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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 2459 Views
Myself, so far... jh - 26/09/2009 08:22:52 PM 1176 Views
Read Faulkner Larry - 26/09/2009 09:05:22 PM 1228 Views
He is on the list, you know. jh - 26/09/2009 09:46:12 PM 1165 Views
Don't listen to Larry Camilla - 28/09/2009 10:02:33 AM 1176 Views
Mann is okay, but... Larry - 30/09/2009 02:21:50 AM 1144 Views
Wow Fantasy - 26/09/2009 08:52:10 PM 1161 Views
Oh. jh - 26/09/2009 09:01:31 PM 1317 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 525 Views
I do! AND I have an education! *NM* Fantasy - 27/09/2009 03:56:36 AM 643 Views
Oh, yes! Fantasy - 27/09/2009 03:56:09 AM 1211 Views
I've read 36 of those Larry - 26/09/2009 09:04:18 PM 1216 Views
Well, if Churchill can get it... Legolas - 26/09/2009 09:39:04 PM 1121 Views
Nah.... jh - 26/09/2009 09:52:25 PM 1221 Views
Two years later, the total is up to 48 Larry - 10/10/2011 05:18:36 AM 1204 Views
Okay, I've read a few of these people. (EDITED to specify what works) Tom - 26/09/2009 09:36:31 PM 1282 Views
Gee, I wonder what the theme is... Legolas - 26/09/2009 09:37:38 PM 1307 Views
It's not so hard to figure that out... jh - 26/09/2009 09:44:55 PM 1234 Views
Why is that? Because the prize is utterly meaningless? Tom - 26/09/2009 09:58:39 PM 1285 Views
Of course it is meaningless, all prizes are. jh - 26/09/2009 10:08:36 PM 1335 Views
Oh...but those are the "Some People" that I look down my elitist nose at. Tom - 26/09/2009 10:18:01 PM 1188 Views
Read these: Stephen - 26/09/2009 09:43:26 PM 1151 Views
Well. jh - 26/09/2009 09:51:11 PM 1188 Views
Yes. Stephen - 26/09/2009 11:03:01 PM 1213 Views
Let's see. Rebekah - 26/09/2009 09:58:12 PM 1285 Views
Of all the Russian authors to receive the prize, Solzhenitsyn is the worst stylistically Tom - 26/09/2009 10:03:11 PM 1109 Views
I've been meaning to read Pasternak for such a long time. Rebekah - 26/09/2009 10:06:28 PM 1246 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 1154 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 1237 Views
And yet Pasternak isn't on your list. Tom - 28/09/2009 05:28:42 AM 1352 Views
See, I can't remember if I read Pasternak... jh - 26/09/2009 10:11:14 PM 1163 Views
It's one of my favorite books of all time. Tom - 26/09/2009 10:21:37 PM 1205 Views
I was just gonna ask about that. Legolas - 26/09/2009 10:23:44 PM 1294 Views
The movie destroyed the entire idea of the book. Tom - 27/09/2009 03:00:54 AM 1100 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 535 Views
For what it's worth, the recent Russian miniseries wasn't fantastic. Tom - 27/09/2009 03:02:25 AM 1109 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 1175 Views
Only 10 of them. Burr - 26/09/2009 11:53:47 PM 1251 Views
From my list, Hesse's Siddhartha is my foremost recommendation. *NM* Burr - 26/09/2009 11:55:03 PM 626 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 1097 Views
What'd you think of Transcendence of the Ego? *NM* Dan - 27/09/2009 05:12:35 AM 1212 Views
Hey, Dan, long time no see IndigoAjah - 27/09/2009 10:41:02 AM 1337 Views
Just bought a Marquez book *NM* IndigoAjah - 01/10/2009 07:16:22 PM 507 Views
Not very many. Spriteling - 27/09/2009 08:36:14 AM 1350 Views
It would take me a long time to finish this list. Fred Gaidin - 27/09/2009 03:50:02 PM 1233 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 1283 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 1127 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 1095 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 1205 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 1359 Views
A great deal of those... after a fashion DomA - 08/10/2011 06:30:00 PM 1278 Views
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