tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34163212.post1892893042753124851..comments2023-10-12T07:14:49.671-05:00Comments on Scuffed slippers and wormy books....: No Nobel for words? I don't think so....Melissa Wardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04761668159421575198noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34163212.post-70662352352327092552009-05-09T00:45:00.000-05:002009-05-09T00:45:00.000-05:00I'm not sure we should get rid of the Nobel, but I...I'm not sure we should get rid of the Nobel, but I agree with her opinion. It's more of a political prize than a literature prize. Take a look at the winners during WWI and WWII: The Academy intentionally recognized authors from neutral countries. And it continues to be that way. Wonder why Updike never won? Because of Bush and Iraq. And you can forget about Roth, DeLillo, McCarthy, or, for that matter, any American author winning any time soon. Pinter was a very outspoken critic of the Iraq war, which explains his Nobel. Lessing is also a critic of the US, who even went so far as to suggest that Obama will be assassinated if he's elected president. Grass's Nobel seemed more like a correction than anything else. He was a frontrunner in the seventies, but finally won in the nineties, long after he peaked. (No doubt they're kicking themselves for that one.) But think about Grass's politics post-WWII, you start to understand why the Academy likes him so much. And how many people remember that Winston Churchill won a literature Nobel? (It should be noted that he was very conservative, and anti-Semitic, so he puts the lie to the whole left-wing argument.)<br /><br />I'm not trying to denigrate the talents of those who won. Some deserved it. Most, in my opinion, don't. I just find it slightly amusing that many still see the Nobel as a literature prize only. It's not. Politics plays a huge part. It always has and always will. To get a better perspective on why certain authors won, you have to look at what was happening in the world, and what the author stood up for. Take Nadine Gordimer, for instance. Yep: a prominent anti-apartheid campaigner. See what I mean?Brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06570396984645907446noreply@blogger.com