Name: Derek Walcott
Year Won: 1992
Read: What the Twilight Says
Original Language: English
Reason: "for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment"
About: What the Twilight Says is a book of essays. What are they about? All sorts of topics, although an awful lot regard life in the Carribean and the legacy of colonialism.
In particular, Walcott is known for being the artist who really challenged other artists to "de-colonize" their thought process and create works of art that are less imitative of European art.
What I liked: Beautiful writing, of course. Also many of the essays are quite thought provoking. I particularly love how he entails other artists to think of new modes of expression and not to favor, necessarily, a way of doing things just because that's How It's Been Done. (Or to write stories because those are what have been popular in the past/found approval/been in vogue with the elites.
He also casts some shade on V.S. Naipul which, honestly, gotta applaud.
What I Disliked: Most essays are very academic. Not a surprise, but this is (IMO) more a book to be read for insight and education than pleasure.
Should it have won a Nobel: Yes. Many of the ideas that Walcott originated are still being debated. He is a true luminary.
Next Up: "Beloved" by Toni Morrison
Sunday, May 14, 2023
Thursday, May 4, 2023
My Son's Story by Nadine Gordimer
Name: Nadine Gordimer
Year Won: 1991
Read: My Son's Story
Original Language: English
Reason: "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity"
About: My Son's Story follows a South African family, in Aparthid, as they realize that their father is...gasp!...dating a white woman. The story veers between each of the family member's lives, as well as how race affects all of them.
What I liked: Beautiful writing, fantastic character building, and and an interesting backdrop. This novel made me think and it was actually pretty enjoyable to read. (I liked seeing how the characters wrapped their minds both around their father's betrayal as well as how it was, in many ways made worse, but the race of the woman he choose to cheat with.)
What I Disliked: Like most books on this list, the plot wasn't praticularly grabby. Also, I wished, at times, that they'd get out of their heads for a bit and do something. Anything. It was like, "argh, enough internal monologue!!!"
Should it have won a Nobel: Yes. It's well written and on an important, contemporary subject.
With that said, it's hard to imagine it winning now as the author is white and was writing about Blacks. I do wonder whether a similar topic would be better (or worse, or just very different) coming from a Black writer. Or maybe it would be exactly the same...
Next Up: "What the Twilight Says" by Derek Walcott
Year Won: 1991
Read: My Son's Story
Original Language: English
Reason: "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity"
About: My Son's Story follows a South African family, in Aparthid, as they realize that their father is...gasp!...dating a white woman. The story veers between each of the family member's lives, as well as how race affects all of them.
What I liked: Beautiful writing, fantastic character building, and and an interesting backdrop. This novel made me think and it was actually pretty enjoyable to read. (I liked seeing how the characters wrapped their minds both around their father's betrayal as well as how it was, in many ways made worse, but the race of the woman he choose to cheat with.)
What I Disliked: Like most books on this list, the plot wasn't praticularly grabby. Also, I wished, at times, that they'd get out of their heads for a bit and do something. Anything. It was like, "argh, enough internal monologue!!!"
Should it have won a Nobel: Yes. It's well written and on an important, contemporary subject.
With that said, it's hard to imagine it winning now as the author is white and was writing about Blacks. I do wonder whether a similar topic would be better (or worse, or just very different) coming from a Black writer. Or maybe it would be exactly the same...
Next Up: "What the Twilight Says" by Derek Walcott
Friday, April 21, 2023
"The Labyrinth of Solitude" by Octavio Paz
Name: Octavio Paz
Year Won: 1990
Read: The Labyrinth of Solitude
Original Language: Spanish
Reason: "for impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity"
About: The Labyrinth of Solitude is a series of essays about what it is like to be a Mexican.
What I liked: The writing was clear and easy to follow.
What I Disliked: Want to read a bunch of essays that read like what a 16 year old edgelord Redditor might right? Step no further! Mexicans are dark, barbaric, crude and superstitious! With inflamed, wild passions! They can't distinguish their own individulity from their culture, history, or religion! Because...duh. And of course Paz speaks for all Mexicans, not just like, him. To read it, yes, we do need a wall. We need it now. And we need with turrets that shoot to kill. *eye roll*
In case you're wondering whether it can really be that bad...yes. It can be. This quote especially stood out, but it's all kind of like that... "'A woman's place is in the home with a broken leg'...Woman is a domesticated wild animal, lecherous and sinful from birth, who must be subdued by a stick and guided by the 'reins of religion'. Therefore Spaniards consider other women - especially of a race or religion different than their own - to be easy game."
