Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize for Literature!

[arpeggio]

Why not 

[The new erato]

Long overdue.

[San Antone]

Agree, overdue. 

[arpeggio]

This reminds my of John Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man where he sets five of Dylan's lyrics to his own music.

I recall one music critic who referred to Dylan as the poet laureate of his generation.

[Herman]

Why not 

Because it's a massive, monumental middle finger to the entire literary world (of which, of course, the jury is a part, to a degree)?

It goes without saying that Bob Dylan is an epochal singer and songwriter, although in my mind that epoch closed about thirty years ago, or more. But he does not write poetry. He writes songs.

Off the top of my head I can name dozens of poets who deserve the Nobel, after working for decades on their craft and mining their vision. To name one from the US, Louise Gluck.

And there were rumors that the Albanian novelist Ismael Kadare was close, and some people are still thinking Philip Roth has a shot.

All these writers, and many more who will never ever get close to international prizes, but do belong to the literary food chain, have now been told a guy who plays his songs to stadiums and has an alleged net worth of 75 million dollar needs the prize more.

[Florestan]

If one looks at a list of those who did not receive the Nobel Prize for literature, for instance Tolstoy, Ibsen, Zola, Tchekhov, Strindberg, Joyce, Malraux, Auden, Greene, Nabokov, Bellow and Borges awarding it to Bob Dylan looks like a bad joke --- not that it is the only one of the Nobel literary committee in the last two decades.

"An ill-conceived nostalgia award wrenched from the rancid prostates of senile, gibbering hippies," wrote "Trainspotting" novelist Irvine Welsh. "I totally get the Nobel committee," tweeted author Gary Shteyngart. "Reading books is hard."

Amen to both!

[Gurn Blanston]

I'm absolutely delighted! When people do all this facetious talking about so-and-so being the 'voice of a generation' or 'an icon' or whatever, it is nearly always bullshit. In Dylan's case, it is more than true.

Long overdue.

Absolutely! 

[Florestan]

Because it's a massive, monumental middle finger to the entire literary world (of which, of course, the jury is a part, to a degree)?

It goes without saying that Bob Dylan is an epochal singer and songwriter, although in my mind that epoch closed about thirty years ago, or more. But he does not write poetry. He writes songs.

Off the top of my head I can name dozens of poets who deserve the Nobel, after working for decades on their craft and mining their vision. To name one from the US, Louise Gluck.

And there were rumors that the Albanian novelist Ismael Kadare was close, and some people are still thinking Philip Roth has a shot.

All these writers, and many more who will never ever get close to international prizes, but do belong to the literary food chain, have now been told a guy who plays his songs to stadiums and has an alleged net worth of 75 million dollar needs the prize more.

Hear, hear!

[Gurn Blanston]

Go ahead and be bitter, those that are. I don't care. I grew up in that era, and you can well believe that all those brilliant, totally obscure and nearly unreadable poets and novelists which you are lamenting as passed over, didn't have an ounce of influence over the world that Dylan has had. And if the songs you listen to are not poetry, you ain't listening to the right songs.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

If one looks at a list of those who did not receive the Nobel Prize for literature, for instance Tolstoy, Ibsen, Zola, Tchekhov, Strindberg, Joyce, Malraux, Auden, Greene, Nabokov, Bellow and Borges awarding it to Bob Dylan looks like a bad joke --- not that it is the only one of the Nobel literary committee in the last two decades.

Amen to both!

Bellow got it (in 1976), but otherwise, yeah you're right.

Personally I think the Academy's bias against genre fiction needs to go. Some of the 20th century's most enduring literary achievements were in the realm of science fiction or crime/detective fiction.

[San Antone]

Go ahead and be bitter, those that are. I don't care. I grew up in that era, and you can well believe that all those brilliant, totally obscure and nearly unreadable poets and novelists which you are lamenting as passed over, didn't have an ounce of influence over the world that Dylan has had. And if the songs you listen to are not poetry, you ain't listening to the right songs.

What he said.

