The Nobel Prize was created by and named after the Swedish industrialist, inventor and chemical engineer, Alfred Nobel. It is considered the most prestigious in the world. The laureates receive a gold medal depicting A. B. Nobel, a diploma, and a check for a large sum. The latter consists of the amount of profits that the Nobel Foundation receives. In 1895 he made a will, according to which his capital was placed in bonds, shares and loans. The income that this money brings is divided equally into five parts every year and becomes a prize for achievements in five areas: chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature, and also for activities to strengthen peace.
The first Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded on December 10, 1901, and has since been awarded annually on that date, which is the anniversary of Nobel's death. The winners are awarded in Stockholm by the Swedish king himself. After receiving the award, Nobel Prize winners in literature must give a lecture on their work within 6 months. This is an indispensable condition for receiving the award.
The decision on who is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature is made by the Swedish Academy, located in Stockholm, as well as the Nobel Committee itself, which announces only the number of applicants, without naming their names. The selection procedure itself is secret, which sometimes causes angry reviews from critics and ill-wishers who claim that the award is given for political reasons and not for literary achievements. The main argument that is given as proof is that Nabokov, Tolstoy, Bokhres, Joyce were bypassed by the prize. However, the list of authors who received it still remains impressive. There are five writers from Russia who have won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Read more about each of them below.
The 2014 Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded for the 107th time, going to Patrick Modiano and screenwriter. That is, since 1901, 111 writers have received the award (since four times it was awarded to two authors at the same time).
It would take quite a long time to list all the laureates and get to know each of them. The most famous and widely read Nobel Prize winners in literature and their works are brought to your attention.
1. William Golding, 1983
William Golding received the award for his famous novels, of which there are 12 in his oeuvre. The most famous, Lord of the Flies and The Descendants, are among the best-selling books written by Nobel laureates. The novel "Lord of the Flies", published in 1954, brought the writer world fame. Critics often compare it to Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye in terms of its significance for the development of literature and modern thought in general.
2. Toni Morrison, 1993
The Nobel Prize winners in literature are not only men, but also women. One of them is Toni Morrison. This American writer was born into a working-class family in Ohio. After attending Howard University, where she studied literature and English, she began writing her own works. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye (1970), was based on a story she wrote for a university literary circle. It is one of Toni Morrison's most popular works. Her other novel, Sula, published in 1975, was nominated for the US National.
3. 1962
Most famous works Steinbeck - "East of Eden", "The Grapes of Wrath", "Of Mice and Men". The Grapes of Wrath became a bestseller in 1939, selling more than 50,000 copies and now selling more than 75 million copies. Until 1962, the writer was nominated for the prize 8 times, and he himself believed that he was unworthy of such an award. And many American critics noted that his later novels were much weaker than his previous ones, and responded negatively to this award. In 2013, when some documents from the Swedish Academy (kept secret for 50 years) were declassified, it became clear that the writer was awarded because he was "the best in bad company" that year.
4. Ernest Hemingway, 1954
This writer became one of nine winners of the literature prize, to whom it was awarded not for creativity in general, but for a specific work, namely for the story “The Old Man and the Sea.” The same work, first published in 1952, brought the writer the following year, 1953, another prestigious award - the Pulitzer Prize.
In the same year, the Nobel Committee included Hemingway in the list of candidates, but the winner of the award that time was Winston Churchill, who by that time had already turned 79 years old, and therefore it was decided not to delay the presentation of the award. And Ernest Hemingway became a well-deserved winner of the award the following year, 1954.
5. Marquez, 1982
The winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982 included Gabriel García Márquez among their ranks. He became the first writer from Colombia to receive an award from the Swedish Academy. His books, including Chronicle of a Death Proclaimed, The Autumn of the Patriarch, and Love in the Time of Cholera, became the best-selling works written in Spanish in its history. One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), which another Nobel laureate, Pablo Neruda, called the greatest work in Spanish since Cervantes' Don Quixote, has been translated into more than 25 languages, and total circulation works amounted to more than 50 million copies.
6. Samuel Beckett, 1969
The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Samuel Beckett in 1969. This Irish writer is one of the most... famous representatives modernism. It was he who, together with Eugene Ionescu, founded the famous “theater of the absurd”. Samuel Beckett wrote his works in two languages - English and French. The most famous creation of his pen was the play "Waiting for Godot", written in French. The plot of the work is as follows. The main characters throughout the play are waiting for a certain Godot, who should bring some meaning to their existence. However, he never appears, so the reader or viewer has to decide for himself what kind of image it was.
