Name: Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
Year Won: 2008
Read: The Prospector
Original Language: French
Reason: "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization"
About: The Prospector follows a dude who wanders around the Carribean looking for ancient, lost treasure while encountering a bunch of adventures.
What I liked: The description of the Carribean is gorgeous and evocative. It almost felt like I was there. It was really beautiful and serene. Also, I basically enjoyed that stuff happened in the story. The hero got lost, looked for treasure, wandered around, etc. It was a very enjoyable read all in all.
What I Disliked: Not really anything. This was a legitimately fun book. I think maybe I didn't get overly attached to the protagonist (who didn't feel tremendously deep to me or really compel me in any particular way), but that didn't distract too much from the enjoyable journey of going through a richly realized world. (Filled with adventure, beauty, and some despair and the actual history of the Caribbean is pretty bleak.)
Should it have won a Nobel: Probably? This felt fairly unpretentious for a Nobel choice. But I felt like Clezio did an excellent job telling a fun story while also weaving in some of the darker aspects of Caribbean colonialism, which is hard to do. (Far less gracefully and in a way that doesn't feel like I'm being beaten over the head with it.)
Next Up: "The Hunger Angel" by Herta Müller
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Sunday, February 18, 2024
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
Name: Doris Lessing
Year Won: 2007
Read: The Golden Notebook
Original Language: English
Reason: "that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny"
About: The Golden Notebook follows the life of a writer who tries to tie the threads of her life together. Or something. IDK. I didn't make it super far as the beginning felt like a rudimentary introduction to feminism 101, which is fine and all, but also kind of boring in the 21st century.
What I liked: There's a nice sense of time, place and character that permeates through the narrative.
What I Disliked: Maybe this fades with time - since I didn't read the whole thing - but the first chapters honestly feel like, 'hey, y'wanna learn about feminism? I'll tell you about feminism!" circa 1970. Which like, yeah, I'm a feminist and all. But it feels super dull and lectury.
Should it have won a Nobel: Maybe it gets better as it continues? IDK.
Next Up: "The Prospector" by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
Year Won: 2007
Read: The Golden Notebook
Original Language: English
Reason: "that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny"
About: The Golden Notebook follows the life of a writer who tries to tie the threads of her life together. Or something. IDK. I didn't make it super far as the beginning felt like a rudimentary introduction to feminism 101, which is fine and all, but also kind of boring in the 21st century.
What I liked: There's a nice sense of time, place and character that permeates through the narrative.
What I Disliked: Maybe this fades with time - since I didn't read the whole thing - but the first chapters honestly feel like, 'hey, y'wanna learn about feminism? I'll tell you about feminism!" circa 1970. Which like, yeah, I'm a feminist and all. But it feels super dull and lectury.
Should it have won a Nobel: Maybe it gets better as it continues? IDK.
Next Up: "The Prospector" by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
Friday, February 2, 2024
Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk
Name: Orhan Pamuk
Year Won: 2006
Read: Museum of Innocence
Original Language: Turkish
Reason: "who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures"
About: The Museum of Innocence is about a rich young Turkish man who falls in love with a poor relation then utterly destroys his life with his obsession for her. He slowly gathers items from the time they spend together and at last assembles it in the titular "Museum of Innocence" (which in a hilarious twist, was created to mirror the book...so is a real place in Istanbul.)
What I liked: I find Orhan's writing almost magnetic. I love how he describes Turkish life (in the 70s in this case) and the contrasts between the western, secularized society and more traditional values.
Orhan also has a sense of humor that I find charming. He inserts himself into the story very briefly in a rather entertaining way and, of course, the museum is both real and not real.
Finally, I kind of like that the narrator is a total knob. He's one of the least sympathetic characters in the story (I'm more fond of almost any of the side characters), and it's never really clear to me whether the woman he obsesses over actually likes him, or just hopes he'll use his money to make her a movie star. It's layered in a way that I find really interesting.
What I Disliked: Not much. I really like this book. With that said, I wish it was a bit clearer as to whether the protagonist is supposed to come off as being as much of a knob as he is. If he's truly supposed to be sympathtic (and the woman he's in love with is truly supposed to return his affection), the story comes off as pretty sexist, TBH, with a rich douche basically wanting to 'save' a pretty poor relation, only fate gets in the way. I don't think this is the way this story is meant to be interpreted, though, but I could be wrong.
Should it have won a Nobel: This was written after Pamuk won his Nobel, so it's kind of irrelevant. I liked this, but is it Nobel worthy? IDK.
With that said, I think Pamuk won because of his somewhat comedic, definitely surreal, picture of terrorism in Snow, which absolutely is a masterwork and deserves a Nobel SO MUCH.
Next Up: "The Golden Notebook" by Doris Lessing
Year Won: 2006
Read: Museum of Innocence
Original Language: Turkish
Reason: "who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures"
About: The Museum of Innocence is about a rich young Turkish man who falls in love with a poor relation then utterly destroys his life with his obsession for her. He slowly gathers items from the time they spend together and at last assembles it in the titular "Museum of Innocence" (which in a hilarious twist, was created to mirror the book...so is a real place in Istanbul.)
What I liked: I find Orhan's writing almost magnetic. I love how he describes Turkish life (in the 70s in this case) and the contrasts between the western, secularized society and more traditional values.
Orhan also has a sense of humor that I find charming. He inserts himself into the story very briefly in a rather entertaining way and, of course, the museum is both real and not real.
Finally, I kind of like that the narrator is a total knob. He's one of the least sympathetic characters in the story (I'm more fond of almost any of the side characters), and it's never really clear to me whether the woman he obsesses over actually likes him, or just hopes he'll use his money to make her a movie star. It's layered in a way that I find really interesting.
What I Disliked: Not much. I really like this book. With that said, I wish it was a bit clearer as to whether the protagonist is supposed to come off as being as much of a knob as he is. If he's truly supposed to be sympathtic (and the woman he's in love with is truly supposed to return his affection), the story comes off as pretty sexist, TBH, with a rich douche basically wanting to 'save' a pretty poor relation, only fate gets in the way. I don't think this is the way this story is meant to be interpreted, though, but I could be wrong.
Should it have won a Nobel: This was written after Pamuk won his Nobel, so it's kind of irrelevant. I liked this, but is it Nobel worthy? IDK.
With that said, I think Pamuk won because of his somewhat comedic, definitely surreal, picture of terrorism in Snow, which absolutely is a masterwork and deserves a Nobel SO MUCH.
Next Up: "The Golden Notebook" by Doris Lessing
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