Random Thoughts from a guy who doesn't have anything better to do.. But if you are reading this, I guess u are just the same. Enjoy yourself !!!

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Nobel Prize in Literature Winners 2003-1901

2003
JOHN MAXWELL COETZEE who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider



2002
IMRE KERTÉSZ for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history



2001
V. S. NAIPAUL for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories.




2000
GAO XINGJIAN for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama.




1999
GUNTER GRASS whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history.




1998
JOSE SARAMAGO who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality.




1997
DARIO FO who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden.




1996
WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality.




1995
SEAMUS HEANEY for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past.




1994
KENZABURO OE who with poetic force creates an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today.




1993
TONI MORRISON who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.




1992
DEREK WALCOTT for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment.




1991
NADINE GORDIMER who through her magnificent epic writing has - in the words of Alfred Nobel - been of very great benefit to humanity.




1990
OCTAVIO PAZ for impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity.




1989
CAMILO JOSÉ CELA for a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's vulnerability.




1988
NAGUIB MAHFOUZ who, through works rich in nuance-now clearsightedly realistic, now evocatively ambigous-has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind.




1987
JOSEPH BRODSKY for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity.




1986
WOLE SOYINKA who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence.




1985
CLAUDE SIMON who in his novel combines the poet's and the painter's creativeness with a deepened awareness of time in the depiction of the human condition.




1984
JAROSLAV SEIFERT for his poetry which endowed with freshness, sensuality and rich inventiveness provides a liberating image of the indomitable spirit and versatility of man.




1983
SIR WILLIAM GOLDING for his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today.




1982
GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts.




1981
ELIAS CANETTI for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power.




1980
CZESLAW MILOSZ who with uncompromising clear-sightedness voices man's exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts.




1979
ODYSSEUS ELYTIS (pen-name of ODYSSEUS ALEPOUDHELIS ), for his poetry, which, against the background of Greek tradition, depicts with sensuous strength and intellectual clear-sightedness modern man's struggle for freedom and creativeness.




1978
ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER for his impassioned narrative art which, with roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal human conditions to life.




1977
VICENTE ALEIXANDRE for a creative poetic writing which illuminates man's condition in the cosmos and in present-day society, at the same time representing the great renewal of the traditions of Spanish poetry beween the wars.




1976
SAUL BELLOW for the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work.




1975
EUGENIO MONTALE for his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has interpreted human values under the sign of an outlook on life with no illusions.




1974
The prize was divided equally between:

EYVIND JOHNSON for a narrative art, farseeing in lands and ages, in the service of freedom.

HARRY MARTINSON for writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect the cosmos.




1973
PATRICK WHITE for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature.




1972
HEINRICH BÖLL for his writing which through its combination of a broad perspective on his time and a sensitive skill in characterization has contributed to a renewal of German literature.




1971
PABLO NERUDA for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams.




1970
ALEKSANDR ISAEVICH SOLZHENITSYN for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature.




1969
SAMUEL BECKETT for his writing, which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation.




1968
YASUNARI KAWABATA for his narrative mastery, which with great sensibility expresses the essence of the Japanese mind.




1967
MIGUEL ANGEL ASTURIAS for his vivid literary achievement, deep-rooted in the national traits and traditions of Indian peoples of Latin America.




1966
The prize was divided equally between:

SHMUEL YOSEF AGNON for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people.

NELLY SACHS for her outstanding lyrical and dramatic writing, which interprets Israel's destiny with touching strength.




1965
MICHAIL ALEKSANDROVICH SHOLOKHOV for the artistic power and integrity with which, in his epic of the Don, he has given expression to a historic phase in the life of the Russian people.




1964
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE for his work which, rich in ideas and filled with the spirit of freedom and the quest for truth, has exerted a farreaching influence on our age. (Declined the prize.)




1963
GIORGOS SEFERIS (pen-name of GIORGOS SEFERIADIS ), for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture.




1962
JOHN STEINBECK for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception.




1961
IVO ANDRI´C for the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from the history of his country.




1960
SAINT-JOHN PERSE (pen-name of ALEXIS LÉGER ), for the soaring flight and the evocative imagery of his poetry which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our time.




1959
SALVATORE QUASIMODO for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times.




1958
BORIS LEONIDOVICH PASTERNAK for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition. (Accepted first, later caused by the authorities of his country to decline the prize.)




1957
ALBERT CAMUS for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times.




1956
JUAN RAMÓN JIMÉNEZ for his lyrical poetry, which in Spanish language constitutes an example of high spirit and artistical purity.