Beckett was fond of playing chess, enjoyed success with women, but led a rather secluded lifestyle. He did not even agree to come to the Nobel Prize ceremony, sending his publisher, Jerome Lindon, in his place.
7. 1949
The Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 went to William Faulkner. He also initially refused to go to Stockholm to receive the award, but was eventually persuaded by his daughter. John Kennedy sent him an invitation to a dinner organized in honor of Nobel Prize winners. However, Faulkner, who all his life considered himself “not a writer, but a farmer,” in his own words, refused to accept the invitation, citing old age.
The author's most famous and popular novels are The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying. However, success did not come to these works immediately; for a long time they practically did not sell. The Sound and the Fury, published in 1929, sold only three thousand copies in its first 16 years of publication. However, in 1949, by the time the author received the Nobel Prize, this novel was already an example classical literature America.
In 2012, a special edition of this work was published in the UK, in which the text was printed in 14 different colors, which was done at the request of the writer so that the reader could notice different time planes. The limited edition of the novel was only 1,480 copies and sold out immediately after its release. Now the cost of a book of this rare edition is estimated at approximately 115 thousand rubles.
8. Doris Lessing, 2007
The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded in 2007. This British writer and poet received the award at the age of 88, making her the oldest recipient. She also became the eleventh woman (out of 13) to receive the Nobel Prize.
Lessing was not very popular with critics, since she rarely wrote on topics devoted to pressing social issues; she was even often called a propagandist of Sufism, a teaching that preaches the renunciation of worldly vanity. However, according to The Times magazine, this writer ranks fifth in the list of 50 greatest authors UK, published after 1945.
The most popular work Doris Lessing's novel "The Golden Notebook", published in 1962, is considered. Some critics classify it as an example of classic feminist prose, but the writer herself categorically disagrees with this opinion.
9. Albert Camus, 1957
The Nobel Prize in Literature was also awarded to French writers. One of them, a writer, journalist, and essayist of Algerian origin, Albert Camus, is the “conscience of the West.” His most famous work is the story "The Stranger", published in 1942 in France. Made in 1946 English translation, sales began, and within a few years the number of copies sold amounted to more than 3.5 million.
Albert Camus is often classified as a representative of existentialism, but he himself did not agree with this and in every possible way denied such a definition. Thus, in a speech delivered at the presentation of the Nobel Prize, he noted that in his work he sought to “avoid outright lies and resist oppression.”
10. Alice Munro, 2013
In 2013, nominees for the Nobel Prize in Literature included Alice Munro on their list. A representative of Canada, this novelist became famous in the genre short story. She began writing them early, in her teenage years, but the first collection of her works, entitled “Dance of the Happy Shadows,” was published only in 1968, when the author was already 37 years old. In 1971, the next collection, “The Lives of Girls and Women,” appeared, which critics called “an education novel.” Her other literary works include the books: “Who Are You, Exactly?”, “The Fugitive,” and “Too Much Happiness.” One of her collections, “The Hateful Friendship, Courtship, Love, Marriage,” published in 2001, was even made into a Canadian film called “Away From Her,” directed by Sarah Polley. Most popular book The author is considered to be "Dear Life", published in 2012.
Munro is often called the "Canadian Chekhov" because the writers' styles are similar. Like the Russian writer, he is characterized by psychological realism and clarity.
Nobel Prize laureates in literature from Russia
To date, five Russian writers have won the prize. The first laureate was I. A. Bunin.
1. Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, 1933
This is a famous Russian writer and poet, outstanding master realistic prose, and is an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1920, Ivan Alekseevich emigrated to France, and when presenting the award, he noted that the Swedish Academy acted very bravely by awarding the emigrant writer. Among the contenders for this year’s prize was another Russian writer, M. Gorky, however, largely thanks to the publication of the book “The Life of Arsenyev” by that time, the scales nevertheless tipped in the direction of Ivan Alekseevich.
Bunin began writing his first poems at the age of 7-8 years. Later, his famous works were published: the story “The Village”, the collection “Sukhodol”, the books “John the Weeper”, “The Gentleman from San Francisco”, etc. In the 20s he wrote (1924) and “ Sunstroke"(1927). And in 1943, the pinnacle of Ivan Alexandrovich's creativity, a collection of stories, was born" Dark alleys". This book was dedicated to only one topic - love, its “dark” and gloomy sides, as the author wrote in one of his letters.
2. Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, 1958
The Nobel Prize laureates in literature from Russia in 1958 included Boris Leonidovich Pasternak on their list. The poet was awarded the prize at a difficult time. He was forced to abandon it under threat of exile from Russia. However, the Nobel Committee regarded Boris Leonidovich’s refusal as forced, and in 1989 transferred the medal and diploma to his son after the writer’s death. Famous novel"Doctor Zhivago" is Pasternak's true artistic testament. This work was written in 1955. Albert Camus, laureate in 1957, spoke with admiration of this novel.
3. Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov, 1965
In 1965, M. A. Sholokhov was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Russia has once again proven to the whole world that it has talented writers. Having started your literary activity as a representative of realism, depicting the deep contradictions of life, Sholokhov, however, in some works finds himself captive of the socialist trend. During the presentation of the Nobel Prize, Mikhail Alexandrovich made a speech in which he noted that in his works he sought to praise “the nation of workers, builders and heroes.”
In 1926 he started his main novel, "Quiet Don", and completed it in 1940, long before he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Sholokhov's works were published in parts, including "Quiet Don". In 1928, largely thanks to the assistance of A. S. Serafimovich, friend Mikhail Alexandrovich, the first part appeared in print already in. next year the second volume was published. The third was published in 1932-1933, already with the assistance and support of M. Gorky. The last, fourth, volume was published in 1940. This novel had great importance both for Russian and world literature. It was translated into many languages of the world and became the basis famous opera Ivan Dzerzhinsky, as well as numerous theatrical productions and films.
Some, however, accused Sholokhov of plagiarism (including A. I. Solzhenitsyn), believing that most of the work was copied from the manuscripts of F. D. Kryukov, a Cossack writer. Other researchers confirmed the authorship of Sholokhov.
In addition to this work, in 1932 Sholokhov also created “Virgin Soil Upturned,” a work telling about the history of collectivization among the Cossacks. In 1955, the first chapters of the second volume were published, and at the beginning of 1960 the last ones were completed.
At the end of 1942, the third novel, “They Fought for the Motherland,” was published.
4. Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn, 1970
The Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970 was awarded to A. I. Solzhenitsyn. Alexander Isaevich accepted it, but did not dare to attend the award ceremony because he was afraid of the Soviet government, which regarded the decision of the Nobel Committee as “politically hostile.” Solzhenitsyn was afraid that he would not be able to return to his homeland after this trip, although the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, which he received, increased the prestige of our country. In his work, he touched upon acute socio-political problems and actively fought against communism, its ideas and the policies of the Soviet regime.
The main works of Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn include: “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” (1962), story “ Matrenin Dvor", the novel "In the First Circle" (written from 1955 to 1968), "The Gulag Archipelago" (1964-1970). The first published work was the story "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", which appeared in the magazine " New world". This publication aroused great interest and numerous responses from readers, which inspired the writer to create the Gulag Archipelago. In 1964, Alexander Isaevich’s first story received the Lenin Prize.
However, a year later he lost the favor of the Soviet authorities, and his works were prohibited from being published. His novels "The Gulag Archipelago", "In the First Circle" and " Cancer building"were published abroad, for which the writer was deprived of citizenship in 1974, and he was forced to emigrate. Only 20 years later he managed to return to his homeland. In 2001-2002, Solzhenitsyn’s great work “Two Hundred Years Together” appeared. Alexander Isaevich died in 2008.
5. Joseph Alexandrovich Brodsky, 1987
The winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987 joined their ranks with I. A. Brodsky. In 1972, the writer was forced to emigrate to the USA, so world encyclopedia even calls it American. Among all the writers who received the Nobel Prize, he is the youngest. With his lyrics, he comprehended the world as a single cultural and metaphysical whole, and also pointed out the limitations of the perception of man as a subject of knowledge.
Joseph Alexandrovich wrote not only in Russian, but also in English language poems, essays, literary criticism. Immediately after the publication of his first collection in the West, in 1965, Brodsky came to international fame. TO the best books of the author include: “Embankment of the Incurable”, “Part of Speech”, “Landscape with Flood”, “The End” belle époque", "Stop in the Desert" and others.
NEWS OF LITERARY PRIZES 2018
Prize winners announced Big Book"2018
On December 4, 2018, in Moscow, at the Pashkov House, where the National Literary Prize “Big Book” is traditionally awarded, members of the Literary Academy announced the winners of the thirteenth season.
First place this year went to the novel “In Memory of Memory” by Maria Stepanova. In second place is "Bureau of Inspection" by Alexander Arkhangelsky, third place went to the novel "June" by Dmitry Bykov.
Writer and playwright Lyudmila Petrushevskaya was awarded for her contribution to literature.
On the eve of the ceremony, the results of the reader's vote were summed up. The winner was the laureate of the prize - “June” by Dmitry Bykov. Second place was awarded to “Recipes for the Creation of the World” by Andrei Filimonov, third place was awarded to the novel “Rainbow and Heather” by Oleg Ermakov.
