China boards the laureate gravy train

COMMENTARY

China boards the laureate gravy train

Published: 13 Oct 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

So fans didn't get to dance on the street. The two moons of Haruki Murakami were eclipsed when he didn't win the Nobel Prize in literature, as the Japanese man seemed the only writer on the speculated shortlist capable of inspiring global adulation from admirers, including in Thailand, had Stockholm given him the call on Thursday.

Well, him and perhaps E L James, given that her Fifty Shades of Gravy (or is it Grey?) has topped every bestselling list on the planet for the past 12 months.

I believe art awards say more about the giver than about the recipient, but the fact that bookies included James on the possible winners' list prior to the announcement was the blackest literary joke of the year (her odds were 500/1, but still, besides the sticky Gravy itself, the Swedish Academy has given the prize to only 44 women in the past 90 years).

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Ian
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Discussion 5 : 13 Oct 2012 at 18.465
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I like comment #2 Perhaps there should be a special category for cartoon books, I think the Japanese have the edge here.

As to myself, I am an avid reader, but I never read the best sellers, I just follow my own tastes and inclinations.
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cjc
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Discussion 4 : 13 Oct 2012 at 09.414
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Reference Discussion 3;
This is a silly comment to make, just another opportunity to have a bash at the Thais.
I should imagine that the vast majority of people in the world also have never read works of winners of the Nobel Literature prize. And certainly the name of the Japanese gentlemen mentioned will only be known to those people who like to read obscure and boring tomes so that they can claim to be intellectually superior to the hoi polloi who prefer popular, and readable, novels.
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drsmith
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Discussion 3 : 13 Oct 2012 at 08.353
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"In my ignorance I never read him, just like I never read a number of the Nobel laureates". The same can be said for a majority of Thai people. Where does the arrogance that Thai people think they are all that come from, with their third world educations and complete ignorance of Nobel Laureate's? Maybe when a country worships corruption, reading Nobel Laureates are just a waste of time.
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OldThaiHand
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Discussion 2 : 13 Oct 2012 at 08.182
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I'm just impressed that the author of this article reads books at all. Most Thais consider cartoon books the height of modern literature.
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Victor
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Discussion 1 : 13 Oct 2012 at 06.111
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One man's literature piece can be another man's piece of trash. Nobel Prize should only concentrate on scientific achievements that can be unmistakenly proven beyond any doubt.
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China boards the laureate gravy train | Bangkok Post: opinion