1955
HALLDÓR KILJAN LAXNESS for his vivid epic power which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland.




1954
ERNEST MILLER HEMINGWAY for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea ,and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style.




1953
SIR WINSTON LEONARD SPENCER CHURCHILL for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.




1952
FRANÇOIS MAURIAC for the deep spiritual insight and the artistic intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life.




1951
PÄR FABIAN LAGERKVIST for the artistic vigour and true independence of mind with which he endeavours in his poetry to find answers to the eternal questions confronting mankind.




1950
EARL BERTRAND ARTHUR WILLIAM RUSSELL in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought.




1949
WILLIAM FAULKNER for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel.




1948
THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry.




1947
ANDRÉ PAUL GUILLAUME GIDE for his comprehensive and artistically significant writings, in which human problems and conditions have been presented with a fearless love of truth and keen psychological insight.




1946
HERMANN HESSE for his inspired writings which, while growing in boldness and penetration, exemplify the classical humaitarian ideals and high qualities of style.




1945
GABRIELA MISTRAL (pen-name of LUCILA GODOY Y ALCA-YAGA ), for her lyric poetry which, inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world.




1944
JOHANNES VILHELM JENSEN for the rare strength and fertility of his poetic imagination with which is combined an intellectual curiosity of wide scope and a bold, freshly creative style.




1943-1940
The prize money was allocated to the Main Fund (1/3) and to the Special Fund (2/3) of this prize section.



1939
FRANS EEMIL SILLANPÄÄ for his deep understanding of his country's peasantry and the exquisite art with which he has portrayed their way of life and their relationship with Nature.




1938
PEARL BUCK (pen-name of PEARL WALSH née SYDENSTRICKER ), for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces.




1937
ROGER MARTIN DU GARD for the artistic power and truth with which he has depicted human conflict as well as some fundamental aspects of contemporary life in his novelcycle Les Thibault.




1936
EUGENE GLADSTONE O'NEILL for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy.




1935
The prize money was allocated to the Main Fund (1/3) and to the Special Fund (2/3) of this prize section.




1934
LUIGI PIRANDELLO for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art.




1933
IVAN ALEKSEYEVICH BUNIN for the strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing.




1932
JOHN GALSWORTHY for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsythe Saga.




1931
ERIK AXEL KARLFELDT The poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt.




1930
SINCLAIR LEWIS for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters.




1929
THOMAS MANN principially for his great novel, Buddenbrooks, which has won steadily increased recognition as one of the classic works of contemporary literature.




1928
SIGRID UNDSET principially for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages.




1927
HENRI BERGSON in recognition of his rich and vitalizing ideas and the brillant skill with which they have been presented.




1926
GRAZIA DELEDDA (pen-name of GRAZIA MADESANI née DELEDDA) , for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general.




1925
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW for his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty.




1924
WLADYSLAW STANISLAW REYMONT (pen-name of REYMENT ), for his great national epic, The Peasants.




1923
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.




1922
JACINTO BENAVENTE for the happy manner in which he has continued the illustrious traditions of the Spanish drama.




1921
ANATOLE FRANCE (pen-name of JACQUES ANATOLE THIBAULT ), in recognition of his brilliant literary achievements, characterized as they are by a nobility of style, a profound human sympathy, grace, and a true Gallic temperament.




1920
KNUT PEDERSEN HAMSUN for his monumental work, Growth of the Soil.




1919
CARL FRIEDRICH GEORG SPITTELER in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring.







1918
The prize money for 1918 was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.




1917
The prize was divided equally between:

KARL ADOLPH GJELLERUP for his varied and rich poetry, which is inspired by lofty ideals.

HENRIK PONTOPPIDAN for his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark.




1916
CARL GUSTAF VERNER VON HEIDENSTAM in recognition of his significance as the leading representative of a new era in our literature.




1915
ROMAIN ROLLAND as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production and to the sympathy and love of truth with which he has described different types of human beings.




1914
The prize money for 1914 was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.




1913
RABINDRANATH TAGORE because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with comsummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West.




1912
GERHART JOHANN ROBERT HAUPTMANN primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art.




1911
COUNT MAURICE (MOORIS) POLIDORE MARIE BERNHARD MAETERLINCK , in appreciation of his manysided literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works, which are distinguished by a wealth of imagination and by a poetic fancy, which reveals, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration, while in a mysterious way they appeal to the readers' own feelings and stimulate their imaginations.




1910
PAUL JOHANN LUDWIG HEYSE as a tribute to the consummate artistry, permeated with idealism, which he has demonstrated during his long productive career as a lyric poet, dramatist, novelist and writer of world-renowned short stories.