For the first time, as part of the award ceremony, another award was presented - “_Litblog”. The purpose of this award is to support public discussion of modern literature on the Internet. The HSE Master's program in Literary Excellence, which is the organizer of the award, hopes in this way to bring together literary process with new media formats. More than 60 authors from all over Russia took part in the competition. The expert council, which included writers Maya Kucherskaya and Marina Stepnova, as well as master’s students, selected 15 finalists.
The winner was Evgenia Lisitsyna, creator of the greenlampbooks telegram channel.
2018 National Bestseller Literary Award Winner Announced.
WriterAlexey Salnikov from Yekaterinburg with the novel “The Petrovs in the Flu and Around It” became the winner of the “National Bestseller” literary award. This became known at the presentation ceremony, which took place on Saturday, May 26, at New scene
 |
Alexandrinsky Theater. Aksenov V. If only there was a daughter Anastasia / Vasily Aksenov. - Moscow: Limbus-Press, 2018. - 532 p. Vasily Ivanovich Aksenov was born in 1953 in the village of Yalan, Yenisei region Krasnoyarsk Territory “If There Was a Daughter Anastasia” is a novel dedicated to Yalani, the distant Siberian village where the author was born. This is a year-long prayer, during which the hero, together with the author, intensely peers at the nature of Siberia, at the change of seasons and at the movements of his own soul. The main nerve of the novel is the relationship between an aging mother and an adult son who has long left his small homeland, but his heart never left her. |
 |
Labych M. Bitch / Maria Labych. - Moscow: EKSMO, 2018. Maria Labych - Russian writer, born in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Since childhood, I have been interested in painting, graphics and photography. The novel tells about the fate of a girl who finds herself at the center of the confrontation in Donbass. “Bitch” in the name primarily means a female dog that grew up in a kennel and knows how to be faithful and tear the enemy with its teeth. But the bitch is also the girl Dana, a soldier in the Country's army, who is participating in a disgusting civil war. Maria Labych's book is not only about hatred, but also about how important it is to remain human. |
 |
Petrovsky D. Darling, I'm home: a novel / Dmitry Petrovsky. - Moscow: Fluid FreeFly, 2018. - 384 p. Dmitry Petrovsky - modern writer, screenwriter, publicist. Born in 1983 in Leningrad. At the age of 19 he moved to Berlin, where he still lives and works. Multifaceted, eerie and exciting from the first pages, Dmitry Petrovsky’s novel tells about the past, present and future European civilization. "Darling, I'm home!" - to whom does the German billionaire, the owner of the largest air carrier, shout every day in the evenings? |
 |
Salnikov A.B. Petrovs in and around the flu: a novel / Alexey Borisovich Salnikov. — Moscow: AST: Editorial office of Elena Shubina, 2018. — 416 p. — (Cool reading).* Alexey Salnikov was born in 1978 in Tartu. Finalist of "Big Book" and "NOS". Lives in Yekaterinburg. The novel “The Petrovs in the Flu and Around It” is a story about the Petrov family from Yekaterinburg, whose members successively fall ill with the flu and find themselves in a strange semi-magical reality, where mysterious events and transformations happen to them. |
 |
Starobinets A. Look at him / Anna Starobinets. - Moscow: Corpus, 2017. - 288 p. Anna Starobinets is a Russian writer and journalist, screenwriter. Born in Moscow. Documentary autobiographical book“Look at Him” is about a tragic pregnancy during which developmental defects incompatible with life were discovered in the child in utero. In her book, Anna Starobinets tells her own story with amazing courage. How should a woman behave so that grief does not break her? What should her family do? And what can doctors and society do for them? |
May 30 at the traditional Literary lunch list of finalists announced National Award"Big Book"-2018.
Chairman of the “Big Book” Literary Academy Dmitry Bak: “The “Big Book” always presents new generations of authors and new directions of works, and this is very gratifying.” The Council of Experts included eight works in the list of finalists. Among them are works by both famous authors and new, as yet unknown ones. to a wide circle readers.
