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If He Had to be French...
One of his favorite authors is another writer who preferred exile and exiles, James Joyce. But he is also an admirer of the author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson. After Le Clézio’s novel Ourania in 2006, the story of an Inuit alcoholic's son at a school for abandoned children, the Times Literary Supplement critic Adrian Tahourdin reported rumors that a Nobel Prize was on the way.
Le Clézio’s later works have focused on themes of oppression in more traditional forms than those at the beginning of his career. His best novel and the one that reveals his life and obsessions the most is Revolutions (2003)—a 550-page epic story that runs from Nice to London and Mexico to Mauritius. It shifts in time from the French revolutionary wars to the massacre of Mexican students in 1968. Its availability in English would be a major gain from today’s news.
He now becomes the thirteenth Frenchman to get the accolade, the first since 1985. He would have been the fourteenth had not Sartre refused. The United States has won ten—the last for Toni Morrison in 1993.
The Nobel secretary’s remarks last week about the unlikelihood of an American winner have caused much unfavorable comment in Britain. The politician and author, Denis MacShane, called the row: "the last curse of George W. Bush.” Until there is a new president, “anti-Americanism, the new socialism of fools, will be on a pedestal in Europe.”
MacShane, who was Europe’s minister in Tony Blair's government, accused the Nobel Committee of “lessening its own standing by associating literary merit with the possession of the right passport.”
But he is right about the insularity of America in publishing translations: “It would be wonderful if it were as easy to buy an English Le Clézio in New York as a French Philip Roth in Paris".
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Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
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Peter Stothard is editor of the Times Literary Supplement. He was editor of The Times of London from 1992-2002. He writes about ancient and modern literature and is the author of Thirty Days, a Downing Street diary of his time with British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the Iraq war.
The Best of Brit Lit
Peter Stothard is editor of the Times Literary Supplement. He was editor of The Times of London from 1992-2002. He writes about ancient and modern literature and is the author of Thirty Days, a Downing Street diary of his time with British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the Iraq war.
The Best of Brit Lit
Peter Stothard is editor of the Times Literary Supplement. He was editor of The Times of London from 1992-2002. He writes about ancient and modern literature and is the author of Thirty Days, a Downing Street diary of his time with British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the Iraq war.
What a lame article. A Frenchman won the Nobel. Why is it a dig towards America?? Because Philip Roth didn't win it's some big conspiracy?? And the Washington-hating Paris hating intelligentsia quote, please, you sound like Sarah Palin. I expect better stuff from The Daily Beast than this nonsense.
Le Clezio has dual Mauritian and French citizenship. He grew up in Mauritius. His Mauritian roots, which go back to the 18th century, are a major element of his complex identity. By the by, just to complicate matters, his father is an Englishman. The very premise of this rather sketchy appraisal is faulty - did Peter Stothard even bother to look beyond the Nobel Foundation press release? Le Clezio is far more than just a "Frenchman".
I agree with james40! The reward is the work itself. People who quibble about contests and prizes are so full of themselves. Grow up!
Take your head out of your ass and take a deep breath. It's not about America, it's about mediocre talent.
Le Clezio is a good writer but the Cormac McCarthy who wrote Blood Meridian is a great one. That's who should get a Noble Prize.
Keithw
Thank you.
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