banjax451

The Academy giveth: Olga Tokarczuk is a wonderful and well deserved recipient. The Academy taketh away. Peter Handke is a disgrace. I'd rather a billion Bob Dylans get the award (and I'm on the record here as hating that) than an apologist for war criminals. He was a disgrace to most reasonable Austrians while I was living in Vienna in the mid-1990s. He's since been far worse. I'm pretty left wing...but even I can't defend this one.

I hope Roth's last action was a middle finger directed towards Sweden. He absolutely deserved the Nobel Prize, which was cruelly denied him due to circumstances he had no part in (international politics, committee politics, and the publishing strategies of American publishing houses - all of which the Nobel committee appeared to blame him for). He'll be a towering figure in the "didn't get the Nobel" pantheon.

Likewise, I've had trouble mustering interest this year after last year's middle-finger from the Academy towards an entire generation of American writers (I could make a case that it was a middle-finger towards ALL writers). I think Adonis's time has come and gone - with what's going on in Syria, I just don't think it'll happen (even if he deserves it). And I likewise think Atwood's chances of the award were killed by the three-prong assault of: - Munro won in 2013 - Handmaid's Tale is both popular and award winning, which the Academy doesn't like - writes genre fiction...even if she doesn't want to admit it But more than anything else...I just don't care. They could make up for last year's travesty, but they won't. They could give the award to deserving people - but they likely won't. This award has always been broken - it's just more noticable now.

Concur. Lions is an amazing tour de force. I sincerely believe it's Kay's masterpiece. Song is fine. I know it isn't for everyone, but he's trying to accomplish something fairly specific and if you can't buy into that, it isn't going to be your cup of tea. That said, the prose is still wonderful, even if it's a lesser story.

Fair enough, though Tagore also wrote poetry, drama, fiction as well as his work translating. He isn't known solely as a songwriter. I increasingly feel that Dylan's rejection (if that's what's happening) is the greatest thing that has happened to this prize in forever.

I saw that! And as Myshkin points out correctly, this is intended as a slap in the face of American publishing and American writers. I personally think their big problem is with American publishers but they've chosen to take it out on the authors. Engdahl said as much. We don't "translate enough," which is rich since as far as I know, Dylan has never been "published" in any language other than English. That's just one of the complaints he made. My only hope is that in the next 5 years, the Academy decides to also award an American writer/author as a way to appease folks. Not that I believe that will ever happen, mind. They honestly don't care what Americans think of them. If there was a Nobel Prize for Music, I wouldn't question this one bit. But I think I may be done with this award. It's broken - it's always been broken - it always will be broken.

This is exactly how I feel. I'm not opposed to thinking "outside the box" but this is a slap in the face of deserving American authors who will be essentially ignored. An entire generation, cast to the wastebin. Another American won't get his award for decades and they're all being thrown away to do some lame stunt to show how "relevant" they are. I like Dylan, I appreciate his impact to music. But the award is for literature. I'm not even certain his song lyrics could or should be considered literature. I'm not certain he's the best living songwriter. Or the best American songwriter. There were ways to go outside the box. The Academy chose a dumb one. You want to get the attention of the literary world? Give it to Pynchon or Ursula le Guin - show that genre and postmodernism are important. You want to honor the greatest living American author? Go with Roth or DeLillo, McCarthy or Ford. You want to draw attention to short fiction, which sometimes seems to be a dying art in this country? Joyce Carol Oates. You want to make a political statement and be "outside the box?" Give it to Tony Kushner. The fact that most of that list will never ever be considered for this award should be heartbreaking. But sure...Blood on the Tracks is great. *sigh*

I'm honestly shocked. I'm one of the people who has believed for awhile that Dylan was a ladbrokes con - a way of getting suckers to bet money on someone who was never going to win. My reaction on seeing it this morning was...go back in this thread and you'll find evidence to roast me on. Simple twist of fate, I guess.

In their defense, while it may be true that this sort of thing went on, the Academy said this was simply because of the schedule and how the days landed this year with the desire to announce on a Thursday and the last Thursday of September (the first day they meet) landing on the 29th. Don DeLillo now at 12/1 - up from 66/1 just the other day. Often a sign of a winner, or at least of someone on a leaked shortlist. He'd be an interesting choice.

  I've found Roth at his best is incredible, but some of his work is hit and miss for me. I'd agree about Pynchon and DeLillo. Personally speaking, I think Cormac McCarrthy and Richard Ford are better than Roth as well...but Roth/Pynchon/DeLillo/Joyce Carol Oates are all much more popular worldwide than either of those...so I'd never mention them as serious candidates for the Nobel.   I've sometimes wondered if the Nobel folks might do an end around and award the Nobel to a playwright or screenwriter so they can simultaneously thumb their nose at the American publishing industry, and yet say: "Fine...here is your American! And look how progressive we're becoming!"  It'll never happen...but the ink spilled over it would be hilarious.

  Same - and yes, I think her odds are almost non-existent. I also think that, regardless of what she wants to call her writing, the "genre" label makes her even more unlikely.