The Noble Prize for Lit

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― anthony, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Yup. It sure is.

― Prude, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

antony ii noticed that you copeid me on my last queastion and i wqas wonderingh if you have the same problem as I do? are you the same antony that was the dj at The Ball Room that ytime when the dsco ball fell don and whe had to call the ambulances.

― chasimino, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

OK, now I'm cracking up.

― Nick, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

btw, Chasimino, ar u the Chasimino thats Kitty Lomond's NZ foal, 4 wins frmo 1300m to 1600m, 3d WRC Trentham S.?

― Nick, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

I think Chasimino should be an agony aunt. Dear Aunt Chasimino, I have been going out with a lovely girl who has turned out to be a little possessive. What should I do? Yours, Just Flirting, Clapham. just flitring did ii meet you at yank bar with scuzzy food-moles? cos i hav seen gary since and hes with jupiter and says hi.

― Sam, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

eight years pass...

Odds posted for 2009.

― Squash weather (Eazy), Thursday, 1 October 2009 16:49 (seventeen years ago)

Awesome. Why do you suppose Oates's odds are better than Roth's? I always assumed Roth was the American front-runner.

― katherine helmand province (jaymc), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:19 (seventeen years ago)

Can't believe they're not quoting a price on Nick Hornby.

― Feral Whizzkids kept me Going (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:20 (seventeen years ago)

Awesome. Why do you suppose Oates's odds are better than Roth's? I always assumed Roth was the American front-runner.

my ill informed guess=because she's a woman?

― Mr. Que, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:23 (seventeen years ago)

Oates covers a wider swathe of territory?

― Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Hamletmachine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:23 (seventeen years ago)

not really

― Mr. Que, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:24 (seventeen years ago)

unless territory you mean plays and stories instead of just novels

― Mr. Que, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:24 (seventeen years ago)

I thought it was a "lol you fat" joke.

― Feral Whizzkids kept me Going (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:25 (seventeen years ago)

she's super skinny though--her picture in the NY Times magazine made her look anorexic. but nice try, fatty.

― Mr. Que, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:25 (seventeen years ago)

I'm surprised that Mamet and Caryl Churchill aren't on the list. Both pretty much revolutionized their medium, in different ways.

― Squash weather (Eazy), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:26 (seventeen years ago)

xpost

I know, that was the joke.

― Feral Whizzkids kept me Going (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:27 (seventeen years ago)

I'm a big Caryl Churchill fan but I feel like she's maybe a bit overlooked nowadays?

― Feral Whizzkids kept me Going (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:27 (seventeen years ago)

joyce carol bloates

― velko, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:28 (seventeen years ago)

Eazy, did you know that M@tt Pr13st played Betty in Cloud Nine in college?

― katherine helmand province (jaymc), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:32 (seventeen years ago)

Le Clézio, who won last year, was ver low on the odds list.

so maybe Vargas Llosa actually has better chances than Oz,for example.

― Zeno, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:33 (seventeen years ago)

Bob Dylan 25/1

lol.

― Samuel (a hoy hoy), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:35 (seventeen years ago)

Presumably based on mug bets from aging stoners.

― Broman Polanski (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:37 (seventeen years ago)

Didn't know that, Jaymc -- I would like to have seen that.

Dylan's not the craziest choice.

― Squash weather (Eazy), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:37 (seventeen years ago)

dan brown 1000/1

― Zeno, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:38 (seventeen years ago)

Over someone like Achebe? Seems like a pretty crazy choice.

― Samuel (a hoy hoy), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:39 (seventeen years ago)

its been a long time since a poet won..

― Zeno, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:39 (seventeen years ago)

There's no trend or information that can help anyone predict the winner, other than knowing the type of writer who would win a prize like this. Beyond that the decision might as well be random.

― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:41 (seventeen years ago)

heads 2/1
tails 3/1

― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:42 (seventeen years ago)

"the type of writer who would win a prize like this"

with awareness to social problems, and zero offense to anyone on his/her writings

― Zeno, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:44 (seventeen years ago)

Was Doris Lessing a controversial choice?

― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:45 (seventeen years ago)

Apparently dylan is mentioned every year because there's some guy on the nobel committee who is a huge fan. But he never wins, which is a drag.

― dr. johnson (askance johnson), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:46 (seventeen years ago)

"Beyond that the decision might as well be random."

unless the committee who choose the winner also take bets...(conspiracy lol)

― Zeno, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:47 (seventeen years ago)

"Mary Gordon, fellas! We'll all get rich!"

― Squash weather (Eazy), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:47 (seventeen years ago)

I'd've thought Rushdie would be a shoo-in eventually, he wins every other critics' poll. Might fall down on offence grounds, granted.

― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:48 (seventeen years ago)

it's been a long time since Rushdie published a really great book

― Zeno, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:49 (seventeen years ago)

I kind of think it would be interesting for someone to win who not a novelist, poet or dramatist. Like an essayist or a historian or a lyricist or a screenwriter. Just to spice things up a bit. I guess they used to award it to non-fiction writers in ye olden days.

― dr. johnson (askance johnson), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:50 (seventeen years ago)

I once got into an argument with an ex because I was adamant that morrissey should win the nobel prize.

― dr. johnson (askance johnson), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:53 (seventeen years ago)

What for though?

― The Prince's choice: making a brush. (Tom D.), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:56 (seventeen years ago)

I'm surprised that Murakami's that high, but perhaps stuff like his writing on the gas attacks (and the as-yet-untranslated work) are making it more plausible.

― nabisco, Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:58 (seventeen years ago)

Orhan Panuk won, and he REALLY offends the Turkish (or at least their govt)

― When two tribes go to war, he always gets picked last (James Morrison), Friday, 2 October 2009 01:25 (seventeen years ago)

With how many of the writers on that odds list have you been in the same room? (I count only seven.)

― M.V., Friday, 2 October 2009 05:19 (seventeen years ago)

There are 61 listed, by my count.

― M.V., Friday, 2 October 2009 05:21 (seventeen years ago)

In the unlikely event of a William H Gass win, expect to see the headline "Nobel Gass."

― M.V., Friday, 2 October 2009 05:23 (seventeen years ago)

Peter Handke

Had totally forgotten about this guy. Wonder what he's been up to in the last couple of decades.

― Peinlich Manoeuvre (NickB), Friday, 2 October 2009 05:32 (seventeen years ago)

Hmmm, seems like like he's been making a total douche of himself in Serbia.

― Peinlich Manoeuvre (NickB), Friday, 2 October 2009 05:36 (seventeen years ago)

And it's Herta Muller.

Don't remember what her odds were -- the Ladbrokes page is no longer online.

Also, I didn't see the typo in this thread title last week!

― katherine helmand province (jaymc), Thursday, 8 October 2009 17:37 (seventeen years ago)

German novelist Herta Müller wins 2009 Nobel literature prize

― katherine helmand province (jaymc), Thursday, 8 October 2009 17:38 (seventeen years ago)

Better to pick her than just chucking the money into the dustbin, or giving it to a puppy for a chew toy.

― Aimless, Thursday, 8 October 2009 17:46 (seventeen years ago)

As of yesterday, Muller was tied for 4th place in the odds with Philip Roth at 7/1. Apparently she'd been moving up strongly in the past few days, so perhaps there was some insider betting?

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Countdown-to-Literature-Nobel-Amos-Oz-Mahasweta-Devi-Odds-are/articleshow/5097710.cms

― o. nate, Thursday, 8 October 2009 17:55 (seventeen years ago)

How does the prize actually get picked? How many insiders are there?

― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 8 October 2009 18:08 (seventeen years ago)

Heiner Müller was robbed.

― Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Hamletmachine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 October 2009 18:09 (seventeen years ago)

It's picked by the Swedish Academy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Academy

18 members, but 1 seat is currently vacant. I'm not sure the mechanism of voting, who counts the votes, who would be in a position to know the outcome, etc.

― o. nate, Thursday, 8 October 2009 18:26 (seventeen years ago)

Well one of them must be the mole. It's a bit suspicious that Knut Ahnlund and Kerstin Ekman had already posted their alibis.

― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 8 October 2009 19:33 (seventeen years ago)

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