 |
Bykov D. June: novel / D. Bykov. - Moscow: AST, Edited by Elena Shubina, 2017. - 512 p. Dmitry Bykov - Russian writer, poet and publicist, literary critic, radio and television presenter, journalist. New novel- a bright experiment, a literary event. Bykov's novel “June” describes the events in the Soviet Union of 1939-1941. main topic The novel is the life and fate of the pre-war generation, which anticipates an imminent catastrophe. The book is built on three independent plots. The first part is the story of a student who is expelled from the Institute of Philosophy, Literature and History. The hero of the second part is Boris Gordon, a journalist for a Soviet propaganda newspaper, whose beloved is sent to a camp. The third part tells about an elderly philologist who is obsessed with the idea that he can influence Stalin with the help of words. Believing in his theory, he gets a job in the People's Commissariat for an insignificant position in order to prepare an unimportant report for Stalin once a year. |
 |
 |
Vinokurov A. People of the black dragon / Alexey Vinokurov // Banner. - 2016. - No. 7. - P.8-43.* Alexey Vinokurov - playwright, television scriptwriter. For many years he has been studying modern China and the mystical side of martial arts. Black Dragon, Heilongjiang - this is what the Chinese call the Amur River. On its Russian shore, in the village of Byvaloye, while in Russia they are playing out revolutionary events In 1917, representatives of three nations settled at once - Russian, Chinese and Jewish. The first golem of the Black River appears, blinded by the Kabbalah expert old Solomon, the girl Xiao Yu becomes a mermaid, Chinese demons of retribution punish cruel murderers, the mysterious wizard Liu Ban teaches the Chinese martial arts, a healer is born in the village, defeating death itself. A lot happens in this little-known place on the shores of the Black Dragon. |
 |
 |
Ermakov O. Rainbow and Heather: a novel / Oleg Ermakov. - Moscow: Time, 2018. Oleg Ermakov was born in Smolensk. The novel describes events taking place in the 17th century. This work immerses the reader in time travel and mystical secrets. Two private destinies - the Polish nobleman and our contemporary. In the spring of 1632, a young nobleman, Nikolaus Wrzosek, came to the city in the east of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. And in February 2015 - Moscow wedding photographer Pavel Kostochkin. The heroes find the unique Radziwill Chronicle. Both of them peer with curiosity at the outlines of the castle-fortress. What awaits them here? Love awaits both: one - for the granddaughter of an icon painter and herbalist, the other - for someone else's bride. |
 |
 |
Slavnikova O. Long jump: a novel / Olga Slavnikova // Banner. - 2017. - No. 7. - P. 9-114; No. 8. - P. 7-75.* Olga Slavnikova - prose writer, critic. Heads the Debut literary award. |
 |
|
|
Stepanova M. In memory of memory / Maria Stepanova. - Moscow: New publishing house, 2018. - 420 p. Maria Stepanova is a Russian poet, prose writer and essayist. |
 |
 |
Filimonov A. Recipes for the creation of the world / Andrey Filimonov. - Moscow: AST, Edited by Elena Shubina, 2017. - 320 p. Andrey Filimonov - writer, poet, journalist. In 2012, he came up with and launched the Mobile Poetry Festival “PlyasNigde” across Russia and Europe. |
 |
 |
Arkhangelsky A. Verification Bureau: a novel / Alexander Arkhangelsky.- Moscow: AST: Elena Shubina’s editorial office, 2018.-416 p. Alexander Arkhangelsky - prose writer, TV presenter, publicist. In his prose, the story of individual characters always unfolds against the backdrop of familiar signs of the times. The new novel “Bureau of Verification” is a detective story, a coming-of-age story, a portrait of an era, and the beginning of today’s contradictions. 1980 A mysterious telegram forces graduate student Alexei Nogovitsyn to return from the construction team. The action of the novel takes only nine days, and everything fits into this short period: a love story, religious tossing, watching banned films and interrogations at the KGB. Everything that happens to the hero is not accidental. Someone is testing his strength... |
 |
|
|
"Theater of despair. Desperate Theater" Evgeny Grishkovets is a Russian playwright, writer, TV presenter, theater director and film actor, musician. “This voluminous book is written as a biographical story, but the main character of the novel is not a person, or not so much a person as a vocation that drives and leading person to a goal that a person does not understand” (Evgeniy Grishkovets). |
 |
Publications marked with "*" are available in the library's collections.
Only five Russian writers have received the prestigious international Nobel Prize. For three of them, this brought not only worldwide fame, but also widespread persecution, repression and expulsion. Only one of them was approved by the Soviet government, and its last owner was “forgiven” and invited to return to his homeland.
