Nobel Lectures: From the Literature Laureates, 1986 to 2006
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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.Publishers WeeklySince the first Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded in 1901, controversy has surrounded the prize, the laureates and their Nobel lectures, often relating to political engagement or lack thereof. Covering the past 20 years, this collection gathers the remarks of writers as diverse as Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, Seamus Heaney, Toni Morrison and Naguib Mahfouz. Pamuk speaks of writing as a solitary venture: writers must "feel compelled to shut ourselves up in a room... so that we can create a deep world in our writing." Harold Pinter uses his moment in the Nobel sun to issue a strident attack on the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq. For Gao Xingjian, the writer's task involves the search for truth: "To subvert is not the aim of literature; its value lies in discovering and revealing... truth of the human world...." And Joseph Brodsky concludes that "a human being is an aesthetic creature before he is an ethical one." While the lectures provide inspiring glimpses of the nature of literature and the aim of the writing life, the collection lacks a strong introduction to explore these disparate views or to explain the rationale for a collection of speeches that are readily available elsewhere. (Oct.)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
