Once again, I'm going to throw a Nobel prize-winning author's work at the wall and move on to something else. This year I've been making a concerted effort to read Nobel winners, especially since so many of them give me the opportunity to expand my knowledge of authors from other countries. Unfortunately, I've been disappointed by many of my choices.
I was unable to finish Orhan Pamuk's My Name is Red, Jose Saramago's Baltasar and Blimunda and, as of today, Elfriede Jelinek's The Piano Teacher. I finished, but despised, V.S. Naipaul's In a Free State. Only Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea has made a positive impression. What's up with that? I'm planning to read a few more Nobel winners this year: Halldor Laxness, Imre Kertész, and Nadine Gordimer, and I'm hoping for a more enjoyable experience. But I have to say I rushed rather headlong into reading the Nobels, assuming that anyone who has garnered such international acclaim would be worth reading. And it's been disappointing. I
have enjoyed the Booker, Orange and Whitbread/Costa winners much, much more.
How about you? Do you read prizewinners? What's your favorite prize?
My review of The Piano Teacher is hardly worth its own blog post ...
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The Piano Teacher
Elfriede Jelinek
280 pages
This review will be very, very short, because I really disliked this book and was unable to finish it. Erika Korhut is a young woman who, having failed in pursuit of a career as a concert pianist, now teaches piano in Vienna. She lives with her domineering mother who controls every aspect of Erika's life. Erika has no friends, and no romantic relationships, and her mother ensures it stays that way. At the time I abandoned this book, Erika was already engaged in self-destructive behavior, which was about to continue through a relationship with one of her students. But I found the characters lacked depth and were completely dispicable. I didn't care what happened to Erika and was really disappointed by this work from a Nobel prize-winning author.
Elfriede Jelinek
280 pages
This review will be very, very short, because I really disliked this book and was unable to finish it. Erika Korhut is a young woman who, having failed in pursuit of a career as a concert pianist, now teaches piano in Vienna. She lives with her domineering mother who controls every aspect of Erika's life. Erika has no friends, and no romantic relationships, and her mother ensures it stays that way. At the time I abandoned this book, Erika was already engaged in self-destructive behavior, which was about to continue through a relationship with one of her students. But I found the characters lacked depth and were completely dispicable. I didn't care what happened to Erika and was really disappointed by this work from a Nobel prize-winning author.
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Comments
Better luck with your next selection!
That's a great way to put it, Jill! I've enjoyed the other prizes more, too.
Do check out my Sunday Salon posts :D
SS 1: Review of The Dark Child (http://readingandmorereading.blogspot.com/2008/08/dark-child-by-camara-laye.html)
SS 2: Musings about books (http://readingandmorereading.blogspot.com/2008/08/sunday-salon-musing-from-vacation.html)
That's too bad that you've run into so many you haven't enjoyed so far. I hope that your luck changes soon!
Have a great week.
I really can't read Coetzee, and I tried Xingjian's Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather but it did nothing for me.
However, I've read Pamuk's nonfiction and I have enjoyed it, especially Istanbul. Part of that was I had been there, but I liked his style for NF anyway.
I'd say go back to the Bookers.
The most enjoyable reads among award winners for me have been the Orange Prize winners.