Nobel Prize- one of the most prestigious awards, which is awarded annually for outstanding Scientific research, significant inventions and significant contributions to culture and society. There is one comical, but not accidental story connected with its establishment. It is known that the founder of the prize, Alfred Nobel, is also famous for the fact that it was he who invented dynamite (pursuing, however, pacifist goals, since he believed that opponents armed to the teeth would understand the stupidity and senselessness of the war and stop the conflict). When his brother Ludwig Nobel died in 1888, and newspapers erroneously “buried” Alfred Nobel, calling him a “merchant of death,” the latter seriously wondered how society would remember him. As a result of these thoughts, Alfred Nobel changed his will in 1895. And it said the following:
“All my movable and immovable property must be converted by my executors into liquid assets, and the capital thus collected must be placed in a reliable bank. The income from investments should belong to a fund, which will distribute them annually in the form of bonuses to those who, during the previous year, have brought the greatest benefit to humanity... The specified interest must be divided into five equal parts, which are intended: one part - to the one who will do the most important discovery or invention in the field of physics; the other - to the one who makes the most important discovery or improvement in the field of chemistry; the third - to the one who makes the most important discovery in the field of physiology or medicine; fourth - to the one who creates the most outstanding literary work idealistic direction; fifth - to the one who will make the most significant contribution to the unity of nations, the abolition of slavery or the reduction of the size of existing armies and the promotion of peaceful congresses ... It is my special desire that in awarding prizes, no consideration will be given to the nationality of the candidates ... ".
Medal awarded to a Nobel laureate
After conflicts with Nobel’s “deprived” relatives, the executors of his will - his secretary and lawyer - established the Nobel Foundation, whose responsibilities included organizing the presentation of bequeathed prizes. A separate institution was created to award each of the five prizes. So, Nobel Prize in literature came under the purview of the Swedish Academy. Since then, the Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded annually since 1901, except for 1914, 1918, 1935 and 1940-1943. It is interesting that upon delivery Nobel Prize Only the names of the laureates are announced; all other nominations are kept secret for 50 years.
Swedish Academy building
Despite the apparent disinterest Nobel Prize, dictated by the philanthropic instructions of Nobel himself, many “left” political forces still see obvious politicization and some Western cultural chauvinism in the awarding of the prize. It is difficult not to notice that the vast majority of Nobel laureates come from the USA and European countries(more than 700 laureates), while the number of laureates from the USSR and Russia is much smaller. Moreover, there is a point of view that the majority of Soviet laureates were awarded the prize only for criticism of the USSR.
Nevertheless, these five Russian writers are laureates Nobel Prize on literature:
Ivan Alekseevich Bunin- laureate of 1933. The prize was awarded “for the strict skill with which he develops the traditions of Russian classical prose" Bunin received the prize while in exile.
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak- laureate of 1958. The prize was awarded “for significant achievements in modern lyric poetry, as well as for continuing the traditions of the great Russian epic novel.” This prize is associated with the anti-Soviet novel “Doctor Zhivago”, therefore, in conditions of severe persecution, Pasternak is forced to refuse it. The medal and diploma were awarded to the writer’s son Evgeniy only in 1988 (the writer died in 1960). Interestingly, in 1958, this was the seventh attempt to present Pasternak with the prestigious prize.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov- laureate of 1965. The prize was awarded “For the artistic strength and integrity of the epic about the Don Cossacks at a turning point for Russia.” This award has a long history. Back in 1958, a delegation of the USSR Writers' Union visiting Sweden contrasted the European popularity of Pasternak with the international popularity of Sholokhov, and in a telegram Soviet ambassador in Sweden on April 7, 1958 it was said:
“It would be desirable to make it clear to the Swedish public through cultural figures close to us that the Soviet Union would highly appreciate the award Nobel Prize Sholokhov... It is also important to make it clear that Pasternak as a writer does not enjoy recognition among Soviet writers and progressive writers in other countries.”
Contrary to this recommendation, Nobel Prize in 1958, it was nevertheless awarded to Pasternak, which resulted in severe disapproval of the Soviet government. But in 1964 from Nobel Prize Jean-Paul Sartre refused, explaining, among other things, his personal regret that Sholokhov was not awarded the prize. It was this gesture of Sartre that predetermined the choice of the laureate in 1965. Thus, Mikhail Sholokhov became the only Soviet writer who received Nobel Prize with the consent of the top leadership of the USSR.
Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn- laureate of 1970. The prize was awarded “for the moral strength with which he followed the immutable traditions of Russian literature.” From start creative path Solzhenitsyn only 7 years passed before the prize was awarded - this is the only such case in the history of the Nobel Committee. Solzhenitsyn himself spoke about the political aspect of awarding him the prize, but the Nobel Committee denied this. However, after Solzhenitsyn received the prize, a propaganda campaign was organized against him in the USSR, and in 1971, an attempt at physical destruction was made when he was injected with a toxic substance, after which the writer survived, but was ill for a long time.
Joseph Alexandrovich Brodsky- laureate of 1987. The prize was awarded “for comprehensive creativity, imbued with clarity of thought and passion of poetry.” Awarding the prize to Brodsky no longer caused such controversy as many other decisions of the Nobel Committee, since Brodsky by that time was known in many countries. In his first interview after he was awarded the prize, he himself said: “It was received by Russian literature, and it was received by an American citizen.” And even the weakened Soviet government, shaken by perestroika, began to establish contacts with the famous exile.
