American Views Abroad


Sunday, October 17, 2004
 
Elfriede Jelinek who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature this year is a writer with a griping, difficult style and language that lingers with a reader long after you have put down her works. At least, that's how I find her. She is also a woman who speaks out and takes part in political activism and thus it seemed a signal to me that she was selected this year. Yesterday the International Herald Tribune (www.iht.com) reprinted an editorial from The Boston Globe on her. In part it wrote:

'Jelinek's Nobel Prize for work with an unsparing view stands in sharp contrast to the rhetoric of an election season in the United States, when ordinary criticism is fiercely branded as 'pessimism.' If there is a lesson in Jelinek's award and in all uncompromising literature, it may well be the warning not to look away from complex, ugly problems. Even worse would be to look at the world's troubles but refuse to describe them seriously.'

Well, I couldn't have said it better myself. There is an interesting interview with her in the FAZ Weekly, The Not-So-Prized Possession by GeorgDiez at www.faz.com. FAZ Weekly is the English language edition of this Frankfurter newspaper and the interview is in Arts and Leisure from October 15.

Comments: Post a Comment


Disclaimer: American Views Abroad is not responsible for offsite content. All links in blog entires are external offsite links, unless otherwise indicated.