[arpeggio]

Go ahead and be bitter, those that are. I don't care. I grew up in that era, and you can well believe that all those brilliant, totally obscure and nearly unreadable poets and novelists which you are lamenting as passed over, didn't have an ounce of influence over the world that Dylan has had. And if the songs you listen to are not poetry, you ain't listening to the right songs.

I second the motion.

[Florestan]

all those brilliant, totally obscure and nearly unreadable poets and novelists which you are lamenting as passed over,

I do hope you are not refering to my list...

didn't have an ounce of influence over the world that Dylan has had.

...but if you are, you can well believe that Tolstoy, ibsen and Strindberg, to pick just three, have had over the literary world (we´re talking about a prize for literature, right?) an influence which far surpass the wildest dreams of Dylan (not that I think he had, or has, any such, it´s not his fault the members of the committee have chosen --- again --- to make such fools of themselves).

[Florestan]

Bellow got it (in 1976)

My bad indeed.

Personally I think the Academy's bias against genre fiction needs to go. Some of the 20th century's most enduring literary achievements were in the realm of science fiction or crime/detective fiction.

Agreed.

[Sergeant Rock]

"Lay, lady, lay...lay across my big brass bed..."

Deserves it just for that 


Sarge

[Brian]

Bellow got it (in 1976), but otherwise, yeah you're right.

Personally I think the Academy's bias against genre fiction needs to go. Some of the 20th century's most enduring literary achievements were in the realm of science fiction or crime/detective fiction.

Ursula Le Guin is still alive!

[North Star]

If one looks at a list of those who did not receive the Nobel Prize for literature, for instance Tolstoy, Ibsen, Zola, Tchekhov, Strindberg, Joyce, Malraux, Auden, Greene, Nabokov, and Borges awarding it to Bob Dylan looks like a bad joke --- not that it is the only one of the Nobel literary committee in the last two decades.

Woolf, Frost, Proust, or Geoffrey Hill didn't make it, either. Lets see if Yevtushenko (1933-) gets it before he receives the prize.

Then again, should the award celebrate a universally loved artist, or draw people's attention to a neglected one? Dylan was already more famous than the award, in any case.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Ursula Le Guin is still alive!

Philip K. Dick is dead, alas:

https://www.amazon.com/Philip-K-Dick-Dead-Alas/dp/1933846542

[Jo498]

Dylan has supposedly been suggested for about 20 years or more. It is not the most bizarre decision in the history of the prize but it is fairly strange.

Being a voice of a generation is not really what that prize is or should be for. For being a voice of a generation he could have been awarded some prize in 1975, he has passed from that status since at least 25 years. (He is certainly not the voice of my generation (*1972) but more like a leftover curiosity).

So it boils down to the question whether his song lyrics, looked at as lyrical poetry independently from some (counter)cultural relevance ca. 40 years ago, are comparable in literary quality to what other Nobel laureates or candidates produce...

[Gurn Blanston]

I do hope you are not refering to my list...

...but if you are, you can well believe that Tolstoy, ibsen and Strindberg, to pick just three, have had over the literary world (we´re talking about a prize for literature, right?) an influence which far surpass the wildest dreams of Dylan (not that I think he had, or has, any such, it´s not his fault the members of the committee have chosen --- again --- to make such fools of themselves).

The point is, Tolstoy died in 1910, Ibsen in 1906. Dylan is still alive and producing poetry. They may very well have been deserving of a Nobel in 1916, but this is 2016. WTF? 

And either you are using rhetorical excess to make your point, or you really know nothing about Dylan. In this case, I'm not sure which is true. If you had been alive and sentient in the 1960's, you would have a far greater respect for him, I can assure you. You might still not like him, but you would know what he was about.

Subterranean Homesick Blues

Johnny's in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I'm on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he's got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It's somethin' you did
God knows when
But you're doin' it again
You better duck down the alley way
Lookin' for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap
By the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten

Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin' that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone's tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the D.A.
Look out kid
Don't matter what you did
Walk on your tiptoes
Don't try "No-Doz"
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don't need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows