Bob Dylan wins Nobel Literature Prize

[DracoM]

Well, yes, Bob it may be, but, sorry, actually this is calculated and very viral public shrug insolence, 'I am the Bob, so who the hell are you?' type unpleasantness, or so it looks to me.

Bet that deters the Nobel people from giving it to Sting.

[vinteuil]

... but did the Nobel people have the common courtesy to ask the Bob whether or not he wd actually like to receive the Prize?

At least here they ask you whether you wd accept it before offering a knighthood etc - they don't thrust it on you unasked : you have a chance to decline it beforehand gracefully...





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[french frank]

... but did the Nobel people have the common courtesy to ask the Bob whether or not he wd actually like to receive the Prize?

At least here they ask you whether you wd accept it before offering a knighthood etc - they don't thrust it on you unasked : you have a chance to decline it beforehand gracefully...

That is indeed the case: you could say the inflated self-importance seems to be on both sides. Though fair play to Bob, I don't suppose everyone would turn down a quarter of a million to show their disdain.

[Richard Tarleton]

Interesting perspective from NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/op...s-silence.html

[johncorrigan]

Interesting perspective from NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/op...s-silence.html

Thanks for that one, Richard.
Bob's spilling the beans to the Telegraph this morning. Speechless he says.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/world-exclusive-bob-dylan---ill-be-at-the-nobel-prize-ceremony-i/

...bit like this one then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQgzSTz3JXU

[Anastasius]

Interesting perspective from NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/op...s-silence.html

".....accept the authority of the Swedish Academy...."

Tosh! Dylan's arrogance was breathtaking and now he is back-pedalling.

[doversoul1]

".....accept the authority of the Swedish Academy...."

Tosh! Dylan's arrogance was breathtaking and now he is back-pedalling.

In an interview with the paper he described the prize as "amazing, incredible".
"It's hard to believe. Whoever dreams about something like that?" the paper quoted him as saying.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37806639

It would be interesting to hear how he said this.

[french frank]

Is Dylan, as a poet, the equivalent of someone like Robert Burns?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Is Dylan, as a poet, the equivalent of someone like Robert Burns?

Ooh! Good idea - my immediate response is to agree.

[johncorrigan]

Ooh! Good idea - my immediate response is to agree. :bubblus laughy:

Me too! Bob certainly is a collector, has shown the abiltity to tell great stories, to write beautiful love songs, make us laugh, much like Burns ...and I reckon Bob would be happy to be compared with Rabbie. Don't think he's written anything about a haggis, mind you.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Don't think he's written anything about a haggis, mind you.

No - he's made it very clear that he ain't gonna work on the haggis farm no more.

[gurnemanz]

I would say Bob is not essentially a poet, though much of his output is "poetic". He writes mainly in the spoken idiom, not in the literary style, (like Burns) - "It ain't me, babe." The texts are there to be sung not read and his delivery is often more like speaking than finely honed singing - "How does it feel, to be on your own, with no direction home ...". Professor Ricks, referred to earlier in this thread, has warned against calling his songs literature. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/wha...terature-is-d/

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The texts are there to be sung not read and his delivery is often more like speaking than finely honed singing

I think that your comment here admirably demonstrates how the lyrics play with genres: sung but not read, but sung in a way more closely related to speech. This puts them in a different "category" from those of, say, Bernie Taupin - and points to the literary merit that the (now-sounding-distinctly-peeved) awarding committee discerned in them.

So - should/does the lyrics' connection with the Music disqualify them from being considered for a Literary prize? If so, then the work of playwrights needs to be similarly disqualified, as the words there are (or should be) as connected to the extra-literary theatrical conditions for which they were written.

[Bryn]

Back in the 1960s, books of Robert Zimmerman's poems (as against Robert Zimmermann's) were to be found in many a bookshop. Where did they go?

[subcontrabass]

Is Dylan, as a poet, the equivalent of someone like Robert Burns?

From the lyrics that have been posted in various places by his fans, the person who comes to my mind is William McGonagall.