It’s been a long time since I’ve read a Doris Lessing novel, several decades I’m sure, so I can barely remember if I liked them or not. I know Clancy Sigal, an old friend of mine, was one of the characters in The Golden Notebook. I think at one point he had an affair with Doris, when he was a much younger man than she. One of those literary things, I suppose. Anyway, I have no idea whether she deserved the Nobel Prize for literature, but evidently she wasn’t too excited about it anyway. Good for her.
As opposed to some recent winners, at least we’ve heard of her. (I guess Philip Roth will go to his grave without the prize, putting him in the company of Graham Greene, Proust, etc. Better company than the winners.)
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5 Comments
1. pjw:Tolstoy actually lived long enough that he could have been awarded a Nobel Prize, talk about your major omissions.
Oct 11, 2007 - 8:33 pm 2. Michael J. Totten:Roger: I have no idea whether she deserved the Nobel Prize for literature, but evidently she wasn’t too excited about it anyway. Good for her.
I’d be pretty excited if I won it.
Oct 12, 2007 - 3:08 am 3. Dark Unicorn:I’m just pleased that someone who has written a considerable amount of science fiction–and is perfectly willing to have it called science fiction!–has won a Nobel Prize.
She’s certainly the only winner who has also been a Guest of Honour at a World Science Fiction Convention (back in 1987)…
Oct 12, 2007 - 2:50 pm 4. tioedong:She deserves it.
Oct 12, 2007 - 8:21 pm 5. ET:Her novels are boring and depressing, but haunt you afterward…
Tioedong,
What an interesting comment. I slogged through several of her novels and was bored as well, but I cannot get them out of my head. They are haunting. Why do you think that is?
Oct 14, 2007 - 2:31 am