Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...
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The Nobel Prize in Literature 2018 and 2019

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The local library had an open invitation for a Nobel reception, to await the announcement of the new Laureates of the Academy.


A lot of expert guesses before the announcement. Several important writers from all over the world was suggested. Once Mats Malm took the floor, it was announced that two European writers, one woman and one man has been awarded the prize. Polish Olga Tokarczuk won the prize for 2018, and Austrian author Peter Handke for 2019. I am not familiar with any of the two authors, but am looking forward to read something by both of them.


The 2018 prize is awarded to Polish author Olga Tokarczuk,
“for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life.”
I am looking forward reading something by her, and it seems that her 2014 novel The Books of Jacob is well worth to start with. She also won the Man Booker International Prize 2018,  for Flights. 


The 2019 prize is awarded to Austrian author Peter Handke,
“for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience.”
He is an author as well as a play wright. Suggestions to start with might be, Short Letter, Long Farewell, from 1972 and The Left Handed Woman, from 1976 (also made into a film).

Anyone who has read anything by these two authors? Any recommendations? What do you think of the choices from the Academy? Did you have a favourite of your own?


Comments

  1. Emma at Words And Peace / France Book Tours11 October 2019 at 02:43

    I have only read the latest book by Olga, it was good, but I would need to read more to really understand her real worth: https://wordsandpeace.com/2019/04/11/book-review-drive-your-plow-over-the-bones-of-the-dead/
    Unfortunately, I haven't read any book by Handke, i just asked for one of his books through inter library loan, BUT I watched Wings of Desire, which is an amazing movie. He wrote the script.
    I have been wishing for Haruki Murakami to get the Nobel, but as they recently gave it to another Japanese author...

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