Althouse: "Le Clézio stood out as an ecologically engaged author."

October 9, 2008

"Le Clézio stood out as an ecologically engaged author."

What it takes to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

43 comments:

Henry said...: Yes, but were any of his books made into movies?; 10/9/08, 10:31 AM
Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...: "Behold my metaphore power!"; 10/9/08, 10:32 AM
Anonymous said...: “Le Clézio stood out as an ecologically engaged author,”

How many harmless trees were viciously slaughtered to create the paper for this frog's Third World worshiping tripe?

"I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."

Now that's Nobel caliber writing!; 10/9/08, 10:45 AM
David said...: No wonder I did not win. This guy is obviously so much more highly evolved. My knuckles are raw from scraping the ground.; 10/9/08, 10:46 AM
Anonymous said...: “Le Clézio stood out as an ecologically engaged author”

Uh huh. And the books, ver zey printed on ze paper made of ze daid trees?; 10/9/08, 10:46 AM
john said...: In 1975 he married, and since the 1990s, he and his wife, Jemia, a Moroccan, have divided their time between Albuquerque, N.M., Mauritius and Nice, the academy said.

So how did they let that get by? Maybe they meant Santa Fe. Yea, it has to be that. Otherwise he would seem to be disqualified.

I have not read anything by him, but his bio is fascinating. Any suggestions? (Einglish only.); 10/9/08, 10:47 AM
Methadras said...: jdeeripper, excellent Monty reference come back. Well played, sir.; 10/9/08, 10:48 AM
john said...: That would be "English Only"; no slurs intended.; 10/9/08, 10:48 AM
LouisAntoine said...: Philistines. Have you read any of his books? I have. They are gorgeous. Try "Onitsha."; 10/9/08, 11:00 AM
john said...: Montaign -

Gesundheit.

And thanks for the recommendation.; 10/9/08, 11:25 AM
goesh said...: -too hilarious, your commentators, impossible to best most of them - you always have the best wags Ms.Ann!; 10/9/08, 11:29 AM
KLDAVIS said...: Speaking of authors...there's now a rumor that Obama may have had more than a little help writing his first book. If true, the identity of the ghostwriter could make for a decent October surprise.; 10/9/08, 11:30 AM
Trumpit said...: We really should organize a book burning bonfire in Time Square shown live on Fox News. Ann Coulter or Jonah Goldberg were the obvious picks for this years Nobel in literature because there isn't a Nobel prize yet for defamatory, distortional, irrelevant right-wing nonsensical dog poop.; 10/9/08, 11:32 AM
Ignacio said...: I've read quite a lot of Le Clezio but if the Nobel Prize is still supposed to mean anything this is a joke. He would rank very low on any list of European writers I might recommend to anyone. I doubt in fact that he would ever cross my mind.

But they've tended in recent years to give the prize to obscure uninfluential writers: for instance Jelinek, or Claude Simon.

It's a joke at this point.; 10/9/08, 11:35 AM
Christy said...: Good for Le Clezio and good for France. After all, being endorsed by the Nobel Committee doesn't necessarily mean he is Anti-American and a propagandist for the political correct. I wonder if they are registered to vote in New Mexico as socialists?; 10/9/08, 11:44 AM
bleeper said...: Trumpit - when one reads your writing one can only say "Trumpit". I never knew such words could be written. But you, Trumpit, have written them.

And you used the word "poop". How very big boy of you. Now tell your mommy you are through, and she will help you with the next step.; 10/9/08, 11:51 AM
Brian Doyle said...: What it takes to be an anti-intellectual law professor.; 10/9/08, 11:51 AM
Moose said...: Trumpit -

It's call "criticism". The author's flatulence will stand on its own merits, I am sure...; 10/9/08, 11:51 AM
bleeper said...: Leftist = haters = book burners. 'Twas always thus...; 10/9/08, 11:53 AM
Christy said...: Ignacio, my book group read Jelinek earlier this year and to a woman we hated it. I've wiped the name from my mind, but the book was cited by the Nobel Committee. An orgy of stunted emotional development, no subtlety, no grace. Just pure nastiness. I needed a mind cleansing afterwards.; 10/9/08, 11:56 AM
john said...: Never having heard of Le Clezio before, much less reading anything of his, does not stop me from poking fun at the Nobel committee, for they are indeed a bunch of silly Europeans.

My ignorance of something has never stopped me from poking fun at it. I consider that a badge.

Now I know a little about Le Clezio (who I was not poking fun at), and have been given a book recommendation. I am a little smarter for it.; 10/9/08, 12:00 PM
Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...: It's intersting how easy it is to throw the anti-intellectual label just because one may not agree with the "venerable" Swedish Academy's decision.

