Name: Imre Kertész
Year Won: 2002
Read: Dossier K
Original Language: Hungarian
Reason: "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history"
About: Dossier K is Imre's autobiography, told as a dialogue between himself and...himself. It's pretty strange.
What I liked: It's a very interesting idea to write an autobiography as a dialogue. Just saying. Also Imre's life is fascinating. He's a Holocaust survivor who lived under Hungary's totalitarian communist regime. So he's got quite a bit to say.
What I Disliked: The dialogue format, IMO, works better as a high concept idea than in practice. It makes the writting really jumbled and jump about in a way that, IMO, robs the story of much of its power. Which feels all the more a shame as Imre's life truly is fascinating.
Should it have won a Nobel: I don't think he won it for this, so sure. FWIW, despite that I really hated the format of this story, when the story wasn't jumping around, it was incredibly riveting. Even details like his parents' divorce (normally not that exciting of a topic) was pretty cool in this as Imre Kertesz is a natural storyteller. So yeah, he probably deserved the prize. And if I can find an autobiography of his that's less scattered, I'd definitely be happy to read it.
Next Up: "The Pole" by John Maxwell Coetzee
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Monday, October 16, 2023
A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul
Name: V.S. Naipaul
Year Won: 2001
Read: A Bend in the River
Original Language: English
Reason: "for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories"
About: A Bend in the River is the story of an Indian man in an African nation. He travels inland from the more urbanized coast and moves into a former European ghost town populated by both the locals, Europeans who've refused to leave, and other sorts.
What I liked: The descriptions of Africa are incredibly evocative, as are the histories that Naipaul seems to breathe into almost every interaction with them. I also like some of the colorfully and weirdly described characters.
What I Disliked: Are all the women whores or Madonnas? Yes! Is this perhaps a critique of colonialism, but also one that is very, very racist? Also yes! While maybe - maybe - some of this is appropriate to an Indian in Africa (the protagonist spends an awful lot of time trying to convince a guy to abandon his common law wife and kids because they're "just African"), it also feels ickily like this might be sorta, kinda what the author himself believes. Which made reading this a bit grotesque.
Should it have won a Nobel: I mean, Naipaul is considered a great. He's also not without controversy due to his sexism. And...both are really apparent in this work. IDK. It feels a bit like Kipling, although I have to say that I enjoyed Kipling a bit more. Also, this was like...nearly a hundred years later. So...
With that said, the man can write. I just wish he could write in a less dehumanizing way.
Next Up: "Dossier K" by Imre Kertész
Year Won: 2001
Read: A Bend in the River
Original Language: English
Reason: "for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories"
About: A Bend in the River is the story of an Indian man in an African nation. He travels inland from the more urbanized coast and moves into a former European ghost town populated by both the locals, Europeans who've refused to leave, and other sorts.
What I liked: The descriptions of Africa are incredibly evocative, as are the histories that Naipaul seems to breathe into almost every interaction with them. I also like some of the colorfully and weirdly described characters.
What I Disliked: Are all the women whores or Madonnas? Yes! Is this perhaps a critique of colonialism, but also one that is very, very racist? Also yes! While maybe - maybe - some of this is appropriate to an Indian in Africa (the protagonist spends an awful lot of time trying to convince a guy to abandon his common law wife and kids because they're "just African"), it also feels ickily like this might be sorta, kinda what the author himself believes. Which made reading this a bit grotesque.
Should it have won a Nobel: I mean, Naipaul is considered a great. He's also not without controversy due to his sexism. And...both are really apparent in this work. IDK. It feels a bit like Kipling, although I have to say that I enjoyed Kipling a bit more. Also, this was like...nearly a hundred years later. So...
With that said, the man can write. I just wish he could write in a less dehumanizing way.
Next Up: "Dossier K" by Imre Kertész
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
Name: Gao Xingjian
Year Won: 2000
Read: Soul Mountain
Original Language: Chinese
Reason: "for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama"
About: Soul Mountain follows a young man in China as he lives live. He seduces women. He wanders around the countryside. He interacts with people. Mostly women. Most of whom he has very unsatisfying seeming sex with.
What I liked: The descriptions of rural China were wonderful, as is the intermingling of the commonplace and divine. The writing was remarkably vivid and evocative of a world that is mostly lost now.
What I Disliked: True to Nobel form, there is no plot. Also, the guy seemed like a bit of an asshole to women, but eh. Also true to Nobel form.
Should it have won a Nobel: I'd love it if the Nobel committee, just once, went for a novel with a plot. But like that's going to happen, LOL.
