Bad Reviews

[Zoid]

Originally posted by molly bloom



You mean like the unknown George Bernard Shaw and William Faulkner, Samuel Beckett and Albert Camus ?


V.S. Naipaul, Dario Fo and Gunter Grass ?


Pirandello or Yeats, Pasternak or Toni Morrison ?

Precisely. How may outside the cultural elite has actually read anything by these authors? I´ve read "The Gulag Archipelago" and "The Tin Drum" I wasn´t impressed by either one...

[KrazyHorse]

Uh...so your solution would be to give it to Tom Clancy and Stephen King?

[Drogue]

Originally posted by Kamrat X
Precisely. How may outside the cultural elite has actually read anything by these authors?

George Bernard Shaw is taught to most secondary school kids here. I'm woefully unread when it comes to literature of any sort, great or not, and even I've read some GBS.

The Nobel's are there to reward people who do great work, not people who are popular. That's true in all their fields, not just literature. It happens to be that there are millions of writers out there, and only a very small few are ever famous to a degree that most people have read them. An awful lot of literature, some of it very good, goes unnoticed by the general public. The Nobel's are there to reward great literature, regardless of whether or not it's popular.

[Zoid]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Uh...so your solution would be to give it to Tom Clancy and Stephen King?

No. But maybe Tolkien and Isaac Asimov. Two writers who have done a really great work and single handedly defined the fantasy and sf genre.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Kamrat X


Precisely. How may outside the cultural elite has actually read anything by these authors? I´ve read "The Gulag Archipelago" and "The Tin Drum" I wasn´t impressed by either one...

V.S. Naipaul was taught in English schools as an A level text when I was young.

George Bernard Shaw is one of the most famous Irish dramatists and dramatists in English of the last two centuries- he's responsible for 'Pygmalion' and 'Arms and the Man' and many others, as well as being a famous polemical writer.

Samuel Beckett is renowned in two major European languages, and three countries.


Dario Fo is a popular Italian playwright, whose plays have had lengthy runs when translated into other languages.


William Faulkner is one of the United States best novelists and also worked in Hollywood- again his work is taught on American Studies and American Literature courses and read for pleasure too.


Toni Morrison is hardly read 'only' by a cultural elite- nor is Yeats or Albert Camus.


Neither Asimov nor Tolkien single-handedly defined their respective fields, and Asimov's creative writing is often lethargic- his work popularizing science is unfairly overlooked, on the other hand.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Kamrat X


No. But maybe Tolkien and Isaac Asimov. Two writers who have done a really great work and single handedly defined the fantasy and sf genre.

Asimov's works aren't as good as most of the literature that wins Nobel Prizes

I own about 40 of his books, but that's the truth.

[Jon Miller]

I agree

Asmov is good, not great even in Sci Fi

Jon Miller

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Verres
^^^ Tolkien?

Oh yes indeed. A judgment by Edmund Wilson, as I recall.

[Zoid]

molly, take a trip up to Sunderland or Newcastle and ask how many have read a book by Albert Camus.

And as for the others, the reason that they are revered and tought in school and stuff is that it´s "good" litterature. As opposed to the "bad" litterature that the working masses read (if they read).

[Jon Miller]

nah

it is because they are good

have you ever actually read Kings or the likes work?

fun, but definitely not good writing

or even good story

Jon Miller

[Zoid]

I´m not saying that King is particulary good litterature. I´m just saying that the general opinion of good litterature differ from the nobel prize committes opinion.

[Jon Miller]

eh, no I disagree

most people who read Toni Morrison (a recent selection) agree that she is good literature

even I do (and I didn't expect to)

a lot o fthe other people (Faulker and like) are just older, and oyu have people who don't like anything that isn't modern

Jon Miller

[Zoid]

This is the top 40 booklist in sweden 2004

Topp 40 år 2004

(p=pocket)

1. Da Vinci-koden - Dan Brown, Bonniers
2. Harry Potter och Fenixorden - J.K Rowling, Tiden
3. Alkemisten - Paulo Coelho, Bazar (p)
4. Tjuvarnas marknad - Jan Guillou, Piratförlaget
5. Asyl - Liza Marklund, Piratförlaget
6. Korkade vita män - Michael Moore, Ordfront (p)
7. Ett öga rött - J Hassen Khemiri, Månpocket (p)
8. Flickan från ovan - Alice Sebold, Månpocket (p)
9. Bortom sanningen - Anne Holt, Piratförlaget (p)
10. Ro utan åror - Ulla-Carin Lindquist, Nordstedts
11. Solstorm - Ã…sa Larsson, Bonnierpocket (p)
12. En annan tid, ett annat liv - Leif GW Persson, Piratförlaget (p)
13. Två nötcrème och en movipebox - Hammar/Wikingsson, Bonnierpocket (p)
14. Fruset offer - Giles Blunt, MÃ¥npocket (p)
15. Pojken som överlevde - Dave Pelzer, Månpocket (p)
16. Bokhandlaren i Kabul - Ã…sne Seierstad, MÃ¥npocket (p)
17. I ondskans spår - Peter Robinson, Minotaur (p)
18. Pojken som kallades Det - Dave Pelzer, MÃ¥npocket (p)
19. Inte enklare än så - Kajsa Ingemarsson, Månpocket (p)
20. Pojken som inte fanns - Dave Pelzer, MÃ¥npocket (p)
21. Patient 67 - Dennis Lehane, MÃ¥npocket (p)
22. Mellan sommarens längtan och vinterns köld - Leif GW Persson, Piratförlaget (p)
23. Typ trettio - Lisa Jewell, MÃ¥npocket (p)
24. Änglar - Marian Keyes, Pan (p)
25. Prime Time - Liza Marklund, Piratförlaget (p)
26. Gömda - Liza Marklund, Piratförlaget (p)
27. Skuggorna och regnet - HÃ¥kan Nesser, Bonniers
28. Napoleon - Herman Lindqvist, Norstedts
29. Ondskan - Jan Guillou, Piratförlaget (p)
30. Innan frosten - Henning Mankell, Leopard (p)
31. Det innersta rummet - Elisabeth George, MÃ¥npocket (p)
32. Allt om glykemiskt index - Fredrik Paulún, Fitnessförlaget (p)
33. Berätta inte för någon - Harlan Coben, Månpocket (p)
34. Pojkår - John M Coetzee, Brombergs (p)
35. I skuggan av ett brott - Helena Henschen, Brombergs
36. Lasermannen - Gellert Tamas, Ordfront (p)
37. Bakom stängda dörrar - K Hansen/B-Å Cras/A Cras, Ordupplaget (p)
38. Gud som haver barnen kär, har du någon ull - U Lindell/M Levengood, Piratförlaget
39. Flicka med pärlörhänge - Tracy Chevalier, Månpocket (p)
40. Silverkronan - Anna Jansson, MÃ¥npocket (p)

As you can see the first (and only) Nobel Prize Winner is in 34th place...

A quick look at similar lists in Norway and USA (NY Times best seller list and Amazon.com) shows that they don´t have a single nobel prize winner anywhere.

[Jon Miller]

the ones I recongnise are not well writen, or particularly good stories

so yes, shouldn't get any nobel prize

for fun reading I don't generally pick good literature, and that seems that the general public agrees with me

Jon Miller

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Kamrat X
molly, take a trip up to Sunderland or Newcastle and ask how many have read a book by Albert Camus.

Or, indeed, have read a book.