Yeah...it's something.
Should it have won a Nobel: I mean...I know it was a different era. And I guess you always get a bit more slack when stereotyping your own people. But still...wow...really?
Next Up: "My Son's Story" by Nadine Gordimer
Year Won: 1990
Read: The Labyrinth of Solitude
Original Language: Spanish
Reason: "for impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity"
About: The Labyrinth of Solitude is a series of essays about what it is like to be a Mexican.
What I liked: The writing was clear and easy to follow.
What I Disliked: Want to read a bunch of essays that read like what a 16 year old edgelord Redditor might right? Step no further! Mexicans are dark, barbaric, crude and superstitious! With inflamed, wild passions! They can't distinguish their own individulity from their culture, history, or religion! Because...duh. And of course Paz speaks for all Mexicans, not just like, him. To read it, yes, we do need a wall. We need it now. And we need with turrets that shoot to kill. *eye roll*
In case you're wondering whether it can really be that bad...yes. It can be. This quote especially stood out, but it's all kind of like that... "'A woman's place is in the home with a broken leg'...Woman is a domesticated wild animal, lecherous and sinful from birth, who must be subdued by a stick and guided by the 'reins of religion'. Therefore Spaniards consider other women - especially of a race or religion different than their own - to be easy game."
Yeah...it's something.
Should it have won a Nobel: I mean...I know it was a different era. And I guess you always get a bit more slack when stereotyping your own people. But still...wow...really?
Next Up: "My Son's Story" by Nadine Gordimer
Sunday, March 5, 2023
"The Family of Pascal Duarte" by Camilo José Cela
Name: Camilo José Cela
Year Won: 1989
Read: The Family of Pascal Duarte
Original Language: Spanish
Reason: ""for a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's vulnerability"
About: The Family of Pascal Duarte follows the life of Pascal Duarte as he has a childhood in a ne'er do well family, gets a girl pregnant and marries her, she dies, then he marries someone else and at last is on the run, ready to be garrotted. This all takes place in a scant 150 pages, so it doesn't really linger.
What I liked: The characters in this novel are wonderfully interesting. Each paragraph is practically a new and unique character study of a unique person who is explained so well I feel like I know them.
I also like all of the details of living in a small village in 1930s (I think?) Spain, as well as the interplay of religion and faith.
What I Disliked: Plot? Is there a plot? Of course there's no plot. LOL. It's a Nobel prize winning book. (Or at least no plot in a conventional sense.)
Should it have won a Nobel: Probably. This is the sort of thing that the Nobel committe digs. Religion? Lack of plot? Good writing and character studies? BRING IT ON. (Graham Greene...you were cheated because your novels tended to have plots, LOL.) I also liked this one a lot better than most as the writing really was solid, the characters interesting, and it didn't go on freaking forever. So hey! An improvement over many! (I still like plots, though...)
Next Up: "The Labyrinth of Solitude" by Octavio Paz
Year Won: 1989
Read: The Family of Pascal Duarte
Original Language: Spanish
Reason: ""for a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's vulnerability"
About: The Family of Pascal Duarte follows the life of Pascal Duarte as he has a childhood in a ne'er do well family, gets a girl pregnant and marries her, she dies, then he marries someone else and at last is on the run, ready to be garrotted. This all takes place in a scant 150 pages, so it doesn't really linger.
What I liked: The characters in this novel are wonderfully interesting. Each paragraph is practically a new and unique character study of a unique person who is explained so well I feel like I know them.
I also like all of the details of living in a small village in 1930s (I think?) Spain, as well as the interplay of religion and faith.
What I Disliked: Plot? Is there a plot? Of course there's no plot. LOL. It's a Nobel prize winning book. (Or at least no plot in a conventional sense.)
Should it have won a Nobel: Probably. This is the sort of thing that the Nobel committe digs. Religion? Lack of plot? Good writing and character studies? BRING IT ON. (Graham Greene...you were cheated because your novels tended to have plots, LOL.) I also liked this one a lot better than most as the writing really was solid, the characters interesting, and it didn't go on freaking forever. So hey! An improvement over many! (I still like plots, though...)
