tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604329068806422759.post4446307079511685725..comments2023-10-27T07:32:26.606-06:00Comments on The Birdcage: Post-Nobel Prize for Literature Thoughts 2017M. Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13829062997679872743noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604329068806422759.post-38705010349998416732017-10-08T23:16:39.794-06:002017-10-08T23:16:39.794-06:00Hello Mathew Cole,
Perhaps yo are right and mayb...Hello Mathew Cole, <br /><br />Perhaps yo are right and maybe I have underestimated his Japanese sensibilities. However, since the win there has been a great deal of fixation and exaggeration on these sensibilities, and I would prefer it more appropriate to play on the side of caution, when referring to Kazuo Ishiguro as a singular 'Japanese writer,' as some have choose to describe him as. As you put it (and I do agree) he is a writer of trans-cultural exchange, due to his upbringing and heritage. Caution should be exercised with greater discretion, when attempting to place him in a context of being foreign, when he's quite familiar -- much like crumpets. <br /><br />You're right with both Toni Morrision and Svetlana Alexievich, having small oeuvres; but the comparison is superficial, due to the differences of their work. Morrison wrote novels of varying length, but with pitch perfect prose; Alexievich's work was different in how it is complied, with the research, interviews, and documentation. Greater writers; great quality; but vastly different. <br /><br />I don't doubt Kazuo Ishiguro is an excellent choice, Mr. Cole. I may find it bland, but that's just my opinion. ANd your right, thankfully they do not pay heed to popular critical opinion when making their decisions; as it is thanks to that convention the overlooked are welcomed and discovered. <br /><br />M. Mary M. Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13829062997679872743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604329068806422759.post-23046555773728247882017-10-08T11:08:34.586-06:002017-10-08T11:08:34.586-06:00I think you underestimate the Japanese sensibiliti...I think you underestimate the Japanese sensibilities found in Ishiguro's writings. Superficially, yes, he might seem as English as crumpets, but engaging with his texts by positioning them solely within English tradition oversimplifies their art. Clearly for me Ishiguro is a writer of two worlds, neither wholly an English writer nor a Japanese writer, and his choice of subject matter - time, memory, mortality, reality, illusion - and setting together with his scrambling and erasure of the codes of genre, which can be traced to the specifities of culture and country, point to a literature of the in-between. The Buried Giant also sought to blur the line between so-called high and low culture, literary and genre fiction. He is an incredibly fascinating writer.<br /><br />Also, Morrison won when she had only written six books. Same with Alexievich. Quality over quantity. There is precedent.<br /><br />I think those Swedes made an excellent choice. A very worthy and relevant (in this age of crumbling borders) writer indeed. Thankfully, they pay no heed to popular critical opinion when making their choices. I welcome independent thinking that embraces Dylan and the strange fiction of The Unconsoled and The Buried Giant.Matthew Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05223947659650254877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604329068806422759.post-88930120525941440962017-10-08T11:04:27.545-06:002017-10-08T11:04:27.545-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Matthew Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05223947659650254877noreply@blogger.com