1909
SELMA OTTILIA LOVISA LAGERLÖF in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings.




1908
RUDOLF CHRISTOPH EUCKEN in recognition of his earnest search for truth, his penetrating power of thought, his wide range of vision, and the warmth and strength in presentation with which in his numerous works he has vindicated and developed an idealistic philosophy of life.




1907
RUDYARD KIPLING in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author.




1906
GIOSUÈ CARDUCCI not only in consideration of his deep learning and critical research, but above all as a tribute to the creative energy, freshness of style, and lyrical force which characterize his poetic masterpieces.




1905
HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ because of his outstanding merits as an epic writer.




1904
The prize was divided equally between:

FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL in recognition of the fresh originality and true inspiration of his poetic production, which faithfully reflects the natural scenery and native spirit of his people, and, in addition, his significant work as a Provençal philologist.

JOSÉ ECHEGARAY Y EIZAGUIRRE in recognition of the numerous and brilliant compositions which, in an individual and original manner, have revived the great traditions of the Spanish drama.




1903
BJØRNSTJERNE MARTINUS BJØRNSON as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit.




1902
CHRISTIAN MATTHIAS THEODOR MOMMSEN the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work, A history of Rome.




1901
SULLY PRUDHOMME (pen-name of RENÉ FRANÇOIS ARMAND ), in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualitites of both heart and intellect.

Pulitzer Fiction List

Pulitzer Prize Winners for Fiction

http://www.pulitzer.org/


YR  TITLE  AUTHOR
2003 Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides
2002 Empire Falls Richard Russo
2001 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay Michael Chabon
2000 Interpreter of Maladies Jhumpa Lahiri
1999 The Hours Michael Cunningham
1998 American pastoral Philip Roth
1997 Martin Dressler Steven Millhauser
1996 Independence Day Richard Ford
1995 The Stone Diaries Carol Shields
1994 The Shipping News E. Annie Proulx
1993 A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain: Stories Robert Olen Butler
1992 A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley
1991 Rabbit at Rest John Updike
1990 The Mambo Kings Play Oscar Hijuelos
1989 Breathing Lessons Anne Tyler
1988 Beloved Toni Morrison
1987 A Summons to Memphis Peter Hillsman Taylor
1986 Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry
1985 Foreign Affairs Alison Lurie
1984 Ironweed William J. Kennedy
1983 The Color Purple Alice Walker
1982 Rabbit is Rich John Updike
1981 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole
1980 The Executioner's Song Norman Mailer
1979 The Stories of John Cheever John Cheever
1978 Elbow Room James Alan McPherson
1976 Humboldt's Gift Saul Bellow
1975 The Killer Angels Michael Shaara
1973 The Optimist's Daughter Eudora Welty
1972 Angle Of Repose Wallace Earle Stegner
1970 Collected Stories of Jean Stafford Jean Stafford
1969 House Made of Dawn N. Scott Momaday
1968 The Confessions of Nat Turner William Styron
1967 The Fixer Bernard Malamud
1966 Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter Katherine Anne Porter
1965 The Keepers of the House Shirley Ann Grau
1963 The Reivers William Faulkner
1962 The Edge of Sadness Edwin O'Connor
1961 To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee
1960 Advise and Consent Allen Drury
1959 The Travels of Jaimie Robert Lewis Taylor
1958 A Death in the Family James Agee
1956 Andersonville MacKinlay Kantor
1955 A Fable William Faulkner
1953 The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway
1952 The Caine Mutiny Herman Wouk
1951 The Town Conrad Richter
1950 The Way West A.B. Guthrie, Jr.
1949 Guard of Honor James Gould Cozzens
1948 Tales of the South Pacific James A. Michener
1947 All The King's Men Robert Penn Warren
1945 A Bell for Adano John Hersey
1944 Journey in the Dark Martin Flavin
1943 Dragon's Teeth Upton Sinclair
1942 In This Our Life Ellen Glasgow
1940 The Grapes Of Wrath John Steinbeck
1939 The Yearling Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1938 The Late George Apley John P. Marquand
1937 Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell
1936 Honey in the Horn Harold L. Davis
1935 Now in November Josephine W. Johnson
1934 Lamb in His Bosom Caroline Miller
1933 The Store T. S. Stribling
1932 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck
1931 Years of Grace Margaret Ayer Barnes
1930 Laughing Boy Oliver LA Farge
1929 Scarlet Sister Mary Julia M. Peterkin
1928 Bridge of San Luis Rey Thornton Wilder
1927 Early Autumn Louis Bromfield
1926 Arrowsmith Sinclair Lewis
1925 So Big Edna Ferber
1924 The Able McLaughlins Margaret Wilson
1923 One of Ours Willa Cather
1922 Alice Adams Booth Tarkington
1921 The Age Of Innocence Edith Wharton
1919 The Magnificent Ambersons Booth Tarkington
1918 His Family Ernest Poole

Monday, June 14, 2004

Napaland

Saturday June 12th 2004 8:20 P.M.