“In works of great emotional power, he revealed the abyss that lies beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world,” says the official release published on the Nobel Committee’s website announcing the new Nobel laureate in literature, British writer of Japanese origin Kazuo Ishiguro.
A native of Nagasaki, he moved with his family to Britain in 1960. The writer’s first novel, “Where the Hills Are in the Haze,” was published in 1982 and was dedicated to him hometown and new homeland. The novel tells the story of a Japanese woman who, after the suicide of her daughter and moving to England, cannot shake off haunting dreams of the destruction of Nagasaki.
Great success came to Ishiguro with the novel The Remains of the Day (1989),
dedicated to the fate of the former butler, who served one noble house all his life. For this novel, Ishiguro received the Booker Prize, and the jury voted unanimously, which is unprecedented for this award. In 1993, American director James Ivory filmed this book starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.
The writer's fame was greatly supported by the release in 2010 of the dystopian film Never Let Me Go, which takes place in an alternative Britain at the end of the twentieth century, where child organ donors are raised in a special boarding school for cloning. The film stars Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and others.
In 2005, this novel was included in the list of the hundred best according to Time magazine.
Kazuo's latest novel, The Buried Giant, published in 2015, is considered one of his strangest and most daring works. This is a medieval fantasy novel in which an elderly couple's journey to neighboring village going to his son becomes the road to his own memories. Along the way, the couple defends themselves from dragons, ogres and other mythological monsters. You can read more about the book.
Ishiguro has been compared to Vladimir Nabokov and Joseph Conrad - these two authors, Russian and Polish respectively, managed to create outstanding works in their non-native English language.
British and American critics note that Ishiguro (who calls himself British, not Japanese) has done a lot to transform English into the universal language of world literature.
Ishiguro's novels have been translated into more than 40 languages.
In Russian, the writer, in addition to his two main hits “Don’t Let Me Go” and “The Buried Giant,” published the early “Artist of the Unsteady World.”
By tradition, the name of the future laureate is kept in the strictest confidence until the announcement. The list of candidates compiled by the Swedish Academy is also classified and will only become known after 50 years.
The Nobel Prize in Literature is one of the most prestigious and significant in literary world. Awarded annually since 1901. A total of 107 awards were awarded. According to the charter of the Nobel Foundation, only members of the Swedish Academy, professors of literature and linguistics at various universities, Nobel Prize laureates in literature, and heads of authors' unions in different countries can nominate candidates for the prize.
Last year, the American musician Bob Dylan unexpectedly received the prize “for creating new poetic expressions in the great American song tradition.” The musician did not come to the presentation, having conveyed a letter through the singer Patti Smith, in which he expressed doubts that his texts can be considered literature.
IN different years Selma Lagerlef, Romain Rolland, Thomas Mann, Knut Hamsun, Ernest Hemingway, Albert Camus, Orhan Pamuk and others became Nobel Prize laureates in literature. Among the laureates who wrote in Russian are Ivan Bunin, Boris Pasternak, Mikhail Sholokhov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Joseph Brodsky, Svetlana Alexievich.
This year's award amount is $1.12 million. The award ceremony will take place at the Stockholm Philharmonic on December 10, the day of the death of the founder of the prize, Alfred Nobel.
Literary rate
Every year, it is the Nobel Prize in Literature that arouses particular interest among bookmakers - in no other discipline in which the award is given does such a stir occur. The list of this year's favorites, according to the bookmaker companies Ladbrokes, Unibet, and Betting League, included Kenyan Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (5.50), Canadian writer and critic Margaret Atwood (6.60), Japanese writer Haruki Murakami (odds 2. thirty). The current laureate’s fellow countryman, the author of “The Sheep Hunt” and “After Dark,” however, has been promised a Nobel for many years, just like another “eternal” literary Nobel nominee, the famous Syrian poet Adonis. However, both of them remain without a reward year after year, and the bookmakers are slightly perplexed.
Other candidates this year included: Chinese Ian Leanke, Israeli Amos Oz, Italian Claudio Magris, Spaniard Javier Marias, American singer and poet Patti Smith, Peter Handke from Austria, South Korean poet and prose writer Ko Eun, Nina Bouraoui from France, Peter Nadas from Hungary, American rapper Kanye West and others.
In the entire history of the award, bookmakers have made no mistakes only three times:
In 2003, when the victory was awarded to the South African writer John Coetzee, in 2006 with the famous Turk Orhan Pamuk, and in 2008 with the Frenchman Gustave Leclezio.
