Who does not know me, could easily think I were an arrogant 'hm hm hm'.
Why?
Well, this was my comment when Jams O'Donnell mentioned on October 8th, that Herta Müller had won the Nobel Prize:
"And now she possesses 970,000 Euro. Besides, I do, for a change, agree with Günter Grass who welcomed the nomination as follows: "The members of the Nobel Prize Comitee will have their reasons why they chose Herta Müller."
A nasty reply / comment that was. Yes.And yes! I know quite a few authors of whom I think ...
You, too? Lovely!
No, indeed. Never I shall need to read a book of her!
Why? 'cause after feeding myself for decades with reading / watching / witnessing atrocities I do just not need to be taught how horrible we can be. I do not need to read such things anymore FULLSTOP
But did you ever listen to Herta Müller? Did you watch her? Do you know (a tiny bit of) her biography? Thus, again: There are quite a few authors of whom ... I would have thought that ... but ... what a woman!
And one day ... one day you will have listened to her ... you will agree.
... and one day ... one day ... who knows? i'll write the same about this years's Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. ? ? ? ? ? ?
I have never read any of her owrk. When she won the Nobel Prize, I quite simply had never heard of her! That is probably down to teh fact that not enough works are translated.
ReplyDeleteOne day I will give her a try, just to see if she was worth the award.
It's very possible that this lady is a great writer. According to her biography, she's certainly a worthy human being. And she deserves a try.
ReplyDeleteBut really, I've lost faith in the Nobel Academy when it concerns the Literature and Peace Prizes. Too many writers of genius, and hard-working peace activists, have been snubbed in favour of mediocrity and warmongers.
The Academy is very Eurocentric, and often politically motivated.
As for Obama (an obvious anti-Bush choice) he would have won my respect if he had refused the Prize, until his country had been at peace. How ironic that the subject of his acceptance speech in Sweeden was how much a "just war" is sometimes needed. Needed for whom, and by whom, Mr.President?
Jams,
ReplyDeleteHerta Müller is certainly a remarkable woman; and certainly, soon quite a few of her books will be available in English.
Claudia,
in addition to what I wrote above: She's certainly a gifted writer.
Still, I'd not be surprised if it was rather her biography, her courage and her all-time subject than her talent that won her the prize.
We can be sure, though, that if an author of our choice had been awarded, there would have been many other "experts" complaining.
As for the Peace Prize. For next year I suggest Gaddafi.
I just feel sad (and somehow deprived) when a good writer is awarded the prize more for his/her political views than for his/her excellent writing. That's what happened to Harold Pinter, in 2005. Of course he didn't mind. It gave him a world-wide podium to express those views in his Nobel Lecture: Art, Truth and Politics.
ReplyDelete