Napaland

Hiya Matt::
How's life treating you? As for me I am bored to death.. I have been watching TV for a couple of hours and it hasn't gotten any better. Guess network TV programs don't mature with age as fine wine..

Speaking of wine, I was in San Francisco last week on my vacation and as expected we went to the famous Napa & Sonoma valleys to see their famous vineyards. Now is Homer a wine connoisseur? We all know that he likes his six pack but really I haven't seen him drinking wine. The only time I saw him drinking wine is the episode in which he once goes to a Parisian restaurant wearing a stupid cap which the French usually wear and exclaims something like this.. 'Marge, I like it here. I can eat and drink all I want and be a perfect slob, but I am not criticized for now I am GOURMAND". Great going dude!!

So now back to America's answer to French Champagne --> Napa and Sonoma valleys. Now we all know that if you go there you have to take a wine tour at one of the vineyards. Now my question is why all vineyards have their own individual wine tours. Do they really have something which distinguishes them from their neighbors? Apart from their individual small historical background (who bought from whom in which year and what price), winemaking from one vineyard does not differ much from the other. I know there are lots of scientific details but the vanilla version given to the common people goes like this..

1. Plant the vines. Remember to have good stock so that you get a good quality crop once the vines start bearing grapes.
2. When the grapes are mature, give a call to the border authorities to allow in a couple of cheap mexican labor to hand pick those grapes. You wouldn't want to get your hands dirty, would you? And machines are not that useful as they can't distinguish between good and bad clusters. Also you can charge a premium price when you say that the grape's been handpicked. Personal touch eh..
3. Once they have been picked take them to the processing plant. Remove all stalks and other foreign material.
4. Crush the grapes. If you want white wine remove the skins.
5. Put it in steel containers with yeast at a very low temperature and let time and nature do their magic.
6. After fermentation store them in the wooden barrels to mature.
7. After maturation for a couple of years, blend it, bottle it and you are on your way..

So the question I have for these vineyard owners is this. Why can't you guys create a common welcome center somewhere in your respective valleys where you have a common tour. Hell you can even charge a common sum say $20 for that and get even richer. People will pay that amount to get the common first hand experience without experiencing the agony of thinking that they missed out on a better tour in some other vineyard. You can have fine dining, wine tasting, designer boutique shops and a kids adventure dome/petting zoo. You see an entire package for a family get together.

Individual wineries can still continue to have their specialized tours and gourmet dining/wine tasting for the discerning connoisseur and remember it is fashionable to be a connoisseur :-).

Saturday, June 12, 2004

My first blog and Matt

Saturday June 12th 2004,

Yesterday I made my first blog. Wonder how the word blog was first coined. So start up Google and search for "Define: Blog" and here is a sample from one of the results :

From "Web log." A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger."

So blog is just some kind of journal I keep on the web so that everyone can come and look at my depressing thoughts when they have nothing better to do. C'mon guys don't you have something better to do. Go on.. The weather is great outside. Enjoy life!!!

Got a question with the guys who came up with the word 'blog'. What if I don't actually publish my thoughts on the web. What if I am dumb f*** who just types all this stuff but doesn't anyone else to see it. Is there some kind of a private weblog? I can always store them in my private hard disk, but I don't want to waste my precious hard disk space. Go on call me cheap but that's the way I am. I am also posting it in a free blogger space, ain't I ? Will the word blog still apply as I am not PUBLISHING it for anyone other than me. Can I call it a Digital LOG or DLOG. Heck I will call it "DIALOG". But isn't that name in this context an irony in itself. For a dialog you need two people. But I am the only one doing all the talking/typing :-(. Hell I will just imagine that the other guy is the listening kind of guy and doesn't talk much.

Now that's a good idea. Why don't I name this guy. Now why should it be a guy ? It can be an animal/bird/any fictitious living/nonliving spirit like the fictititious kangaroo used by the small girl in the movie 'Chocolat'. What was the kangaroo's name ? F1 google. By the way, was she schizophrenic? Now you would say that she was a kid and kids have great imagination and blah blah blah. But really had she been a little older, you wouldn't have thought that her pet kangaroo is cute and would have called her a freak fit for the asylum. (John Nash/ A Beautiful Mind)

You know what I will call the other guy. I will call him Matt after Matt Groening the Simpsons creator. That guy really had loads of imagination/creativity. But more on him later.

Ok now that I have decided to call you Matt. Let's get started.