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Nobel Lectures: From the Literature Laureates, 1986 to 2006
Twenty-one of the world's greatest writers contemplate art and politics in a collection of both lyrical beauty and ethical depth.
"A writer's life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity....You find no shelter, no protection—unless you lie—in which case of course you have constructed your own protection and, it could be argued, become a politician." —Harold Pinter, from his Nobel lecture "Art, Truth And Politics"
For over one hundred years writers from around the world have traveled to Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death, to be awarded the prize bearing his name. From the political to the aesthetic, Nobel Lectures collects the words of a quarter century of these literature laureates, representing the inspirations, motivations, and passionately held beliefs of some of the greatest minds in the world of literature.
From Harold Pinter's passionate and timely lecture on the nature of truth in art and politics to J.M. Coetzee's allegorical journey through the mysteries of the creative process; from Toni Morrison's essay on the link between language and oppression to Nadine Gordimer's meditation on the ways in which literature can shape the worlds of individual and collective being, this is a volume in which meditations on imagination and the process of writing mingle with keen discussions of global affairs, cultural change, and the ongoing influence of the past.
Whatever genre the laureates write in, be it poetry, drama, or prose, and whatever their cultural or social background, Nobel Lectures is a testament to the power of literature to shape the world.
"A writer's life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity....You find no shelter, no protection—unless you lie—in which case of course you have constructed your own protection and, it could be argued, become a politician." —Harold Pinter, from his Nobel lecture "Art, Truth And Politics"
For over one hundred years writers from around the world have traveled to Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death, to be awarded the prize bearing his name. From the political to the aesthetic, Nobel Lectures collects the words of a quarter century of these literature laureates, representing the inspirations, motivations, and passionately held beliefs of some of the greatest minds in the world of literature.
From Harold Pinter's passionate and timely lecture on the nature of truth in art and politics to J.M. Coetzee's allegorical journey through the mysteries of the creative process; from Toni Morrison's essay on the link between language and oppression to Nadine Gordimer's meditation on the ways in which literature can shape the worlds of individual and collective being, this is a volume in which meditations on imagination and the process of writing mingle with keen discussions of global affairs, cultural change, and the ongoing influence of the past.
Whatever genre the laureates write in, be it poetry, drama, or prose, and whatever their cultural or social background, Nobel Lectures is a testament to the power of literature to shape the world.
- GenresNonfictionEssays
336 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2007
12 people are currently reading
271 people want to read
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June 12, 2017
كتّاب يجمع خُطب أدبية وأخلاقية ألقاها الفائزون بجائزة نوبل للأدب بمختلف جنسياتهم وأعمارهم على مدى سنوات مختلفة
July 16, 2008
I originally picked this book up for the Coetzee essay only, but I have this annoying personality trait where I have to finish things even if I don’t like them, so I read the whole thing (only skipping the Jelinek essay, but eventually I read that one too.) There is a decent amount of good thinking in here, though I personally find it trite to hear writers profess such unbound love for ‘storytelling.’ In fact, there seems to be a divide between writers who swoon over the act of storytelling, and those, like me, who are drawn to writing and language because we were surprised to find honesty reflected in it, and created by it. Language and writing as the creation of an object, not a narrative – a real object in the world, with some truth, some humor and some unknown quantity.
We find out in the intro that the nobel prize goes to people producing the “most outstanding work in an ideal direction” – what the fuck is an “ideal” direction for literature? Seems like a strange word choice – how does a work of art go in an “ideal” direction? In any case, Coetzee’s contribution is fascinating – duckoys ya’ll.
Pinter does a great job calling the US out: “I put to you that the united states is without doubt the greatest show on the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be but it is also very clever. As a salesman it is out on its own and its most saleable commodity is self-love.” Totally accurate.
Gao Xingjian makes an important point: “When writing is not a livelihood or when one is so engrossed in writing that one forgets why one is writing and for whom one is writing it becomes a necessity and one will write compulsively and give birth to literature. It is this non-utilitarian aspect of literature that is fundamental to literature. That the writing of literature has become a profession is an ugly outcome of the division of labor in modern society and a very bitter fruit for the writer.”
