Bunin won because his friends had close ties to the Nobel family, Tolstoy never got one even though he was considered the only real candidate when the first prize was given, they try to give it to authors from shit countries to show they're not focused on European literature, Sholokhov only got it due to massive political pressure from the Soviet Union...
Essentially, I don't think it really means much. It's not QUITE as bad as the Peace Prize (let's not forget that Gandhi never got one of those, but some pretty despicable people DID), but I think it's not really a good way of judging literary merit.
Essentially, I don't think it really means much. It's not QUITE as bad as the Peace Prize (let's not forget that Gandhi never got one of those, but some pretty despicable people DID), but I think it's not really a good way of judging literary merit.
Political pressure, nationalism, and in later years, diversity has coloured this prize, however, all the ones I have read have been pretty good authors. No prize is perfect, and this one probably less than many others, but you know, it is good to make lists and have themes for your reading.
But no, that was not the reason Some People would leave. The people with those kind of opinions are pretty well read, and probably would like to state their opinion on the whole thing...
The reason people would leave is that they'd regard it as elitist, and many would also be somewhat intimidated, especially on a site which focuses mainly on the type of literature we have here...
"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world" - Calvin.
So, I have a list of authors here. It's a bit like Pokémon... Gotta catch them all.
- 26/09/2009 08:17:06 PM
2219 Views
Myself, so far...
- 26/09/2009 08:22:52 PM
957 Views
Wow 
- 26/09/2009 08:52:10 PM
937 Views
- 26/09/2009 08:52:10 PM
937 Views
Oh.
- 26/09/2009 09:01:31 PM
1095 Views
Yes, even people with virtually no education have usually heard of Churchill and/or Kipling. *NM*
- 26/09/2009 09:37:59 PM
431 Views
I've read 36 of those
- 26/09/2009 09:04:18 PM
984 Views
Okay, I've read a few of these people. (EDITED to specify what works)
- 26/09/2009 09:36:31 PM
1061 Views
Gee, I wonder what the theme is...
- 26/09/2009 09:37:38 PM
1080 Views
- 26/09/2009 09:37:38 PM
1080 Views
It's not so hard to figure that out...
- 26/09/2009 09:44:55 PM
952 Views
Why is that? Because the prize is utterly meaningless?
- 26/09/2009 09:58:39 PM
1065 Views
Of course it is meaningless, all prizes are.
- 26/09/2009 10:08:36 PM
1096 Views
Oh...but those are the "Some People" that I look down my elitist nose at.
- 26/09/2009 10:18:01 PM
948 Views
- 26/09/2009 10:18:01 PM
948 Views
Let's see.
- 26/09/2009 09:58:12 PM
1060 Views
Of all the Russian authors to receive the prize, Solzhenitsyn is the worst stylistically
- 26/09/2009 10:03:11 PM
874 Views
I've been meaning to read Pasternak for such a long time.
- 26/09/2009 10:06:28 PM
1008 Views
Don't put it on a list at amazon. Put it in the cart, then click on "purchase".
- 26/09/2009 10:23:33 PM
915 Views
I don't buy books online myself. If I did people would never know what to get me.
- 26/09/2009 10:26:01 PM
1013 Views
- 26/09/2009 10:26:01 PM
1013 Views
See, I can't remember if I read Pasternak...
- 26/09/2009 10:11:14 PM
935 Views
It's one of my favorite books of all time.
- 26/09/2009 10:21:37 PM
990 Views
There's an ITV film of the book with Keira Knightley. It looks utterly appalling. 
*NM*
- 26/09/2009 10:25:12 PM
435 Views
*NM*
- 26/09/2009 10:25:12 PM
435 Views
For what it's worth, the recent Russian miniseries wasn't fantastic.
- 27/09/2009 03:02:25 AM
886 Views
Only 10 of them.
- 26/09/2009 11:53:47 PM
980 Views
From my list, Hesse's Siddhartha is my foremost recommendation. *NM*
- 26/09/2009 11:55:03 PM
520 Views
Only these ones have I already read, but I'll try the challenge. Could take me a while, atm.
- 27/09/2009 02:48:10 AM
861 Views
Re: So, I have a list of authors here. It's a bit like Pokémon... Gotta catch them all.
- 28/09/2009 09:55:36 AM
1055 Views
Re: So, I have a list of authors here. It's a bit like Pokémon... Gotta catch them all.
- 28/09/2009 06:15:01 PM
882 Views
Re: So, I have a list of authors here. It's a bit like Pokémon... Gotta catch them all.
- 28/09/2009 06:51:05 PM
863 Views
Re: So, I have a list of authors here. It's a bit like Pokémon... Gotta catch them all.
- 29/09/2009 02:20:37 PM
966 Views
I worked out that the best way to make use of this thread is to remove the names I have read...
- 02/10/2009 08:43:57 PM
1122 Views