Next Up: "The Labyrinth of Solitude" by Octavio Paz
Monday, February 20, 2023
"Akhenatan" by Naguib Mahfouz
Name: Naguib Mahfouz
Year Won: 1988
Read: Akhenatan/i>
Original Language: Arabic
Reason: "who, through works rich in nuance – now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous – has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind"
About: Akehenatan follows the lives around the heretic pharoah. Most don't like him which is historically correct. (As it turns out, people generally aren't huge fans of casting out their traditions and gods. Whoda thunk?) Most seem very interested in explaining all the ways in which they hate Akhenatan, or his wife Nefertiti. Which makes for a wonderfully, juicy novel in which people air their grievances against each other.
What I liked: I love ancient Egypt so...this is my thing to begin with. But the gossipy voice? OMG. This is all I ever wanted from a novel. I am a small, petty person. But I am SO into the people around an ancient pharoah dissing him. This stuff is glorious.
What I Disliked: Like most Nobel prize winners, there is no plot. This is mostly people around an important historical figure dishing the tea. I love it. But this isn't an actual story with a plot. Still...woah is it fun to read. It's like reading the Sun from several thousand years ago just...more so. There is so much gossip in the ancient Egyptian lineages!
Should it have won a Nobel: On the one hand, this seems to be what they're going for - plotless, well described stuff. On the other...woah was this fun! (Mahfoiuz's other stuff is fun, too, although I think a bit more restrained.) But...y'know...if what it takes to win a prize is extremely entertaining soap opera stuff from a culture that isn't Nordic, I am ALL FOR IT. Seriously, this is the best thing I've read in years. More like it, please? Pleae?
Next Up: "The Family of Pascal Duarte" by Camilo José Cela
Year Won: 1988
Read: Akhenatan/i>
Original Language: Arabic
Reason: "who, through works rich in nuance – now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous – has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind"
About: Akehenatan follows the lives around the heretic pharoah. Most don't like him which is historically correct. (As it turns out, people generally aren't huge fans of casting out their traditions and gods. Whoda thunk?) Most seem very interested in explaining all the ways in which they hate Akhenatan, or his wife Nefertiti. Which makes for a wonderfully, juicy novel in which people air their grievances against each other.
What I liked: I love ancient Egypt so...this is my thing to begin with. But the gossipy voice? OMG. This is all I ever wanted from a novel. I am a small, petty person. But I am SO into the people around an ancient pharoah dissing him. This stuff is glorious.
What I Disliked: Like most Nobel prize winners, there is no plot. This is mostly people around an important historical figure dishing the tea. I love it. But this isn't an actual story with a plot. Still...woah is it fun to read. It's like reading the Sun from several thousand years ago just...more so. There is so much gossip in the ancient Egyptian lineages!
Should it have won a Nobel: On the one hand, this seems to be what they're going for - plotless, well described stuff. On the other...woah was this fun! (Mahfoiuz's other stuff is fun, too, although I think a bit more restrained.) But...y'know...if what it takes to win a prize is extremely entertaining soap opera stuff from a culture that isn't Nordic, I am ALL FOR IT. Seriously, this is the best thing I've read in years. More like it, please? Pleae?
Next Up: "The Family of Pascal Duarte" by Camilo José Cela
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Watermark by Joseph Brodsky
Name: Joseph Brodsky
Year Won: 1987
Read: Watermark/i>
Original Language: English (and Russian, but novel was originally written in English)
Reason: "for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity"
About: Watermark is a series of observations and recollections of being in Vencie. Yup, that's it.
What I liked: The writing is gorgeous, evoactive and unusual. Which seems to be the preference of the Nobel comittee.
What I Disliked: There is no plot. With that said, I dislike that less in this book than in many of the others both because a) it's short (really a novella - almost just a short story) and b) the writing really is exquisitely evocative of a past, long forgotten Venice. So enjoyed this, unlike many of the other, "we write pretty stuff" novelists.
Should it have won a Nobel: What the heck, why not, this seems to be what they're going for.
