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2016 Nobel Prize in Literature

  1. gop76 Oct 14, 2016

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    I’m a Bob Dylan fan but the Nobel Prize in Literature for him was a big surprise and I have doubts about his justice.

    If the Nobel Academy wanted an American author I can remember a few writers: Philip Roth, Cormac McCarthy, Don DeLillo or Thomas Pynchon.

    If the Nobel Academy wanted an music lyricist Leonard Cohen or Bruce Springsteen would be my bets.

    But, in the end, congratulations Mr. Zimmerman
     
  2. davy26 Limited comebackability is his main concern. Oct 14, 2016

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    I have often used Dylan expressions as titles for my paintings - he has created many great word-pictures over the years, e.g. speaks like silence; fire in the sun; precious wind; one hand waving free; paint the daytime black . . .
    Perhaps because of my age, it's the three LPs, 1965-66, that I think of as his very best. It's important to know that from the early days he always laughed about the high-brow speculation concerning the supposed 'deep meaning' of his lyrics and he did not consider himself someone leading any protest/political movements: he was just making catchy records with amusing words - e.g. 'Jeez, I can't find my knees', but his Sixties stuff is as good as pop music has ever got to be.
     
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  3. NT931 Oct 14, 2016

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    I'm a Dylan fan, and I enjoy his lyrics (obscure though they may be), so personally I think he deserves it.

    I'd have to agree about Springsteen to some extent - perhaps not as poetic as Dylan, but the stories he tells in his songs are just so amazingly and achingly real. Each time I listen to Thunder Road, it still blows my mind even after 30 years.
     
  4. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Oct 14, 2016

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    Are his lyrics good enough to be Nobel Prize worthy? Beats me, as I can never understand anything he sings/mumbles. ;)

    News stories I saw yesterday about this with clips of his songs had subtitles....in the same language he was singing them in...
     
    Edited Oct 14, 2016
    George.A, Nitzbar, Ritzwatch and 4 others like this.
  5. gop76 Oct 14, 2016

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    There is no doubt that Dylan is a great lyricist (although, in my opinion, the best living lyricist is Leonard Cohen) but I suspect the premium was for something that Dylan is not since the 70's.

    At least the choice this year was someone everybody knows and not to an exotic writer that no one ever heard of ...
     
  6. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Oct 14, 2016

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    I think that was the point in choosing him to be honest...in an effort for the prize to be more "relevant" to the masses...
     
  7. meganfox17 Oct 14, 2016

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    The Greatest Living Rock Poet[​IMG]
    You need to be pretty special to be in this group[​IMG]Bob Dylan made The Beetles & The Beetles made Bob Dylan[​IMG]
     
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  8. ulackfocus Oct 14, 2016

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    I just don't understand how the man who's has a hit song "Everybody Must Get Stoned" can win the Nobel Literature Prize.

    Then again, I didn't understand how a mass murderer could win the Nobel Peace Prize either, but Nelson Mandela has one to his name.
     
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  9. davy26 Limited comebackability is his main concern. Oct 14, 2016

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    How good to encounter another non-believer: all the liberal sheep in this world pay lip service to Mandela's integrity and wisdom, yet as far as I can see, the only thing I could acknowledge as positive is the ability to carry off the wearing of a very loud shirt.
     
  10. gop76 Oct 14, 2016

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    Oh, the Nobel Peace Prize...

    Other Nobel Peace winners known by their world peace efforts are Anwar El Sadat, Yasser Arafat and Henry Kissinger...
     
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  11. abrod520 Oct 14, 2016

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    Oh, Anwar Sadat....

     
  12. ulackfocus Oct 14, 2016

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    He's in the same league as Bill Cosby (sweaters), and that's not exactly a club you want to be in. :thumbsdown:

    There are other terrible lies that history has spun, like Abraham Lincoln being the "Great Emancipator" when he only freed the slaves to kill the South's economy and win the war. His next step was sending them back to Africa or down to Central America to colonize lands that had climates more like where they came from. Read Lincoln's State of the Union Address for 1862 and you'll see it for yourself - he even had a plan to pay reparations to the South after they lost the Civil War (or as southerners still sometimes call it "the War of Northern Aggression"). To the victors go the spoils of war, including the right to revisionist history / spin control.

