The Nobel Prize in Literature from an Alternative Universe

[pegkerr]

Ted Gioia indulges in a lovely daydream:

"I had a hunch a woman writer living in England would win the Nobel Prize in Literature this year. But I still wasn't prepared for the thrill I experienced when I learned that J.K. Rowling had won the coveted prize. After all, who has done more for the cause of reading in recent decades? The last time a British woman had received this honor was back in 1966 when Dame Agatha Christie shared the award with Jorge Luis Borges. I expect Rowling's acceptance speech will rank among the most memorable. (Although it's hard to imagine anything topping that moment in 1997, when Dr. Hunter S. Thompson mounted the podium in Stockholm to share his surprising sentiments with the audience.) . . ."

No, this is not the real Nobel Prize in Literature, but the way the award might exist in an alternative universe -- a world in which such honors are exempt from pettiness, politics and tokenism. Imagine a Nobel Prize in which the contributions of Proust, Kafka, Nabokov and Joyce are not forgotten. Imagine a Nobel Prize in Literature in which genre writers have a chance. Imagine a Nobel Prize in Literature that doesn't bend over backward to exclude native born U.S. writers (only three honored during the last 52 years!). Ah, don't just imagine . . . read about it here.

For my part, I'm just happy the committee from the alternative universe honored Philip K. Dick three years before his passing.

Well? What do you think of his proposed list of winners? (J.K. Rowling wins it for the year 2007.)

Comments

[takumashii.livejournal.com]

I don't feel like the Nobel committee has always made sensible (or even defensible) choices, but on the other hand, I feel like J.K. Rowling and Agatha Christie already have the recognition that they deserve... I mean, you're a popular author, you have more money than a small nation would know what to do with, and you need the big important prizes too?

A Nobel prize would bring Rowling no more recognition than she already has; somebody like Orham Panuk (sp?), on the other hand, can benefit from the recognition.

[aome.livejournal.com]

Except that I don't recognize most of the actual winners.

[baldanders.livejournal.com]

That's not the fault of the Nobel committee, though; in almost every case, the writers are deserving of recognition but our culture simply doesn't care if they don't write in English.

[avengangle.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Agreed.

I was also going to be catty and point out that neither Christie nor Rowling is nearly as good a writer as the other hundred on his list, but I think it's a moot point. (And not to be construed as me disliking either author, since I'm quite a fan of both.)

Although I did like the inclusion of Sondheim and Cole Porter.