The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Name: John Steinbeck

Year Won: 1962

Read: "The Grapes of Wrath"

Original Language: English

Reason: "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception"

About: "The Grapes of Wrath" follows an okie (e.g. a pejorative given to economic immigrants from the middle of the country by California - many of whom were from Oklahoma) family immigrating to California. Their goal is mostly just to live and raise their family. But they face enormous prejudice (including farmers unwilling to pay them a decent wage because their neighbors will burn their crops, police raids, vigilante raids, etc.) from the lovely folk of Salinas who do NOT want them there.

This is the first time I've read this particular book by Steinbeck (although I've read a number of others and loved them), but he always feels particularly resonant to me as I lived for a while in Monterey California (near Salinas), so am well aware of the hatred that still continues towards the okies. (FWIW, Steinbeck is not well loved in Salinas, who mostly tries to forget that he exists.)

What I liked: Steinbeck does an amazing job of capturing the economic desperation of the family (e.g. them desperately hoping their car doesn't break along Route 66 stranding them in the desert without food or water), the beauty of Salinas valley, and the incredible prejudice they face upon arriving in California. This truly is a masterwork.

What I Disliked: It's actively painful to read about how the family is treated, as well as their hardships. I think that's the point, but still...

Also, while I liked some of the asides in which he sort of just describes things, I could see how they might get tedious after a while. (And they do seem to distract somewhat from the plot, which Steinbeck seems only marginally interested in.

Should it have won a Nobel: Yes. There's a reason Steinbeck is almost always taught in high school classes in the US (unless you live in Salinas, LOL). He's an incredibly talented writer who is able to make us feel sympathy for the downtrodden. (He's also pretty good at weaving an epic narrative about a family - see "East of Eden", which I actually enjoyed more, but both are great books.)

Next Up: The Collected Poems of Giorgos Seferis

The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić

Name: Ivo Andrić

Year Won: 1961

Read: "The Bridge Over the River Drina"

Original Language: Serbian

Reason: "for the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from the history of his country"

About: "The Bridge Over the River Drina" is actually a pretty accurate title. The novel is about a bridge. On the River Drina. Like, seriously. The story is about a bridge. There are descriptions of the bridge, how the bridge is made, and what happens around the bridge.

To be a bit less sarcastic, the rest of the novel plays out of things happening around the bridge. People fall in love. There are wars. Children play by it, etc. Most of the "novel" is a series of vignettes about daily life around the bridge, both Christian and Turkish. It's not really a story, per se, as vignettes of life near a bridge. (Oh, and stories about the bridge's construction, how people see it, etc.

What I liked: Some of the stories are pretty interesting. Also, Bosnia/Serbia sound like pretty interesting places, full of history and clashing cultures. I kind of want to visit now.

What I Disliked: This isn't a novel in any kind of conventional sense. It really is a bunch of vignettes. They're beautifully written, but the only thing connecting them is a bridge.

Should it have won a Nobel: I didn't really like it and will admit that I'm far more a fan of novels that, y'know, are actually novels. With that said, it *did* paint a very interesting picture of hundreds of years of daily life in a country and is a very unique format. So maybe? I feel like it's too experimental for my taste, but is an impressive work all the same.

Next Up: "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck

Anabasis by Saint-John Perse

Name: Saint-John Perse

Year Won: 1960

Read: "Anabasis"

Original Language: French

Reason: "for the soaring flight and the evocative imagery of his poetry, which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our time"

About: "Anabasis" is a long prose poem about someone marching from the coast inland through the wild beauties and mysteries of the Orient.

What I liked: The language is quite beautiful (although that may be the translation, done by the masterful T.S. Eliot)

What I Disliked: You know how sometimes things age really poorly? This is one of them. It's hard to imagine that the world needed a long description of some dude walking through the stereotypical Arabian nights.

Should it have won a Nobel: I will always admit that there may be things that I am missing, don't get, etc. But with that said, unless I'm missing an awful lot, no. (I think this may have seemed a lot cooler and deeper in '59 as well. Right now, it reads like, "Dude, I totally did acid on my trip to Jordan and had like these *thoughts*." Which may have read a lot deeper before that was, y'know, a thing.)

Next Up: "The Bridge on the Drina" by Ivo Andrić (Also, I've now read 60 years worth of Nobel laureates...and only have 61 years to go. Whoo!!!!)