I have read a few of the laureates' work. I have been more impressed with some than others, and I haven't really cared for some at all. However, I have never let the Prize get on the way of my critical appraisal of their work.

Short list:

Hemingway, Tagore, Mistral, Camus, J R Jiménez, Camilo José Cela, Asturias, Kawabata, Neruda, Alexaindre, Paz, Faulkner...; 10/9/08, 12:06 PM
George M. Spencer said...: I guess this means Stephen King has to wait another year.

350 million copies of his books have been sold, sez Wiki.

"King has described his childhood as an innocent time."; 10/9/08, 12:07 PM
Trooper York said...: 2008 Edgar’s by the Mystery Writers of America:

Best Novel: Down River by John Hart

Best First Novel by an American Author: In the Woods by Tana French

Best Paperback Original: Queenpin by Megan Abbott

Best Motion Picture Screenplay: Michael Clayton by Tony Gilroy

Grand Master: Bill Pronzini

These are the annual Edgar Allen Poe awards for the best in mystery for 2008.; 10/9/08, 12:09 PM
john said...: original george -

Steven King: Born in Maine, lived in Wisconsin for a time, returned to Maine. Married locally.

All you need to know.; 10/9/08, 12:12 PM
Trooper York said...: The 2008 Hugo Awards for the Best in Science Fiction.

Best Novel: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins; Fourth Estate)

Best Novella: “All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s Dec. 2007; Subterranean Press)

Best Novelette: “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean Press; F&SF Sept. 2007)

Best Short Story: “Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s June 2007)

Best Related Book: Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher (Oxford University Press)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Stardust Written by Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn, Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman Illustrated by Charles Vess Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Paramount Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor Who “Blink” Written by Steven Moffat Directed by Hettie Macdonald (BBC)

Best Editor, Long Form: David G. Hartwell

Best Editor, Short Form: Gordon Van Gelder

Best Professional Artist: Stephan Martiniere

Best Semiprozine: Locus

Best Fanzine: File 770

Best Fan Writer: John Scalzi

Best Fan Artist: Brad Foster

The winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, sponsored by Dell Magazines and administered on their behalf by the World Science Fiction Society, is: Mary Robinette Kowal; 10/9/08, 12:13 PM
john said...: Best Semiprozine

I took that right after the last debate. Headache disappeared fast. Or maybe it was for the flatulence.; 10/9/08, 12:18 PM
Trooper York said...: Winners of the Spur award for the best in Western writing awarded by the Western Writers of America:

Best Western Short Novel: Tallgrass By Sandra Dallas, St. Martin’s Press

Best Western Long Novel: The God of Animals By Aryn Kyle, Scribner

Best Original Mass Market Paperback: Hellfire Canyon By Max McCoy, Kensington/Pinnacle Books

Best First Novel: The Night Birds By Thomas Maltman, Soho Press

Best Western Nonfiction Biography: Gall: Lakota War Chief By Robert W. Larson, Univ. of Oklahoma Press

Best Western Nonfiction Historical: Creating Minnesota By Annette Atkins, MN Historical Society Press

Best Western Nonfiction Contemporary: Lone Star Lawmen: The Second Century of the Texas Rangers By Robert M. Utley, Oxford University Press

Best Western Short Fiction Story: “Crucifixion River” (Crucifixion River) By Marcia Muller & Bill Pronzini, Five Star

Best Western Short Nonfiction: “Selling the ‘Noble Savage’ Myth: George Catlin and the Iowa Indians in Europe, 1843-1845” By Joseph B. Herring, Kansas History (Winter 2007)

Best Western Juvenile Fiction: Doubtful Cañon By Johnny D. Boggs, Five Star

Best Western Juvenile Nonfiction: Sagebrush and Paintbrush: The Story of Charlie Russell, The Cowboy Artist By Nancy Plain, Mondo Publishing

Storyteller Award: No Award Given

Best Western Drama: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford By Andrew Dominik, Warner Bros. Pictures

Best Western Documentary: Maynard Dixon: Art and Spirit By Jayne McKay & Daniel Dixon, Cloud World LLC

Best Western Poem: “El Corrido de Antonio Beltran” from Open Range: Poetry of the Reimagined West By John Duncklee, Ghost Road Press

Best Western Audiobook: No Award Given

Best Western Song: “The Last Wild White Buffalo” By Mike Blakely, Quien Sabe Music/Swing Rider Records; 10/9/08, 12:23 PM
Ignacio said...: Ismail Kadare has been rumored for years now but never quite seems to get the award.

If they wanted to go for someone young and reasonably popular there'd be nothing wrong with Haruki Murakami or Ian McEwan or Philip Roth.

