Nobel Prizewinner

[jno]

Bob Dylan.... hmmm, the times the times they are a-changing

[andy-hughes]

jno - //Irvine Welsh (@IrvineWelsh)
I'm a Dylan fan, but this is an ill conceived nostalgia award wrenched from the rancid prostates of senile, gibbering hippies. //

Don't you sit on that fence Irvine, tell it like it is!!

[jim360]

I'm confused about this reference to "the last twelve months" or "nothing decent for half a century", both of which overlook the fact that the Nobel Prize in any given year isn't about the work of that last year, and almost never has been. Often it's about work from years, even decades ago -- in the Physics category Higgs and Englert had to wait 49 years for their work to receive a Nobel prize, and I don't even think that's the record.

Dylan might not deserve the award for other reasons, but what he's done (or hasn't) recently certainly isn't one of them.

[agchristie]

Mikey > there was suspicions of disagreement within the Jury members, and now its obvious why.

Mikey, this is nothing new in high profile awards circles. There have been some incredible stories for example among jury members in judging the Man Booker Prize for example whose methodology at times has been staggering.

Disagreement among members is a regular and entirely normal part of the process unless of course, it is a unanimous panel.

[jno]

lol agchristie, disagreement is normal except when they don't. There has been some delay on this one, and I think that is unusual for the Nobels. There was probably someone in there holding out for the Beach Boys instead.

[agchristie]

I would say that comparing last years winner,Svetlana Alexievich, with Dylan is cheapening the prize and frankly, ridiculous.

[mikey4444]

Jim....I think its his eligibility for the award that is bothering me.

The Nobel Prize winners in other categories are quite clear in what the award is for.

For instance, in 1962 Crick and Watson, along with Wilkins, received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, They might also have been rather good at gardening, or perhaps singing, but nobody suggested that their names were put forward or anything other than Physiology or Medicine.

I have to say that this current 2016 award makes no sense to me at all, and that is coming from someone who was a huge Dylan fan.

[andy-hughes]

AG - //I would say that comparing last years winner,Svetlana Alexievich, with Dylan is cheapening the prize and frankly, ridiculous. //

Apples-and-oranges comparisons of this type are always meaningless and redundant, but they are always made in a failed attempt to provide context.

[mikey4444]

agchristie....I am tending to agree with about Svetlana Alexievich. She may have been a good recipient for a Noble Prize for Journalism, if one had existed, but not really for Literature.

[andy-hughes]

mikey - //Jim....I think its his eligibility for the award that is bothering me.

The Nobel Prize winners in other categories are quite clear in what the award is for.

For instance, in 1962 Crick and Watson, along with Wilkins, received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, They might also have been rather good at gardening, or perhaps singing, but nobody suggested that their names were put forward or anything other than Physiology or Medicine.

I have to say that this current 2016 award makes no sense to me at all, and that is coming from someone who was a huge Dylan fan. //

I refer you back to my post at 13:34 - I think the committee are judging 'literature' in a wider context that simply that of novels or poetry, and have widened it to include songs and lyrics.

[mikey4444]

jno...perhaps the Spice Girls still have a chance then !

[jno]

I notice Jodi Picoult asking if she can win a Grammy.

https://twitter.com/jodipicoult/status/786543014134976513

However, Dylan's not the first songwriter to win the prize

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Songs_written_by_Rabindranath_Tagore

[mikey4444]

Andy....you last sentence may indeed be correct. But if it is, then there are 1000's of writers, all over the world who have missed out on this years prize, because the Committee has decided to ignore them in favour of Bob Dylan.

[jno]

that happens every year, mikey. Picking one name out of thousands is what the committees do. I remember Anthony Burgess was mightily annoyed that he was never chosen; and others were baffled that Graham Greene never did.

[mikey4444]

jno....Rabindranath Tagore was a true polymath and was responsible for many types of writing, as his Wiki entry will attest :::

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore#Theatre

But he wasn't awarded the Nobel prize for just a small portion of his literary output, but for his lifework, only some of which involved song lyrics.

[andy-hughes]

mikey - //Andy....you last sentence may indeed be correct. But if it is, then there are 1000's of writers, all over the world who have missed out on this years prize, because the Committee has decided to ignore them in favour of Bob Dylan. //

We do not know how many - and it may be thousands - of writers are considered as a long list by the committee, and rejected in favour of the recipient.

There is only one winner, and any writer from the brilliant to the lousy may consider themselves unfairly overlooked.

[andy-hughes]

mikey - //But he wasn't awarded the Nobel prize for just a small portion of his literary output, but for his lifework, only some of which involved song lyrics. //

The same could apply to Mr Dylan - twelve books published, three of which were lyric collections.

[agchristie]

Andy > Apples-and-oranges comparisons of this type are always meaningless and redundant, but they are always made in a failed attempt to provide context.

I think the views such as those expressed by Irvine Welsh are well placed. I would imagine that many an author is very unhappy with this news today.

[naomi24]

andy-hughes. //Apples-and-oranges comparisons of this type are always meaningless and redundant//

agchristie wasn’t comparing apples with oranges. When comparing Svetlana Alexievich with Dylan she was comparing an apple with a doughnut.

[jno]

indeed, the day will come when contributions to social media websites like AB will be considered.

Quite a lot of work there for the committee, though, and they may have to get a spambot to help them in their deliberations.

[mikey4444]

jno...I may have got this wrong but I don't think Dylans winning of this is being compared to other songwriters that didn't win. Burgess and Greene were both literary writers.

On another related topic.....Dylan changed his name from Robert Allen Zimmerman, because of his love for Dylan Thomas's poetry. But Thomas was never given a Noble award nor, to my knowledge, was ever considered for one, which I find strange indeed !