rushdie also has a few books out due in August, Shame and his latest one. It is a small number of books but with the academy condemning the fatwa finally, it could be his year.
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OverTheMountains
Reader
I must say that I am mostly surprised by this appearance of Ishiguro in our considerations. I've read one of his books, Never Let Me Go, and I really enjoyed it. A great tale, a wonderful exploration, a thrilling account of humanity and its inhumanity. And yet I didn't feel it had much weight to it. Perhaps I need to read it again (I certainly enjoyed it enough to do so), but I suspect it isn't the book that he would be awarded for anyways given it dabbles a bit in science fiction and the academy's general discomfort with "genre" fiction. Perhaps that is changing, though I am heistant to suggest it. I have read a few of his short stories from his collection Nocturnes, and they were resoundingly mediocre. Powerfully so - some of the first books I read when I started reading for pleasure which I decided was just not good enough to continue reading. But I have A Pale View of Hills in my e-reader taking up space for years now, and maybe I should give him a chance to be enjoyed. By what I have read on here and in a few other forums there is little reason to believe that he isn't worthy, but I wonder if he is like Murakami and Atwood, both of whom are good but not, to my mind, serious contenders for the Nobel (though I´m willing to concede a little ground to Murakami).
A short list with Thiong'o, Lobo Antunes, Carson, Ferrante, Knausgaard (surely he must be getting talked about at this point), Solstad, Ko Un, Marias, and Can Xue, Magris, Murakami, and maybe even with Ishiguro? Any combination of this mixture is simply a very, very good list of competitors.
A short list with Thiong'o, Lobo Antunes, Carson, Ferrante, Knausgaard (surely he must be getting talked about at this point), Solstad, Ko Un, Marias, and Can Xue, Magris, Murakami, and maybe even with Ishiguro? Any combination of this mixture is simply a very, very good list of competitors.
The fact so many books from Ishiguro are out, I believe, is because it´s the first time he is on the short list. Everybody at the Academy must read every book - in the case of people that are since a long time ago on the shortlist, eg AL Antues or Ko Un, only the new members must read everything, and of course new releases - so, few books would be out.
I think that an author that many Universities and professors recommend, the Academy will read and place at the short list at least once, just to be sure. Remember that even J.R.R. Tolkien was once in the short list.
In other words - I don´t believe Ishiguro will win this year.
I think that an author that many Universities and professors recommend, the Academy will read and place at the short list at least once, just to be sure. Remember that even J.R.R. Tolkien was once in the short list.
In other words - I don´t believe Ishiguro will win this year.