I know some Swedish airhead denounced American writers but, well, the statement was so obviously ill-informed it scarcely needs to be addressed. It stands on its own.; 10/9/08, 1:34 PM
Ignacio said...: Of course Roth is not exactly young.

Someone mentioned Stephen King, citing his popularity. Sorry, but quantity does not necessarily have much relation to quality.

Eugene Sue's "The Mysteries of Paris" was the biggest selling novel of the 19th century. It's hard to find a copy of it now.

Similarly it's hard to find copies of many of Mickey Spillane's novels, though they sold millions upon millions in the early 1950s. They've been mulched.; 10/9/08, 1:44 PM
George M. Spencer said...: Ignacio--

You're right; however, Dickens' work was regarded as trashy in his time.

King is being studied today in college and high school, and he'll be studied 200 years from now.

Scary.; 10/9/08, 1:56 PM
Trooper York said...: Ignacio, I have a complete set and will be glad to lend you one to read. I suggest "I the Jury" and "The Twisted Thing."; 10/9/08, 1:58 PM
Mitch H. said...: John Scalzi got a "Best Fan Writer" award at the Hugos? Jeez, what a back-handed insult. The man's been writing professionally for what, five or six years now?; 10/9/08, 2:45 PM
Trooper York said...: Hey that's a great award. If the fans like you and buy your stuff then you are doing what you are supposed to do. Otherwise you would be writing boring crapola that nobody reads.

Of course you might win a Nobel Prize.; 10/9/08, 2:52 PM
Anthony said...: I was going through the list of Nobel Literature laureates and frankly, I have read none of the recent winners. I have never even seen "The French Lt.'s Woman".

Partly I think it is due to the fact that I do not read much in the ways of novels.

ANd thinking of the authros I do read regularly, maybe only one, Mario Vargas Llosa, could conceiveably win (and even him, I have read only one of his novels, though I like his essays).

The other living novelists I regularly read are John Scalzi, and there is NO WAY he ever wins the prize and Nick Hornby, who, I imagine could conceiveably when he is older, but not now.; 10/9/08, 3:36 PM
Trooper York said...: One of my all time favorite authors posted a comment on my blog today. That was pretty cool.; 10/9/08, 4:31 PM
Ignacio said...: Trooper York, thanks for the offer re "cult author" Spillane. Actually a few years ago when I was curious I went to considerable trouble to obtain and read these hard-to-obtain works.

There's a lot of hardboiled crime fiction from that era I find more to my taste, including Ross MacDonald, David Goodis, Jim Thompson, Peter Rabe, Chester Himes, Dan Marlowe, Horace McCoy, John D. McDonald and Donald Goines.

When I think of Spillane at his best I want to once again see the film "Kiss Me Deadly" starring Ralph Meeker, which pulls no punches and holds up well. Meeker as Mike Hammer is amazing.; 10/9/08, 5:37 PM
Trooper York said...: Ignacio, if I might be so bold give some of these new guys a try:

James Ellroy
Dennis Lehane
George P. Pelecanos

My favortie writer of that era was actually John D. MacDonald with his Travis McGee series. Made me want to move to Florida and buy a houseboat.; 10/9/08, 5:51 PM
Harwood said...: A Nobel Prize in any area is a piece of crap. Consider the Nobel Peace Prize. Watch this and vomit.; 10/9/08, 6:28 PM
Ignacio said...: Trooper York:

Actually I have been good friends with James Ellroy since he sought me out after I reviewed him in the L.A. Times Book Review in 1995 or so. The review in question allegedly helped him break somewhat out of genre and into "Qual Lit" consideration. A point I made was that I was tired of Americans waiting until such writers were safely dead 20 years and rediscovered by the French before we realized how good they were (as in the cases of Jim Thompson, David Goodis, cornell Woolrich, etc).

Pelecanos just gets better and better. His latest is really a home run.

Lehane I haven't looked at for a while. I remember the atmosphere but it seems like there was something that put me off. I probably should give him another shot.

I looked at your website, by the way, but found no way to write to you directly.

I apologize to anyone else who feels this has been a threadkill.; 10/9/08, 9:40 PM
JMF said...: I don't know this guy, but I would suggest another Frenchman who won the Nobel (in 1921), Anatole France. Specifically, THE GODS WILL HAVE BLOOD, THAIS, and AT THE SIGN OF THE QUEEN PEDAUQUE. He is a witty and wise writer.; 10/10/08, 12:29 AM
Anonymous said...: Hmmmm.

Anti-Americanism at the nobels.

Really. This is news?; 10/10/08, 7:28 AM
George M. Spencer said...: That Mickey Spillane movie referenced above co-stars, of all people, Cloris Leachman. She comes to a very unhappy end.

Jim Thompson is good, too. Like a fist.; 10/10/08, 12:25 PM