Won it today, the first Canadian woman to win it and, as far as I know, the first person from Ontario. What do you Languishites think of her work?
I tried reading some of her stories many years ago, and could not get into them. Maybe I should try again.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/alice-munro-is-1st-canadian-woman-to-win-nobel-literature-prize-1.1958383
I've tried to read her stuff, too. Not my bag, but I like her writing style quite a bit. Just don't much care for her choice of topics.
Quote from: Malthus on October 10, 2013, 12:38:23 PM
Won it today, the first Canadian woman to win it
This is not the time to be bitter. :)
On a related note, which literary prize do y'all consider the most prestigious?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 10, 2013, 12:44:28 PM
On a related note, which literary prize do y'all consider the most prestigious?
Getting my letter published in Penthouse Forums!
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 10, 2013, 12:44:28 PM
On a related note, which literary prize do y'all consider the most prestigious?
I think probably the ones for a novel in a specific language. So I like the Booker prize and the Pulitzer but they both have off years.
The Nobel is way, way down the list. It's a lifetime achievement award that, historically at least, tends to make quite tokenistic picks.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 10, 2013, 12:44:28 PM
On a related note, which literary prize do y'all consider the most prestigious?
The Booker is pretty highly regarded I think.
Hugo! :nerd:
Quote from: Malthus on October 10, 2013, 12:38:23 PM
Won it today, the first Canadian woman to win it and, as far as I know, the first person from Ontario.
Well that would be a logical conclusion :D
REgarding her work. I was forced to read her since I minored in Canadian Lit. She's tough, very tough as are most female Canadian writers (apologizes to any relatives of one). But there's no doubting her talent. Good for her.
Doesn't seem like a very deep field.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 10, 2013, 05:52:23 PM
Doesn't seem like a very deep field.
[Josq]
The quality stuff is hidden deep, that's why he was miner in lit.
[/Josq]
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 10, 2013, 05:52:23 PM
Doesn't seem like a very deep field.
Are you actually familiar with Canadian literature, or are you just guessing?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 10, 2013, 05:52:23 PM
Doesn't seem like a very deep field.
You be surprised. the shit runs deep but there are some diamonds.
Timothy Findlay. Michael Ondatjee (he was just starting when I was in school); Mordechai Richler..
Quote from: Josephus on October 10, 2013, 06:19:21 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 10, 2013, 05:52:23 PM
Doesn't seem like a very deep field.
You be surprised. the shit runs deep but there are some diamonds.
Timothy Findlay. Michael Ondatjee (he was just starting when I was in school); Mordechai Richler..
He's trolling you.
Canadian literature is far, far better than Canadian tv/movies.
Have to admit I have not read any Alice Munro however.
Quote from: Barrister on October 10, 2013, 06:40:16 PM
Canadian literature is far, far better than Canadian tv/movies.
Have to admit I have not read any Alice Munro however.
Oh dear god, Canuck TV/movies. :bleeding:
Quote from: Ed Anger on October 10, 2013, 06:52:48 PM
Quote from: Barrister on October 10, 2013, 06:40:16 PM
Canadian literature is far, far better than Canadian tv/movies.
Have to admit I have not read any Alice Munro however.
Oh dear god, Canuck TV/movies. :bleeding:
Agreed. :bleeding:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 10, 2013, 12:44:28 PM
On a related note, which literary prize do y'all consider the most prestigious?
Nobel's pretty big on the international front. So many literary prizes are language-specific, so I would think in the US a Pulitzer would be just as prestigious, or one of the fancy PEN awards, but there are bigger and more prestigious awards like the Booker that would never be awarded to an American.
AVN "best cumshot to the face".
Quote from: Barrister on October 10, 2013, 06:53:24 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on October 10, 2013, 06:52:48 PM
Oh dear god, Canuck TV/movies. :bleeding:
Agreed. :bleeding:
Don't be bustin' on
Da Vinci's Inquest :mad: :unsure: :ph34r:
Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 10, 2013, 06:54:29 PM
So many literary prizes are language-specific, so I would think in the US a Pulitzer would be just as prestigious, or one of the fancy PEN awards, but there are bigger and more prestigious awards like the Booker that would never be awarded to an American.
The Booker's for British and Commonwealth authors. I believe from this year they'll also have American entrants. I hope it doesn't drown out other voices though.
Quote from: Sheilbh on October 10, 2013, 06:59:15 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 10, 2013, 06:54:29 PM
So many literary prizes are language-specific, so I would think in the US a Pulitzer would be just as prestigious, or one of the fancy PEN awards, but there are bigger and more prestigious awards like the Booker that would never be awarded to an American.
The Booker's for British and Commonwealth authors. I believe from this year they'll also have American entrants. I hope it doesn't drown out other voices though.
That's what they say. I'll believe it when I see it.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 10, 2013, 07:00:41 PM
That's what they say. I'll believe it when I see it.
Personally I'm not keen on Americans being allowed to enter either :P
Quote from: Sheilbh on October 10, 2013, 07:05:47 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on October 10, 2013, 07:00:41 PM
That's what they say. I'll believe it when I see it.
Personally I'm not keen on Americans being allowed to enter either :P
I wouldn't accept it anyway, pal. So there. Nyah.
Quote from: Ed Anger on October 10, 2013, 06:52:48 PM
Quote from: Barrister on October 10, 2013, 06:40:16 PM
Canadian literature is far, far better than Canadian tv/movies.
Have to admit I have not read any Alice Munro however.
Oh dear god, Canuck TV/movies. :bleeding:
Just don't insult their beer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HGPh8Hjyg8
I used to think the Nobel in Literature was one of the stupidest of the prizes, because of all the shenanigans (especially the huge proportion of Scandinavian authors who have won it, relative to their extremely small proportion of global population.) But at some point I recognized that an international prize in literature with a selection committee like the Nobel's is really just not that valid of a prize anyway. No matter how versed you are in other languages, it's hard to ever truly appreciate literature in a foreign tongue, and translations often miss the mark for cultural reasons even when they are still very good. So you're just going to expect a strong bias inherent to the people making the selection for stuff they "understand" and additionally a strong bias to works that lend themselves better to "internationalization", which isn't the same as "the best works of literature.
So yes, I think respective national-level prizes are more prestigious. If I was an American author I'd take more pride in winning a Pulitzer than winning the Nobel, in fact if I was an American author who won the Nobel in Literature I'd wager my writings would be something no American had ever read, and the ones who did would find it unreadable gibberish.
I've not read Alice Munro by the way, but I have at least heard of her--a first in many years for me for a Nobel Laureate in Literature.