At the very least, Soul Mountain is interesting and evocative and brilliantly calls to mind a specific time and place. So sure. Why not?
Next Up: "A Bend in the River" by V.S. Naipaul
Year Won: 2000
Read: Soul Mountain
Original Language: Chinese
Reason: "for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama"
About: Soul Mountain follows a young man in China as he lives live. He seduces women. He wanders around the countryside. He interacts with people. Mostly women. Most of whom he has very unsatisfying seeming sex with.
What I liked: The descriptions of rural China were wonderful, as is the intermingling of the commonplace and divine. The writing was remarkably vivid and evocative of a world that is mostly lost now.
What I Disliked: True to Nobel form, there is no plot. Also, the guy seemed like a bit of an asshole to women, but eh. Also true to Nobel form.
Should it have won a Nobel: I'd love it if the Nobel committee, just once, went for a novel with a plot. But like that's going to happen, LOL.
At the very least, Soul Mountain is interesting and evocative and brilliantly calls to mind a specific time and place. So sure. Why not?
Next Up: "A Bend in the River" by V.S. Naipaul
Monday, August 14, 2023
The Tin Drum by Günter Grass
Name: Günter Grass
Year Won: 1999
Read: The Tin Drum
Original Language: German
Reason: "whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history"
About: The Tin Drum follows the lives of a number of eccentric people in a family, particularly the titlar Tin Drummer.
What I liked: The characters are quirky and weird and quite entertaining.
What I Disliked: This feels like a typical story that the Nobel committee likes. Weird, quirkly characters, spoken about in a unique, literary way. With no plot, since apparently plots ruin stories.
Should it have won a Nobel: Well, this is definitely the kind of thing the committee likes. I tend to like plots, so wasn't enormously fond of it. With that said, there are stories I've disliked tremendously more and I did very much enjoy the quirkiness of this novel.
Next Up: "Soul Mountain" by Gao Xingjian
Year Won: 1999
Read: The Tin Drum
Original Language: German
Reason: "whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history"
About: The Tin Drum follows the lives of a number of eccentric people in a family, particularly the titlar Tin Drummer.
What I liked: The characters are quirky and weird and quite entertaining.
What I Disliked: This feels like a typical story that the Nobel committee likes. Weird, quirkly characters, spoken about in a unique, literary way. With no plot, since apparently plots ruin stories.
Should it have won a Nobel: Well, this is definitely the kind of thing the committee likes. I tend to like plots, so wasn't enormously fond of it. With that said, there are stories I've disliked tremendously more and I did very much enjoy the quirkiness of this novel.
Next Up: "Soul Mountain" by Gao Xingjian
Thursday, August 3, 2023
Blindness" by José Saramago
Name: José Saramago
Year Won: 1998
Read: Blindness
Original Language: Portuguese
Reason: "who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality"
About: Blindness is about a bunch of people who mysteriously go blind and are thrown into an asylum.
What I liked: The writing is vivid and shocking and grotesque. Normal people, suddenly stricken by their ailments and thrown into an asylum. It's very much "Lord of the Flies" meets an awful lot of apocolyptic fiction.
What I Disliked: The story follows no character in particular. It just sort of hops around, which keeps me distant from the characters I feel I should be sympathizing with.
Also, none of the characters seem inclined to *do* anything, which leaves the plot fairly lifeless. I'm inclined to think this would have worked really well as a short story. But as a novel, it feels like it starts dragging after about 50 pages of watching a bunch of miserable characters wake up in their own feces/struggle to find food/etc.
Should it have won a Nobel: Meh. I've read worse. This was one that seems very 'literary', but also would have read a lot better had Saramago used genre tricks to like, IDK, have a main protagonist and have them do something (even if it failed) to improve their position.
Next Up: "The Tin Drum" by Günter Grass
Year Won: 1998
Read: Blindness
Original Language: Portuguese
Reason: "who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality"
About: Blindness is about a bunch of people who mysteriously go blind and are thrown into an asylum.
What I liked: The writing is vivid and shocking and grotesque. Normal people, suddenly stricken by their ailments and thrown into an asylum. It's very much "Lord of the Flies" meets an awful lot of apocolyptic fiction.
What I Disliked: The story follows no character in particular. It just sort of hops around, which keeps me distant from the characters I feel I should be sympathizing with.
Also, none of the characters seem inclined to *do* anything, which leaves the plot fairly lifeless. I'm inclined to think this would have worked really well as a short story. But as a novel, it feels like it starts dragging after about 50 pages of watching a bunch of miserable characters wake up in their own feces/struggle to find food/etc.
