Doris Lessing Wins Nobel Prize
I heard the news this morning on NPR, and it made me a little weepy. She’s such an amazing writer, and as the Nobel is given to celebrate an author’s entire body of work, this prize seems so well deserved.
Here are excerpts from the citation for the award.
There have been controversies in the past about this award, as the last couple of award recipients have been very political, and with a much smaller body of work than is normally considered. But this award? This is spot on. Doris Lessing is one of the most important fiction writers in the last century. Her grasp of human relations, her descriptive emotive power, her willingness to breach the literary world’s condemnation of science fiction as “real” writing, her skepticism, her logical feminism, and her voice all make her one of those most deserving authors I could have imagined.
Yay, Doris! Go, you!
I heared she can write good.
You never hear anyone talk about the new Lessing book or the new Atwood book. Oh well. My shelves gots lots.
I haven’t read Cleft yet, the new Lessing. The last Atwood…name escapes me, but the post apocalyptic/genetic meddling gone terribly wrong one. Oh my god that book was bloody genius.
Mrs. Lessing may be one of the few writers who dabbled in sci fi that has ever gotten a Nobel nomination…but I could be wrong about that.
I will agree that Atwood has an insanely great grasp on the zeitgeist, and I would love to see her honored too.
Oryx & Crake. Totally batshit.
You mean Heinlein was never up for the Nobel? What’s the world coming to?
Oh, I loved that book! Possible? Probably not, but Atwood’s genius lies in taking current themes and stretching them to the outmost perimeter of possibilities. I love her stuff.
And no, RAH was never nominated. A damn shame, ain’t it.