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Of course it is meaningless, all prizes are. jh Send a noteboard - 26/09/2009 10:08:36 PM
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.


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... :P
"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.
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So, I have a list of authors here. It's a bit like Pokémon... Gotta catch them all. jh - 26/09/2009 08:17:06 PM 2219 Views
Myself, so far... jh - 26/09/2009 08:22:52 PM 956 Views
Read Faulkner Larry - 26/09/2009 09:05:22 PM 990 Views
He is on the list, you know. jh - 26/09/2009 09:46:12 PM 928 Views
Don't listen to Larry Camilla - 28/09/2009 10:02:33 AM 937 Views
Mann is okay, but... Larry - 30/09/2009 02:21:50 AM 906 Views
Wow Fantasy - 26/09/2009 08:52:10 PM 936 Views
Oh. jh - 26/09/2009 09:01:31 PM 1093 Views
Yes, even people with virtually no education have usually heard of Churchill and/or Kipling. *NM* Tom - 26/09/2009 09:37:59 PM 430 Views
I do! AND I have an education! *NM* Fantasy - 27/09/2009 03:56:36 AM 536 Views
Oh, yes! Fantasy - 27/09/2009 03:56:09 AM 978 Views
I've read 36 of those Larry - 26/09/2009 09:04:18 PM 981 Views
Well, if Churchill can get it... Legolas - 26/09/2009 09:39:04 PM 920 Views
Nah.... jh - 26/09/2009 09:52:25 PM 1029 Views
Two years later, the total is up to 48 Larry - 10/10/2011 05:18:36 AM 980 Views
Okay, I've read a few of these people. (EDITED to specify what works) Tom - 26/09/2009 09:36:31 PM 1057 Views
Gee, I wonder what the theme is... Legolas - 26/09/2009 09:37:38 PM 1076 Views
It's not so hard to figure that out... jh - 26/09/2009 09:44:55 PM 950 Views
Why is that? Because the prize is utterly meaningless? Tom - 26/09/2009 09:58:39 PM 1063 Views
Of course it is meaningless, all prizes are. jh - 26/09/2009 10:08:36 PM 1094 Views
Oh...but those are the "Some People" that I look down my elitist nose at. Tom - 26/09/2009 10:18:01 PM 945 Views
Read these: Stephen - 26/09/2009 09:43:26 PM 917 Views
Well. jh - 26/09/2009 09:51:11 PM 934 Views
Yes. Stephen - 26/09/2009 11:03:01 PM 964 Views
Let's see. Rebekah - 26/09/2009 09:58:12 PM 1058 Views
Of all the Russian authors to receive the prize, Solzhenitsyn is the worst stylistically Tom - 26/09/2009 10:03:11 PM 872 Views
I've been meaning to read Pasternak for such a long time. Rebekah - 26/09/2009 10:06:28 PM 1007 Views
Don't put it on a list at amazon. Put it in the cart, then click on "purchase". Tom - 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. Rebekah - 26/09/2009 10:26:01 PM 1012 Views
And yet Pasternak isn't on your list. Tom - 28/09/2009 05:28:42 AM 1109 Views
See, I can't remember if I read Pasternak... jh - 26/09/2009 10:11:14 PM 934 Views
It's one of my favorite books of all time. Tom - 26/09/2009 10:21:37 PM 987 Views
I was just gonna ask about that. Legolas - 26/09/2009 10:23:44 PM 1043 Views
The movie destroyed the entire idea of the book. Tom - 27/09/2009 03:00:54 AM 868 Views
There's an ITV film of the book with Keira Knightley. It looks utterly appalling. *NM* Rebekah - 26/09/2009 10:25:12 PM 434 Views
For what it's worth, the recent Russian miniseries wasn't fantastic. Tom - 27/09/2009 03:02:25 AM 885 Views
I'll do it if I can have the rest of my life to accomplish it. nossy - 26/09/2009 10:43:53 PM 939 Views
Only 10 of them. Burr - 26/09/2009 11:53:47 PM 978 Views
From my list, Hesse's Siddhartha is my foremost recommendation. *NM* Burr - 26/09/2009 11:55:03 PM 517 Views
Only these ones have I already read, but I'll try the challenge. Could take me a while, atm. IndigoAjah - 27/09/2009 02:48:10 AM 859 Views
What'd you think of Transcendence of the Ego? *NM* Dan - 27/09/2009 05:12:35 AM 985 Views
Hey, Dan, long time no see IndigoAjah - 27/09/2009 10:41:02 AM 1105 Views
Just bought a Marquez book *NM* IndigoAjah - 01/10/2009 07:16:22 PM 391 Views
Not very many. Spriteling - 27/09/2009 08:36:14 AM 1091 Views
It would take me a long time to finish this list. Fred Gaidin - 27/09/2009 03:50:02 PM 967 Views
Re: So, I have a list of authors here. It's a bit like Pokémon... Gotta catch them all. Camilla - 28/09/2009 09:55:36 AM 1054 Views
Re: So, I have a list of authors here. It's a bit like Pokémon... Gotta catch them all. jh - 28/09/2009 06:15:01 PM 881 Views
Re: So, I have a list of authors here. It's a bit like Pokémon... Gotta catch them all. Camilla - 28/09/2009 06:51:05 PM 862 Views
Re: So, I have a list of authors here. It's a bit like Pokémon... Gotta catch them all. Elaine - 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... jh - 02/10/2009 08:43:57 PM 1122 Views
A great deal of those... after a fashion DomA - 08/10/2011 06:30:00 PM 1049 Views
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