Gunter Grass shoots for the heart (and there is something striking about the fact that so many of these celebrated writers express the same kind of pessimism and disgust,) saying: “Of course the powers that be, no matter what period costumes they are wearing, have nothing against literature as such. They enjoy it as an ornament and even promote it. At present its role is to entertain, to serve the fun culture, to de-emphasize the negative side of things and give people hope, a light in the darkness.”
It’s true - people now have forgotten or are actively promoting literature as something fun, non-dangerous, soft, unchallenging. safran foer – sounds like nice soft saffron fur. Expensive for sure, and with one overpowering cloying taste that is richly applauded by zagat critics aka folks who think the new yorker is the pinnacle of modern fiction and poetry when really that is the lowest common denominator of thought. the only question to ask about a new yorker short story is: “how many sex acts were narrated” and secondarily “was anyone underage?”
The prevailing sentiment of modern book culture is that literature is not dangerous, that it can’t trouble you, that it shouldn’t trouble you to create it or experience it. Grass continues: “What is basically called for, though not quite so explicitly as during the communist years, is a ‘positive hero’. In the jungle of the free market economy he is likely to pave his way to success Rambo-like with corpses and a smile; he is an adventurer who is always up for a quick fuck between battles, a winner who leaves a trail of losers behind him, in short, the perfect role model for our globalized world. And the demand for the hard-boiled he-man who always lands on his feet is unfailingly met by the media:James Bond has spawned any number of Dolly-like children. Good will continue to prevail over evil as long as it assumes his cool guy pose.”
Dario Fo regurgitates the same garbage taught in creative writing programs the world over: “a theater, a literature, an artistic expression that does not speak for its own time has no relevance.”
This is absolute BS. I’m so sick of this refrain. It’s like “write about what you know” or “make your art a product of your time”. Seriously? You want us to do that consciously? Guess what - it happens no matter what. Focussing on it is the task of shallow creators attempting to cash in on whatever bogus zeitgeist the big-budget culture warriors are inculcating during their 50 hour/ week jobs to do so. Art shouldn’t speak FOR anything or anyone – it should speak for itself. No. It should just BE. Be comfortable in EXISTING. That’s what it is here for – TO EXIST. Not to speak for people or times or places, but to EXIST next to people, in time, in places. And those places and those times and those people have to live next to it, should feel the challenge, the provocation, the uncomfortable insistence that this thing that has been created has been created to live next to you.
does anyone really want my thoughts on the other essays in here? probably not
We find out in the intro that the nobel prize goes to people producing the “most outstanding work in an ideal direction” – what the fuck is an “ideal” direction for literature? Seems like a strange word choice – how does a work of art go in an “ideal” direction? In any case, Coetzee’s contribution is fascinating – duckoys ya’ll.
Pinter does a great job calling the US out: “I put to you that the united states is without doubt the greatest show on the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be but it is also very clever. As a salesman it is out on its own and its most saleable commodity is self-love.” Totally accurate.
Gao Xingjian makes an important point: “When writing is not a livelihood or when one is so engrossed in writing that one forgets why one is writing and for whom one is writing it becomes a necessity and one will write compulsively and give birth to literature. It is this non-utilitarian aspect of literature that is fundamental to literature. That the writing of literature has become a profession is an ugly outcome of the division of labor in modern society and a very bitter fruit for the writer.”
Gunter Grass shoots for the heart (and there is something striking about the fact that so many of these celebrated writers express the same kind of pessimism and disgust,) saying: “Of course the powers that be, no matter what period costumes they are wearing, have nothing against literature as such. They enjoy it as an ornament and even promote it. At present its role is to entertain, to serve the fun culture, to de-emphasize the negative side of things and give people hope, a light in the darkness.”
It’s true - people now have forgotten or are actively promoting literature as something fun, non-dangerous, soft, unchallenging. safran foer – sounds like nice soft saffron fur. Expensive for sure, and with one overpowering cloying taste that is richly applauded by zagat critics aka folks who think the new yorker is the pinnacle of modern fiction and poetry when really that is the lowest common denominator of thought. the only question to ask about a new yorker short story is: “how many sex acts were narrated” and secondarily “was anyone underage?”
