NWR: Bob Dylan

originally posted by Michael Lewis:
He starred in an Oscar-winning film, but was never personally awarded an Oscar. So it is not him. Although, winning the Nobel Peace Prize ain't too shabby on its own.
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It's pretty shabby.
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maybe there'd another accolade that would be more fitting than a nobel. i don't know.

but i am cheered by the recognition of dylan's importance and influence on the world that i live in. and he's still alive. we're mourning bowie. shooting john lennnon was a crime against the moral compass of the civilised world. etc., etc.

it's been 50 plus years since dylan burst on the scene, and he's still an original and still enigmatic and creating. we rarely get it this good.
 
On other social media outlets, I've responded to the naysayers by telling them to read his song lyrics as they would a book of any other poet. Don't put on the music, don't listen to Dylan's voice. His poems are as compelling as any. What astounded me was reading the booklet from the recent "Cutting Edge" box. He wrote and recorded the songs for "Bringing It All Back Home", "Highway 61", and "BonB" in a mere 18 months, during which time he was also touring constantly.

As much as I'm drawn to those albums, my favorite is "Blood on the Tracks".

For me, this award is well deserved.
 
what would said naysayers wish to say about Homer, or Virgil? (His music isn't edgy enough?) I'm thrilled that there are voices charged with putting forth their choices for consideration who've moved Dylan's work into a category for which it was never thought to be worthy of consideration. Can anyone name an artist in the past couple of hundred years who has written so compellingly, and movingly, regarding the varieties of human aspiration, foolishness, vulnerability, weakness, folly, and cruelty, and suffering, and been able to convey those explorations so directly to the rest of us, in such a visceral manner? I'm a college dropout so maybe I'm missing something
 
I was taken aback by all the naysaying. Playwrights have won the Nobel even though they are performance works. How is songwriting different?
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I'll grant you Joyce. It would hardly have been possible for them to recognize either Kafka or Proust as both of them had their major works published or completed posthumously. It's the Pearl Bucks and William Goldings of the Nobel list that get me.
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As I recall, Proust published Swann's Way in 2013, 9 years before he died. Given this was arguably his greatest work, 9 years seems enough for the reek of his genius to waft up to Norway. But I grant you there was no way they could have recognized Kafka...

Definitely would not argue with your thoughts on Golding and Pearl Buck...
 
originally posted by Carl Steefel:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I'll grant you Joyce. It would hardly have been possible for them to recognize either Kafka or Proust as both of them had their major works published or completed posthumously. It's the Pearl Bucks and William Goldings of the Nobel list that get me.
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As I recall, Proust published Swann's Way in 2013, 9 years before he died. Given this was arguably his greatest work, 9 years seems enough for the reek of his genius to waft up to Norway. But I grant you there was no way they could have recognized Kafka...

Definitely would not argue with your thoughts on Golding and Pearl Buck...
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The last volume of In Search of Lost Time was published posthumously. I guess if one considers each volume as a separate novel, much of the work was published while he was alive. But really, it is one novel, not a series.
 
originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
what would said naysayers wish to say about Homer, or Virgil? (His music isn't edgy enough?) I'm thrilled that there are voices charged with putting forth their choices for consideration who've moved Dylan's work into a category for which it was never thought to be worthy of consideration. Can anyone name an artist in the past couple of hundred years who has written so compellingly, and movingly, regarding the varieties of human aspiration, foolishness, vulnerability, weakness, folly, and cruelty, and suffering, and been able to convey those explorations so directly to the rest of us, in such a visceral manner? I'm a college dropout so maybe I'm missing something
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I don't really object to Dylan winning the prize. But really, this claim is silly. I'm sure you can name 10 such writers off the top of your head, college drop out or not, with the 19th and 20th century to work from. Names in this thread alone would include GBS, Proust and Kafka. How about Tolstoy, Dosoevsky, Flaubert, George Eliot, Dickens, Whitman, Dickinson, Melville? One could go on.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Carl Steefel:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I'll grant you Joyce. It would hardly have been possible for them to recognize either Kafka or Proust as both of them had their major works published or completed posthumously. It's the Pearl Bucks and William Goldings of the Nobel list that get me.
Click to expand...
As I recall, Proust published Swann's Way in 2013, 9 years before he died. Given this was arguably his greatest work, 9 years seems enough for the reek of his genius to waft up to Norway. But I grant you there was no way they could have recognized Kafka...

Definitely would not argue with your thoughts on Golding and Pearl Buck...
Click to expand...

The last volume of In Search of Lost Time was published posthumously. I guess if one considers each volume as a separate novel, much of the work was published while he was alive. But really, it is one novel, not a series.
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I guess so. Although I never read the last volume, despite taking an entire course on it (from the poet Howard Nemerov)...

But then I am not on the Nobel committee either...
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
what would said naysayers wish to say about Homer, or Virgil? (His music isn't edgy enough?) I'm thrilled that there are voices charged with putting forth their choices for consideration who've moved Dylan's work into a category for which it was never thought to be worthy of consideration. Can anyone name an artist in the past couple of hundred years who has written so compellingly, and movingly, regarding the varieties of human aspiration, foolishness, vulnerability, weakness, folly, and cruelty, and suffering, and been able to convey those explorations so directly to the rest of us, in such a visceral manner? I'm a college dropout so maybe I'm missing something
Click to expand...

I don't really object to Dylan winning the prize. But really, this claim is silly. I'm sure you can name 10 such writers off the top of your head, college drop out or not, with the 19th and 20th century to work from. Names in this thread alone would include GBS, Proust and Kafka. How about Tolstoy, Dosoevsky, Flaubert, George Eliot, Dickens, Whitman, Dickinson, Melville? One could go on.
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good point. I realize I hadn't quite finished the thought, which might have been more like "name one who's never been thought of as belonging in serious literary company"
 
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