And the Nobel Prize For Literature Goes to... Hungarian Writer, László Krasznahorkai

 

Congratulations to László Krasznahorkai on winning the 2025 Nobel Prize for Literature!!

I read an online article titled, 'Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai wins the Nobel Prize in literature' by Kostya Manenkov, Jill Lawless, and Mike Corder.

In the above mentioned article, I learned the following information:

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai, whose surreal and anarchic novels combine a bleak world view with mordant humor, won the Nobel Prize in literature Thursday for work the judges said upholds the power of art in the midst of “apocalyptic terror.”

The Nobel judges said the 71-year-old author, whose novels sometimes consist of just one long sentence, is “a great epic writer” whose work “is characterized by absurdism and grotesque excess.”

Frankly, I'd never even heard of László Krasznahorkai until this morning. So, I am curious to read one of his novels in the future. Have you read any of his novels before now? If so, what did you think of the novel?

Click on the very top link to read the full story about László Krasznahorkai winning the Nobel Prize for Literature.

A Frozen Woman by Annie Ernaux

 

I'd never even heard of French writer, Annie Ernaux, before... That is until she won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2022. I decided to give one of Ernaux's books a try to see what her writing was like.

I ended up listening to the unabridged audio version of A Frozen Woman by Annie Ernaux and narrated by Tavia Gilbert. This is an early work by the author, which was published in 1995. It's a short read at approximately 145 pages. A Frozen Woman is categorized as both a memoir and as historical literary fiction on Amazon's website... So, I can only assume this book is a work of creative nonfiction?

I enjoyed A Frozen Woman and the writing style of the author. A Frozen Woman is definitely a feminist read, which presents a cultural history/snapshot of women in society. Topics touched upon included how women are viewed in society, societal norms/expectations of women, trying to have a different sort of lifestyle as a woman than the one society expects from you, and trying to have it all/juggle it all. 

I think Ernaux presents the material well. In my opinion, A Frozen Woman is a great book to read during Women's History Month. Tavia Gilbert narrated A Frozen Woman very well.

Below is the publisher's summary for A Frozen Woman by Annie Ernaux from Amazon's website:

A Frozen Woman charts Ernaux's teenage awakening, and then the parallel progression of her desire to be desirable and her ambition to fulfill herself in her chosen profession - with the inevitable conflict between the two.

And then she is 30 years old, a teacher married to an executive, mother of two infant sons. She looks after their nice apartment, raises her children. And yet, like millions of other women, she has felt her enthusiasm and curiosity, her strength and her happiness, slowly ebb under the weight of her daily routine. The very condition that everyone around her seems to consider normal and admirable for a woman is killing her.

While each of Ernaux's books contain an autobiographical element, A Frozen Woman, one of Ernaux's early works, concentrates the spotlight piercingly on Annie herself. Mixing affection, rage and bitterness, A Frozen Woman shows us Ernaux's developing art when she still relied on traditional narrative, before the shortened form emerged that has since become her trademark.

I am giving A Frozen Woman by Annie Ernaux a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

The Alternate Nobel Prize in Literature

If you've been following the news the past few months, you've likely learned that the Nobel Prize in Literature has been cancelled for 2018. 

Oddly, however, an Alternate Nobel Prize in Literature has been created and is going to be awarded on October 12, 2018.

Here's the thing, ever since I read about the 'sex scandal' surrounding the Nobel committee earlier this year, I thought the Nobel Prize for Literature was going to be cancelled for this year and (possibly) next year until things were straightened out.

In lieu of this information, I've been having a difficult time wrapping my brain around the entire idea of an 'Alternate Nobel Prize for Literature' being awarded on October 12th. 

If a Nobel Prize in Literature isn't going to be awarded this year, due to a scandal, that's fine. Just don't come up with an alternate prize for the Nobel Prize in Literature and then refer to it as the 'Alternate Nobel Prize for Literature' as that sounds lame. 

Either it is the real Nobel Prize in Literature or it is not... Coming up with some woo woo term/alternate name for the Nobel Prize in Literature feels/sounds disrespectful to the idea of winning/awarding a Nobel Prize. Simply don't award a prize this year and move the heck on.

Does anyone else feel the same way?? Or are you fine with the idea of an 'Alternate Nobel Prize for Literature' being awarded??

2018 Nobel Prize for Literature Will Be Delayed Over Sex Scandal!!

Like, O-M-G!! Sex scandals

seem to be coming out of the woodwork...

When will it all end?

English novelist Kazuo Ishiguro wins the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature!

Congrats to English novelist Kazuo Ishiguro on winning the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature! 

Every year around this time I am on pins and needles waiting to learn who will win the Nobel Prize for Literature... And it's so difficult to know who's going to actually win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Sometimes the Nobel Prize for Literature goes to an author I've heard of before and other times I've never heard of the author before ever... So the news as to the winner's identity of the Nobel Prize in Literature always makes for interesting reading to say the least.

Sometimes, I try to make a guess as to who I think will win this prestigious literary award... This year, I guessed the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature would go to Japanese author, Haruki Murakami, as I've heard in previous years he'd been a potential front runner to win the the Nobel Prize For Literature... But alas, my guess was wrong!

Although, I've heard of Kazuo Ishiguro before, I've never read any of his novels to date. So, I'll be adding one of his novels to my ever growing 'to be read' pile at some point.

In the New York Times article titled, Kazuo Ishiguro Is Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature by Alexandra Alter and Dan Bilefsky, I learned the following information:

Mr. Ishiguro, 62, is best known for his novels “The Remains of the Day,” about a butler serving an English lord in the years leading up to World War II, and “Never Let Me Go,” a melancholy dystopian love story set in a British boarding school. In his seven novels, he has obsessively returned to the same themes, including the fallibility of memory, mortality and the porous nature of time.

“If you mix Jane Austen and Franz Kafka then you have Kazuo Ishiguro in a nutshell, but you have to add a little bit of Marcel Proust into the mix,” said Sara Danius, the permanent secretary of The Swedish Academy.

Ms. Danius described Mr. Ishiguro as “a writer of great integrity.”

“He doesn’t look to the side,” she said. “He has developed an aesthetic universe all his own.”

In a statement released by his publisher, Mr. Ishiguro expressed astonishment at the award, calling it, “amazing and totally unexpected news.”

Click on the top link to read the entire article.

Until my next post, happy reading!!