The prevailing sentiment of modern book culture is that literature is not dangerous, that it can’t trouble you, that it shouldn’t trouble you to create it or experience it. Grass continues: “What is basically called for, though not quite so explicitly as during the communist years, is a ‘positive hero’. In the jungle of the free market economy he is likely to pave his way to success Rambo-like with corpses and a smile; he is an adventurer who is always up for a quick fuck between battles, a winner who leaves a trail of losers behind him, in short, the perfect role model for our globalized world. And the demand for the hard-boiled he-man who always lands on his feet is unfailingly met by the media:James Bond has spawned any number of Dolly-like children. Good will continue to prevail over evil as long as it assumes his cool guy pose.”
Dario Fo regurgitates the same garbage taught in creative writing programs the world over: “a theater, a literature, an artistic expression that does not speak for its own time has no relevance.”
This is absolute BS. I’m so sick of this refrain. It’s like “write about what you know” or “make your art a product of your time”. Seriously? You want us to do that consciously? Guess what - it happens no matter what. Focussing on it is the task of shallow creators attempting to cash in on whatever bogus zeitgeist the big-budget culture warriors are inculcating during their 50 hour/ week jobs to do so. Art shouldn’t speak FOR anything or anyone – it should speak for itself. No. It should just BE. Be comfortable in EXISTING. That’s what it is here for – TO EXIST. Not to speak for people or times or places, but to EXIST next to people, in time, in places. And those places and those times and those people have to live next to it, should feel the challenge, the provocation, the uncomfortable insistence that this thing that has been created has been created to live next to you.
does anyone really want my thoughts on the other essays in here? probably not
December 22, 2020
Some of these were wonderful, some not so much. I'm not sorry I read it but it must be taken slowly over time in order to have any meaning.
February 15, 2021
كانت هذه الخطابات والمحاضرات خيبة أمل لي. كنت أعتقد أنني سوف اقرأ كلام به خلاصة فكر هؤﻻء الذين فازوا بجائزة نوبل للأدب، لكني لم أجد إﻻ ثرثرة أدبية ﻻ فائدة منها في أغلب السطور. قد يكون السبب هو الترجمة التي لم ترق لي !! وقد يكون هذا الرأي يعكس نفوري من الروايات والقصص الخيالية وحبي للكتابة الواقعية والتاريخية. أي كان السبب، الكتاب لم يعجبني ﻷني أعطي الكتاب حجمه بقدر ما انتفعت منه، ولم انتفع من هذا الكتاب كثيرا إﻻ في صفحات قليلة.
February 19, 2018
I read this book after the election results in 11/16 - in desperate need of perspective and inspiration.
Because these lectures were from the Nobel recipients in literature, they are often beautifully written.
It is difficult to rate the book overall because how the lectures resonated with me varied greatly. I highly recommend.
Because these lectures were from the Nobel recipients in literature, they are often beautifully written.
It is difficult to rate the book overall because how the lectures resonated with me varied greatly. I highly recommend.
September 28, 2009
"'Second to agriculure, humbug is the biggest industry of our age'" (Alfred Nobel vii).
"A writer is someone who spends years patiently trying to discover the second being inside him, and the world that that makes him who he is: when I speak of writing, what comes first to my mind is not a novel, a poem, or literary tradition, it is a person who shuts himself up in a room, sits down at a table, and alone, turns inward; amid its shadows, he builds a new world with works" (Orhan Pamuk 3).
"I believe literature to be the most valuable hoard that humanity has gathered in its quest to understand humanity" (Pamuk 6).
"Wherever had I got this idea that the measure of a good life was happiness? People, papers, everyone acted as if the most important measure of a life was happiness. Did this alone not suggest that it might be worth trying to find out if the exact opposite was true?" (Pamuk 9).
"Political language, as used by politicians , does not venture into any of this territory since the majority of politicians, on the evidence available to us, are interested not in truth but in power and in the maintenance of that power. To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth, even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed" (Harold Pinter 20).