Next Up: "Akhenatan" by Naguib Mahfouz
Year Won: 1987
Read: Watermark/i>
Original Language: English (and Russian, but novel was originally written in English)
Reason: "for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity"
About: Watermark is a series of observations and recollections of being in Vencie. Yup, that's it.
What I liked: The writing is gorgeous, evoactive and unusual. Which seems to be the preference of the Nobel comittee.
What I Disliked: There is no plot. With that said, I dislike that less in this book than in many of the others both because a) it's short (really a novella - almost just a short story) and b) the writing really is exquisitely evocative of a past, long forgotten Venice. So enjoyed this, unlike many of the other, "we write pretty stuff" novelists.
Should it have won a Nobel: What the heck, why not, this seems to be what they're going for.
Next Up: "Akhenatan" by Naguib Mahfouz
Friday, February 10, 2023
"Chroncles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth" by Wole Soyinka
Name: Wole Soyinka
Year Won: 1986
Read: Chroncles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth
Original Language: English
Reason: "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence"
About: Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth follows a lot of people being strange in modern Nigeria. By strange I mean...strange. Like, dissecting human bodies for ~*reasons*~ and selling the parts. Starting new, prophetic religions. Running for public office. It's a smorgasboard of the strange and, honestly, I'm kind of there for it.
What I liked: The voice on this is amazing - and hilarious. Like, this is a genuinely funny book. It's also fun. It's written in a lovely, amusing, deeply entertaining way. (So much so that I'm like, "huh, hadn't thought the Nobel committee would go for this. Like, it's something someone might actually read for pleasure." It's really a delight.
What I Disliked: The plot veers around like a drunk driver. It is really hard to follow (assuming there is a plot, which I'm not 100% sure of - I read this on a plane, so may be a bit less able to follow nuances than usual.) This didn't really ruin the experience, but it did dampen it.
Should it have won a Nobel: I'm honestly surprised it did, because this is a *fun* book that doesn't feel at all pretentious. Is this a wonderful, new way in which the Nobel project will go? Fingers crossed.
It's also really nice having Not-Another-Norwegian (Soyinka is the first Black person to have won a Nobel prize in literature). There is the sneaking suspicion that what his book won for (this book just came out meaning he won the prize, oh, more than thirty years ago...) was a lot more pretentious and he's like, "screw it all, let's have fun!". There's also the sneaking suspicion they were like, "oh, we need a Black guy, let's find one - oh, this guy is politically active - even better!" But I'm willing to *hope* that someone genuinely enjoyed Soyinka's fun, lively voice and sense of humor. Since it would be good to read more like this.
Next Up: "Watermark" by Joseph Brodsky
Year Won: 1986
Read: Chroncles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth
Original Language: English
Reason: "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence"
About: Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth follows a lot of people being strange in modern Nigeria. By strange I mean...strange. Like, dissecting human bodies for ~*reasons*~ and selling the parts. Starting new, prophetic religions. Running for public office. It's a smorgasboard of the strange and, honestly, I'm kind of there for it.
What I liked: The voice on this is amazing - and hilarious. Like, this is a genuinely funny book. It's also fun. It's written in a lovely, amusing, deeply entertaining way. (So much so that I'm like, "huh, hadn't thought the Nobel committee would go for this. Like, it's something someone might actually read for pleasure." It's really a delight.
What I Disliked: The plot veers around like a drunk driver. It is really hard to follow (assuming there is a plot, which I'm not 100% sure of - I read this on a plane, so may be a bit less able to follow nuances than usual.) This didn't really ruin the experience, but it did dampen it.
Should it have won a Nobel: I'm honestly surprised it did, because this is a *fun* book that doesn't feel at all pretentious. Is this a wonderful, new way in which the Nobel project will go? Fingers crossed.
It's also really nice having Not-Another-Norwegian (Soyinka is the first Black person to have won a Nobel prize in literature). There is the sneaking suspicion that what his book won for (this book just came out meaning he won the prize, oh, more than thirty years ago...) was a lot more pretentious and he's like, "screw it all, let's have fun!". There's also the sneaking suspicion they were like, "oh, we need a Black guy, let's find one - oh, this guy is politically active - even better!" But I'm willing to *hope* that someone genuinely enjoyed Soyinka's fun, lively voice and sense of humor. Since it would be good to read more like this.
Next Up: "Watermark" by Joseph Brodsky
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