Should it have won a Nobel: Meh. I've read worse. This was one that seems very 'literary', but also would have read a lot better had Saramago used genre tricks to like, IDK, have a main protagonist and have them do something (even if it failed) to improve their position.
Next Up: "The Tin Drum" by Günter Grass
Monday, July 24, 2023
The Pope's Daughter by Dario Fo
Name: Dario Fo
Year Won: 1997
Read: The Pope's Daughter
Original Language: Italian
Reason: "who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden"
About: The Pope's Daughter is a historical fiction novel about the life of Lucrezia Borgia.
What I liked: The subject matter is great. How do you go wrong with Lucrezia Borgia? Also, the book has really pretty full color illustrations.
What I Disliked: The book veers between incredibly dry, boring history (like, "on this date, so and so did this thing") and what feels like almost random gossip.
Example:
Let us leave Cesare for a moment and move into the countryside around Ferrera....a fairly corpulent woman strode up to him, shoving him back.
"Get out of here! Who are you looking for?"
Immediately Lucrezia's voice rang out: she was leaning out a window and shouting: "Leave him alone! That's my husband!"
And yes. It continues like that. Seemingly random scenes...forever.
Should it have won a Nobel: Maybe it's better in its original language? I have no idea. I was so excited about this then so underwhelmed when I actually read it.
Next Up: "Blindness" by José Saramago
Year Won: 1997
Read: The Pope's Daughter
Original Language: Italian
Reason: "who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden"
About: The Pope's Daughter is a historical fiction novel about the life of Lucrezia Borgia.
What I liked: The subject matter is great. How do you go wrong with Lucrezia Borgia? Also, the book has really pretty full color illustrations.
What I Disliked: The book veers between incredibly dry, boring history (like, "on this date, so and so did this thing") and what feels like almost random gossip.
Example:
Let us leave Cesare for a moment and move into the countryside around Ferrera....a fairly corpulent woman strode up to him, shoving him back.
"Get out of here! Who are you looking for?"
Immediately Lucrezia's voice rang out: she was leaning out a window and shouting: "Leave him alone! That's my husband!"
And yes. It continues like that. Seemingly random scenes...forever.
Should it have won a Nobel: Maybe it's better in its original language? I have no idea. I was so excited about this then so underwhelmed when I actually read it.
Next Up: "Blindness" by José Saramago
Saturday, July 1, 2023
Map by Wisława Szymborska
Name: Wisława Szymborska
Year Won: 1996
Read: Map
Original Language: Polish
Reason: "for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality"
About: Map is a collection of poetry. Most of the poems focus on normal life, with some traces of history and mythology thrown in. Just like oh...95% of the other poets the Nobel committee seems enamored of.
What I liked: The poetry is very pretty, even in translation and quite evocative. I liked this better than most collections of poetry.
What I Disliked: It's really hard for me to judge poetry. Like, okay, I guess the words are interesting and creative? Which is, I think, what a poem is supposed to do? But they rarely transport me the way fiction does, so all I can do is go, "I guess it seems nice."
It's especially hard when 95% of poems that the Nobel committee picks are practically the same. Free form (e.g. not attempting for rhyme or meter - I think - hard to tell in different languages) poetry about daily life, with some mythology or history mixed in. And usually it's Greek mythology, so it's not even different mythology like, say, Polish folk tales or whatever. So it all feels very same-ish.
Should it have won a Nobel: This is clearly what they like. Not sure if it should have won, but sometimes the winning feels kind of inevitable now.
Next Up: "The Pope's Daughter" by Dario Fo
Year Won: 1996
Read: Map
Original Language: Polish
Reason: "for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality"
About: Map is a collection of poetry. Most of the poems focus on normal life, with some traces of history and mythology thrown in. Just like oh...95% of the other poets the Nobel committee seems enamored of.
What I liked: The poetry is very pretty, even in translation and quite evocative. I liked this better than most collections of poetry.
What I Disliked: It's really hard for me to judge poetry. Like, okay, I guess the words are interesting and creative? Which is, I think, what a poem is supposed to do? But they rarely transport me the way fiction does, so all I can do is go, "I guess it seems nice."
It's especially hard when 95% of poems that the Nobel committee picks are practically the same. Free form (e.g. not attempting for rhyme or meter - I think - hard to tell in different languages) poetry about daily life, with some mythology or history mixed in. And usually it's Greek mythology, so it's not even different mythology like, say, Polish folk tales or whatever. So it all feels very same-ish.
Should it have won a Nobel: This is clearly what they like. Not sure if it should have won, but sometimes the winning feels kind of inevitable now.
Next Up: "The Pope's Daughter" by Dario Fo
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