    Yet another club I really don't want membership in.
     
    Edited Oct 14, 2016
  13. ONEWATCH Irony embodied Oct 14, 2016

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    Anybody ever look at how many great songs were written by Willie Nelson. One of the most productive song writers and they were not all Country and Western. You should look it up.
     
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  14. marturx Oct 14, 2016

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    IMO they should give the price to someone who both deserves it and appreciates it. And where the price would boost the authorship of the price taker.

    I don't think Dylan care about the price, or even wants it. I wouldn't be surprised if he skipped the journey to Stockholm, to collect the price
     
  15. Northernman Lemaniac Oct 14, 2016

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    The literature price is awarded by the Swedes so I refrain from commenting.
    The peace prize is awarded by a Norwegian jury. ::facepalm1::

    I have no idea what they have been smoking over the years, but I am certain it's illegal in a majority of the worlds countries.
    Some "great" winners already mentioned.
    How about President Obama?
    He had barely entered the Oval Office.
    :whipped:
     
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  16. ulackfocus Oct 14, 2016

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    It's almost as if somebody on the Nobel committee lost a bet and had to convince the rest of the members to award it to some pot smoking rock and roll ex-hippee.
     
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  17. meganfox17 Oct 14, 2016

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    [​IMG]
    I absolutely disagree with everyone here who doesnt think Bob Dylan deserves the Nobel Prize. How many generations of artistes have sang this song, a song for a millennium written by the Rock Poet at age 21 but so strangely held my favourite song back in his debut album....

    '...The Answer My Friend is " Blowing in the Wind " , the Answer is the Nobel Prize....'
     
  18. ulackfocus Oct 14, 2016

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    If ANY rock singer / writer from that era was Nobel Prize worthy, it was Jim Morrison - hell, he even wrote poetry. Bob Dylan was Jim Morrison Lite. (which was still good) Morrison was MUCH more influential on his generation and generations to come, whether song writers, band members, or just regular people. I wasn't aware of the whole 60's culture, but grew up in the aftermath. I'm relatively certain that those in my age group (just at the end of the Baby Boomers and at the very start of what's now called Generation X but not fully in either) will agree that Dylan didn't have the impact of many other song writers / performers.

    @meganfox17 - you can't tell me that you haven't sang along with a few Doors songs yourself if you enjoyed Bob Dylan.
     
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  19. meganfox17 Oct 14, 2016

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    I have seen YouTube videos of James "The King of Orgasmic Rock " Douglas Morrison. He was Supremely Awesome but died young age 27 of accidental cocktail of Heroin Alcohol abuse to have any significant major impact on World Literature. Ask Generation X Y & D ( Digital ) outside the US
    " Have you ever heard of The Lizard King or His Dylanness , they are more likely to answer in the latter. Bob influence more people around the world in 75 yrs than Jim in 27 . Malaysians remembered Dylan because he came here for a Far East Tour in 94' so he is safely revered here in South East Asia.
    Both were & are Great Men Sir that's beyond a shadow of a doubt but i feel Dylan just edges Morrison over the literature award. I know its literally hopeless to win an argument against @ulackfocus but it's occasionally a nice feeling for a lady to step forward & speak her mind[emoji6]

    p/s @ulackfocus :
    So Sorry Boss for disagreeing with you but if you're selling your Pepsi Seiko , i'll buy it in a blink of an eye 'coz it's sure worth hell of a lot more than Dylan's or Morrison's watches...!!!
     
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  20. noelekal Home For Wayward Watches Oct 14, 2016

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    I like Bob Dylan.

    Can't really admire the Nobel Prize determinations for the past generation or so.