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
2335 Views
Myself, so far...
- 26/09/2009 08:22:52 PM
1063 Views
Wow 
- 26/09/2009 08:52:10 PM
1047 Views
- 26/09/2009 08:52:10 PM
1047 Views
Oh.
- 26/09/2009 09:01:31 PM
1202 Views
Yes, even people with virtually no education have usually heard of Churchill and/or Kipling. *NM*
- 26/09/2009 09:37:59 PM
475 Views
I've read 36 of those
- 26/09/2009 09:04:18 PM
1095 Views
Okay, I've read a few of these people. (EDITED to specify what works)
- 26/09/2009 09:36:31 PM
1174 Views
Gee, I wonder what the theme is...
- 26/09/2009 09:37:38 PM
1200 Views
- 26/09/2009 09:37:38 PM
1200 Views
It's not so hard to figure that out...
- 26/09/2009 09:44:55 PM
1100 Views
Why is that? Because the prize is utterly meaningless?
- 26/09/2009 09:58:39 PM
1180 Views
Of course it is meaningless, all prizes are.
- 26/09/2009 10:08:36 PM
1206 Views
Oh...but those are the "Some People" that I look down my elitist nose at.
- 26/09/2009 10:18:01 PM
1062 Views
- 26/09/2009 10:18:01 PM
1062 Views
Let's see.
- 26/09/2009 09:58:12 PM
1168 Views
Of all the Russian authors to receive the prize, Solzhenitsyn is the worst stylistically
- 26/09/2009 10:03:11 PM
983 Views
I've been meaning to read Pasternak for such a long time.
- 26/09/2009 10:06:28 PM
1126 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
1029 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
1122 Views
- 26/09/2009 10:26:01 PM
1122 Views
See, I can't remember if I read Pasternak...
- 26/09/2009 10:11:14 PM
1045 Views
It's one of my favorite books of all time.
- 26/09/2009 10:21:37 PM
1096 Views
There's an ITV film of the book with Keira Knightley. It looks utterly appalling. 
*NM*
- 26/09/2009 10:25:12 PM
479 Views
*NM*
- 26/09/2009 10:25:12 PM
479 Views
For what it's worth, the recent Russian miniseries wasn't fantastic.
- 27/09/2009 03:02:25 AM
984 Views
Only 10 of them.
- 26/09/2009 11:53:47 PM
1087 Views
From my list, Hesse's Siddhartha is my foremost recommendation. *NM*
- 26/09/2009 11:55:03 PM
569 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
971 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
1167 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
992 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
973 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
1080 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
1232 Views