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
2461 Views
Myself, so far...
- 26/09/2009 08:22:52 PM
1178 Views
Wow 
- 26/09/2009 08:52:10 PM
1161 Views
- 26/09/2009 08:52:10 PM
1161 Views
Oh.
- 26/09/2009 09:01:31 PM
1318 Views
Yes, even people with virtually no education have usually heard of Churchill and/or Kipling. *NM*
- 26/09/2009 09:37:59 PM
526 Views
I've read 36 of those
- 26/09/2009 09:04:18 PM
1218 Views
Okay, I've read a few of these people. (EDITED to specify what works)
- 26/09/2009 09:36:31 PM
1283 Views
Gee, I wonder what the theme is...
- 26/09/2009 09:37:38 PM
1308 Views
- 26/09/2009 09:37:38 PM
1308 Views
It's not so hard to figure that out...
- 26/09/2009 09:44:55 PM
1234 Views
Why is that? Because the prize is utterly meaningless?
- 26/09/2009 09:58:39 PM
1286 Views
Of course it is meaningless, all prizes are.
- 26/09/2009 10:08:36 PM
1336 Views
Oh...but those are the "Some People" that I look down my elitist nose at.
- 26/09/2009 10:18:01 PM
1189 Views
- 26/09/2009 10:18:01 PM
1189 Views
Let's see.
- 26/09/2009 09:58:12 PM
1286 Views
Of all the Russian authors to receive the prize, Solzhenitsyn is the worst stylistically
- 26/09/2009 10:03:11 PM
1111 Views
I've been meaning to read Pasternak for such a long time.
- 26/09/2009 10:06:28 PM
1248 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
1154 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
1238 Views
- 26/09/2009 10:26:01 PM
1238 Views
See, I can't remember if I read Pasternak...
- 26/09/2009 10:11:14 PM
1164 Views
It's one of my favorite books of all time.
- 26/09/2009 10:21:37 PM
1207 Views
There's an ITV film of the book with Keira Knightley. It looks utterly appalling. 
*NM*
- 26/09/2009 10:25:12 PM
536 Views
*NM*
- 26/09/2009 10:25:12 PM
536 Views
For what it's worth, the recent Russian miniseries wasn't fantastic.
- 27/09/2009 03:02:25 AM
1110 Views
Only 10 of them.
- 26/09/2009 11:53:47 PM
1252 Views
From my list, Hesse's Siddhartha is my foremost recommendation. *NM*
- 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.
- 27/09/2009 02:48:10 AM
1098 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
1285 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
1128 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
1097 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
1207 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
1360 Views