"It is not easy to be an exception. But if we were destined to be exceptions, we must make our peace with the absurd order of chance, which reigns over our lives with the whim of a death squad, exposing us to inhuman powers, monstrous tyrannies" (Imre Kertesz 67).
"...in the language of poetry, where every word is weighed, nothing is usual or normal. Not a single stone and not a single cloud above it. Not a single day and not a single night after it. And above all, not a single existence, not anyone's existence in this world" (Szymborska 149).
"We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives" (Morrison 187).
"...the fate of poetry is to fall in love with the world, in spite of History" (Walcott 204).
"Pollution affects not only the air, the rivers and the forests but also our souls. A society possessed by the frantic need to produce more in order to consume more tends to reduce ideas, feelings, art, love, friendship and people themselves become consumer products" (Octavio Paz 232).
"Today the greatness of a civilized leader ought to be measured by the universality of his vision and his sense of responsibility towards all humankind" (Naguib Mahfouz 253).
"If what distinguishes us from other members of the animal kingdom is speech, then literature--and poetry in particular, being the highest form of locution--is, to put it bluntly, the goal of our species" (Joseph Brodsky 260).
"...there is no doubt in my mind that, had we been choosing our leaders on the basis of their reading experience and not their political programs, there would be much less grief on earth" (Brodsky 262).
"A writer is someone who spends years patiently trying to discover the second being inside him, and the world that that makes him who he is: when I speak of writing, what comes first to my mind is not a novel, a poem, or literary tradition, it is a person who shuts himself up in a room, sits down at a table, and alone, turns inward; amid its shadows, he builds a new world with works" (Orhan Pamuk 3).
"I believe literature to be the most valuable hoard that humanity has gathered in its quest to understand humanity" (Pamuk 6).
"Wherever had I got this idea that the measure of a good life was happiness? People, papers, everyone acted as if the most important measure of a life was happiness. Did this alone not suggest that it might be worth trying to find out if the exact opposite was true?" (Pamuk 9).
"Political language, as used by politicians , does not venture into any of this territory since the majority of politicians, on the evidence available to us, are interested not in truth but in power and in the maintenance of that power. To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth, even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed" (Harold Pinter 20).
"It is not easy to be an exception. But if we were destined to be exceptions, we must make our peace with the absurd order of chance, which reigns over our lives with the whim of a death squad, exposing us to inhuman powers, monstrous tyrannies" (Imre Kertesz 67).
"...in the language of poetry, where every word is weighed, nothing is usual or normal. Not a single stone and not a single cloud above it. Not a single day and not a single night after it. And above all, not a single existence, not anyone's existence in this world" (Szymborska 149).
"We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives" (Morrison 187).
"...the fate of poetry is to fall in love with the world, in spite of History" (Walcott 204).
"Pollution affects not only the air, the rivers and the forests but also our souls. A society possessed by the frantic need to produce more in order to consume more tends to reduce ideas, feelings, art, love, friendship and people themselves become consumer products" (Octavio Paz 232).
"Today the greatness of a civilized leader ought to be measured by the universality of his vision and his sense of responsibility towards all humankind" (Naguib Mahfouz 253).
"If what distinguishes us from other members of the animal kingdom is speech, then literature--and poetry in particular, being the highest form of locution--is, to put it bluntly, the goal of our species" (Joseph Brodsky 260).
"...there is no doubt in my mind that, had we been choosing our leaders on the basis of their reading experience and not their political programs, there would be much less grief on earth" (Brodsky 262).
