Would you read these Nobel Prize winning author’s novels?

[Finchbearer]

They all have fantastical elements, and perhaps we could learn something from them? Or not? What are your thoughts on reading Nobel Prize winner work?

Kazuo Ishiguro (2017, United Kingdom)

The Buried Giant (2015) - A novel that blends historical fiction with fantasy, set in a mythical post-Arthurian Britain where an elderly couple embarks on a journey to find their son.

Olga Tokarczuk (2018, Poland)

Primeval and Other Times (1996) - A novel that interweaves magical realism with the lives of villagers in a mythical Polish village.

Mo Yan (2012, China)

Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out (2006) - A novel with elements of magical realism, where the protagonist is reincarnated multiple times, experiencing life as different animals and humans.

Doris Lessing (2007, United Kingdom)

The Canopus in Argos: Archives series (1979-1983) - A series of science fiction novels that explore the development of civilizations on different planets.


The only one I’ve read is The Buried Giant, and although I read it a while ago and found it to be quite slow, it was a book that lingered in my thoughts, which is generally my barometer for a good read. But I’m thinking about giving it a re-read. I will definitely put the other books on my to-read list.

What can we learn, if anything, from novelists who are deemed to be at the top of their game? Does it matter if we are writing genre or niche fiction? What makes a book good?

 

[pmmg]

I'd probably read anything if there was reason.

But, I am choosy, so I'd have to be steered into these.

I would not give them any credit for being Nobel winners. The Nobel prize has not been about merit for as long as I've been alive. I'd be more likely to read them if they also stood a test of time, like the classics have.

 

[JBCrowson]

I'd read them. Are they books I aspire or hope to read - no more than millions of others, and I know I'll get to only a fraction of them. I wouldn't give them higher status by virtue of being Nobel prize winning (or any other literary prize for that matter). I imagine my preferences in a book are different to those of judges for such awards. So their picks may well not be to my taste.

 

[JBCrowson]

I'd probably read anything if there was reason.

But, I am choosy, so I'd have to be steered into these.

I would not give them any credit for being Nobel winners. The Nobel prize has not been about merit for as long as I've been alive. I'd be more likely to read them if they also stood a test of time, like the classics have.

I would disagree that Nobel prizes are not about merit. In some fields for which they are awarded they may be awarded on other criteria as well as merit, but the merit is in there. What is meritorious is also subjective in many fields, literature especially.

 

[Mad Swede]

They all have fantastical elements, and perhaps we could learn something from them? Or not? What are your thoughts on reading Nobel Prize winner work?

Kazuo Ishiguro (2017, United Kingdom)

The Buried Giant (2015) - A novel that blends historical fiction with fantasy, set in a mythical post-Arthurian Britain where an elderly couple embarks on a journey to find their son.

Olga Tokarczuk (2018, Poland)

Primeval and Other Times (1996) - A novel that interweaves magical realism with the lives of villagers in a mythical Polish village.

Mo Yan (2012, China)

Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out (2006) - A novel with elements of magical realism, where the protagonist is reincarnated multiple times, experiencing life as different animals and humans.

Doris Lessing (2007, United Kingdom)

The Canopus in Argos: Archives series (1979-1983) - A series of science fiction novels that explore the development of civilizations on different planets.


The only one I’ve read is The Buried Giant, and although I read it a while ago and found it to be quite slow, it was a book that lingered in my thoughts, which is generally my barometer for a good read. But I’m thinking about giving it a re-read. I will definitely put the other books on my to-read list.

What can we learn, if anything, from novelists who are deemed to be at the top of their game? Does it matter if we are writing genre or niche fiction? What makes a book good?

I've read The Buried Giant and The Canopus in Argus, and I did prefer the latter. The other two are on my list to be read.

What we can learn from any author who has won a major literary prize is what the critics consider to be good literature. That is especially true of the Nobel Prize for Literature, where the panel who award the prize look back over all the shortlisted authors works before deciding on a winner. In that sense the Nobel Prize is a mark of a consistently high standard of writing over a long period of time.