“It is unknown what the bookmakers are guided by when determining the favorites,” says literary expert, editor-in-chief of the Gorky Media resource Konstantin Milchin. “We only know that a few hours before the announcement, the odds for who then turns out to be the winner drop sharply to unfavorable values.” Whether this means that someone is supplying bookmakers with information several hours before the announcement of the winners, the expert refused to confirm. According to Milchin,
Bob Dylan was at the bottom of the list last year, as was Svetlana Alexievich in 2015.
According to the expert, a few days before the announcement of the current winner, bets on Canadian Margaret Atwood and Korean Ko Eun dropped sharply.
The name of the future laureate is traditionally kept in the strictest confidence until the announcement. The list of candidates compiled by the Swedish Academy is also classified and will only become known after 50 years.
The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III to support and develop the Swedish language and literature. It consists of 18 academicians who are elected to their posts for life by other members of the academy.
Since the delivery of the first Nobel Prize 112 years have passed. Among Russians worthy of this most prestigious award in the field literature, physics, chemistry, medicine, physiology, peace and economics there were only 20 people. As for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Russians have their own personal history in this area, not always with a positive ending.
First awarded in 1901, it bypassed the most important writer V Russian and world literature - Leo Tolstoy. In their 1901 address, members of the Royal Swedish Academy formally paid their respects to Tolstoy, calling him "the deeply revered patriarch modern literature" and "one of those powerful soulful poets, who in this case should be remembered first of all," however, they referred to the fact that, due to his convictions, the great writer himself "never aspired to this kind of reward." In his response letter, Tolstoy wrote that he was glad that he was spared the difficulties associated with the disposal of so much money and that he was pleased to receive notes of sympathy from so many respected persons. Things were different in 1906, when Tolstoy, preempting his nomination for the Nobel Prize, asked Arvid Järnefeld to use all kinds of connections so as not to be put in an unpleasant position and refuse this prestigious award.
In a similar way Nobel Prize in Literature surpassed several other outstanding Russian writers, among whom was also the genius of Russian literature - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. The first writer admitted to the “Nobel Club” was someone disliked by the Soviet government who emigrated to France Ivan Alekseevich Bunin.
In 1933, the Swedish Academy nominated Bunin for an award “for the rigorous skill with which he develops the traditions of Russian classical prose.” Among the nominees this year were also Merezhkovsky and Gorky. Bunin received Nobel Prize in Literature largely thanks to the 4 books about Arsenyev’s life that had been published by that time. During the ceremony, Per Hallström, a representative of the Academy who presented the prize, expressed admiration for Bunin’s ability to “extraordinarily expressively and accurately describe real life" In his response speech, the laureate thanked the Swedish Academy for the courage and honor it showed to the emigrant writer.
Difficult story full of disappointment and bitterness accompanies receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature Boris Pasternak. Nominated annually from 1946 to 1958 and awarded this high award in 1958, Pasternak was forced to refuse it. Almost becoming the second Russian writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, the writer was persecuted in his homeland, receiving stomach cancer as a result of nervous shocks, from which he died. Justice triumphed only in 1989, when his son Evgeniy Pasternak received an honorary award for him “for significant achievements in modern lyric poetry, as well as for continuing the traditions of the great Russian epic novel.”
Sholokhov Mikhail Alexandrovich received the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his novel Quiet Don" in 1965. It is worth noting that the authorship of this deep epic work, despite the fact that the manuscript of the work was found and a computer match was established with the printed edition, there are opponents who claim the impossibility of creating a novel, indicating deep knowledge of the events of the First World War and Civil War so much at a young age. The writer himself, summing up the results of his work, said: “I would like my books to help people become better, to become purer soul… If I succeeded to some extent, I’m happy.”
Solzhenitsyn Alexander Isaevich, winner of the 1918 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the moral strength with which he followed the immutable traditions of Russian literature." Having spent most of his life in exile and exile, the writer created deep and frightening in its authenticity historical works. Upon learning about the award Nobel Prize, Solzhenitsyn expressed his desire to personally attend the ceremony. The Soviet government prevented the writer from receiving this prestigious award, calling it “politically hostile.” Thus, Solzhenitsyn never got to the desired ceremony, fearing that he would not be able to return from Sweden back to Russia.
In 1987 Brodsky Joseph Alexandrovich awarded Nobel Prize for Literature"for comprehensive creativity, imbued with clarity of thought and passion of poetry." In Russia, the poet never received lifelong recognition. He created while in exile in the USA, most of his works were written in impeccable English. In his speech Nobel laureate Brodsky spoke about what was most dear to him - language, books and poetry...