February 5, 2013
This is a book of inspiring and thought provoking speeches by Nobel Literary Laureates spanning the years from 1986-2006. Some of literatures most out spoken and even controversial writers reflect upon their individual reasons for becoming the writers they have become. Wole Soyinka offers a plea to end racial prejudices and the human divide that allowed Apartheid and colonialism to exist in African nations far past the eras in which these atrocities flourished. Joseph Brodsky reflects on how mankind might be better off selecting leaders based upon their literary influences rather than arcane ideological beliefs. Naguib Mahfouz presents an urgent plea from the Third World for inclusion in the future discord of humanity. Seamus Heaney argues for the sympathetic nature of poetry to explain a world that is in constant collision with the unsympathetic. Harold Pinter begs for truth. Gao Xingjian grants us the testimony of a writer exiled from his home country in order to pursue his art. Octavio Paz pleads for an endless pursuit of modernity by injecting compassion, empathy and thought into each and every advancement. Orhan Pamuk provides an honorable tribute to the writing life and its responsibilities to society. Jose Saramago reflects upon how his grandfather taught him to be inspired by the simplicities of life. Toni Morrison passes on the importance of language as an art through the use of folklore passed down by the generations. Each of the 21 speeches offer profound advice for both writers as well as humanitarians asking us to look for truth, inspiration and a way to move forward in our great big, conflicted world with a conscious spirit for the words that will linger behind.
August 12, 2008
a diverse and outstanding collection of musings on life, liberty, and literature from some of the world's greatest writers. while each lecture is poignant in its own way, the most exceptional ones were by orhan pamuk, harold pinter, gao xingjian, dario fo, toni morrison, nadine gordimer, naguib mahfouz and joseph brodsky.
i'll just say that i believe- not empirically, alas, but only theoretically- that, for someone who has read a lot of dickens, to shoot his like in the name of some idea is more problematic than for someone who has read no dickens. and i am speaking precisely about reading dickens, sterne, stendhal, dostoevsky, flaubert, balzac, melville, proust, musil and so forth; that is, about literature, not literacy or education. a literate, educated person, to be sure, is fully capable, after reading this or that political treatise or tract, of killing his like, and even of experiencing, in so doing, a rapture of conviction. lenin was literate, stalin was literate, so was hitler; as for mao zedong, he even wrote verse. what all these men had in common, though, was that their hit list was longer than their reading list. ~joseph brodsky
i'll just say that i believe- not empirically, alas, but only theoretically- that, for someone who has read a lot of dickens, to shoot his like in the name of some idea is more problematic than for someone who has read no dickens. and i am speaking precisely about reading dickens, sterne, stendhal, dostoevsky, flaubert, balzac, melville, proust, musil and so forth; that is, about literature, not literacy or education. a literate, educated person, to be sure, is fully capable, after reading this or that political treatise or tract, of killing his like, and even of experiencing, in so doing, a rapture of conviction. lenin was literate, stalin was literate, so was hitler; as for mao zedong, he even wrote verse. what all these men had in common, though, was that their hit list was longer than their reading list. ~joseph brodsky
November 8, 2011
الكتاب هو احد نتاج مشروع "ترجم" التابع لمؤسسة محمد بن راشد
يوجد في الكتاب مزايا عدة ومساوئ كثيرة... لكنه اجمالاً مقبول
اكبر مميزاته انه جمع أفضل الأدباء العالميين حسب نوبل ... و يقدم صورة عامة عن الكاتب وأفضل رواياته وكتبه
حيث يعد بذلك مرجع لمحبي الروايات
لكن اكبر عيوب الكتاب وجود محاضرات مرة بسلسلة ترجمة أفقدتها رونقها مثل ان تترجم من اللغه الأم الى الانجليزية ثم تنتهي بالترجمه للعربية
وخذ مثلا المحاضرة الثانية بعنوان "مهمشة" فتوصيتي بأن تهمشها فهي فعلا علامة سيئة للكتاب ، وهذا كان رأي أكثر من شخص حولها
ومن المشاكل الأخرى في المحاضرات أن غالبها يتحدث عن أحداث تاريخية قد لا نعلم عنها شيء من قبل مما يجعل متابعة الموضوع صعبة.
عودة على الكتاب إجمالا بعض المحاضرات كانت مميزة جداً مثل
- الفن والحقيقة والسياسة
- عالمان ٢٠٠١
- دفاعا عن الأدب ٢٠٠٠
علم الجمال واللغة ١٩٨٧
الكتاب يحمل الكثير من النقاط التي تدعو للنقاش حولها وفي نظري ان قراءة الكتاب بدون حلقة نقاش قد لا ينتج عنه فائدة عظمى...
يوجد في الكتاب مزايا عدة ومساوئ كثيرة... لكنه اجمالاً مقبول
اكبر مميزاته انه جمع أفضل الأدباء العالميين حسب نوبل ... و يقدم صورة عامة عن الكاتب وأفضل رواياته وكتبه
حيث يعد بذلك مرجع لمحبي الروايات
لكن اكبر عيوب الكتاب وجود محاضرات مرة بسلسلة ترجمة أفقدتها رونقها مثل ان تترجم من اللغه الأم الى الانجليزية ثم تنتهي بالترجمه للعربية
وخذ مثلا المحاضرة الثانية بعنوان "مهمشة" فتوصيتي بأن تهمشها فهي فعلا علامة سيئة للكتاب ، وهذا كان رأي أكثر من شخص حولها
ومن المشاكل الأخرى في المحاضرات أن غالبها يتحدث عن أحداث تاريخية قد لا نعلم عنها شيء من قبل مما يجعل متابعة الموضوع صعبة.
عودة على الكتاب إجمالا بعض المحاضرات كانت مميزة جداً مثل
- الفن والحقيقة والسياسة
- عالمان ٢٠٠١
- دفاعا عن الأدب ٢٠٠٠
علم الجمال واللغة ١٩٨٧
الكتاب يحمل الكثير من النقاط التي تدعو للنقاش حولها وفي نظري ان قراءة الكتاب بدون حلقة نقاش قد لا ينتج عنه فائدة عظمى...
July 1, 2008
5 Stars for Seamus Heaney's nobel address, "Crediting Poetry," which shows the mundane and profoundest aspects of why artists make art--and you may be doing something similar but not identifying it as art.
He starts out with specific ideas about poetry so stick with it, poetry haters, he broadens and grows up to the last line where he lights up all art making.
He starts out with specific ideas about poetry so stick with it, poetry haters, he broadens and grows up to the last line where he lights up all art making.
June 29, 2013
A great collection of essays from some of the world's top writers, covering the act of writing, our relationship with language, politics, war, culture, identity, adversity, place, truth and art. The writing styles vary from eloquent clarity to poetic opacity but all left me with the feeling of the power of words and the skill with which they wield it. Highly inspiring to me as a writer.
September 8, 2013
الترجمة سيئة جداً وافسدت جميع المقالات التي كنت انتظرها..يغنيك بالكثير من المعلومات اذا كنت قادراً على فك شفرة المترجم. وضعت ملاحظة ان لا اقرأ اي كتاب مترجم من هذا الدار رغم ان سمعته جيدة جداً في السوق العربي للكتب
May 27, 2015
A journey with the Nobel Laureates- coming close to them as a human being,knowing their thoughts beyond their writing on politics, society, passion, conscience, religion and over all life as a whole.
Writing to most of them is like meditation-a solitary journey towards their creation.
Writing to most of them is like meditation-a solitary journey towards their creation.
February 24, 2009
Insights and expresssions of political beliefs from the masters. I also realized that the Nobel lecture is the writer's public political podium similar to actors at the Oscars
March 21, 2009
These are pretty fantastic, as should be expected. Especially Wislawa Szymborska's 1996 speech, I am obsessed with her as an author. She just speaks my language.
Currently reading
August 17, 2009Inspiring, challenging . . . a GREAT read
February 8, 2011
استمتعت بالكتاب في ما أورد من محاضرات قيمة ..
يسوء الكتاب أن أغلب المحاضرات المترجمة من الانجليزية للعربية وهي في الأصل غير انجليزية تكون سيئة وغير مفهومة وفاقدة لقيمتها
يسوء الكتاب أن أغلب المحاضرات المترجمة من الانجليزية للعربية وهي في الأصل غير انجليزية تكون سيئة وغير مفهومة وفاقدة لقيمتها
May 8, 2016
They all won the award. Don't tell anybody!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 18, 2014
Read it for Pinter's rant, and for "My Father's Suitcase"
November 22, 2017
never finished it... it has some pearls all along, but it has plenty of nonsense blah blah blah...
dropped it for other books... don't know if I will ever finish it.
dropped it for other books... don't know if I will ever finish it.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews