Nobel Prize for Juenger

[Bertil Haggman <bertil.haggman@helsingborg.se>]

Umberto Rossi wrote:

> Do you really believe that Nobel prizes are awarded to writers only
> because they have written something good?  Where's the Nobel prize
> for Jorge Luis Borges?  Where's the Nobel prize for Thomas Pynchon?
> And Joyce?  Thomas Bernhard?
> 
> Come on, Nobel is not based on quality.  It is a fine specimen of
> political correctness.  Nothing to do with literature.
> 
> (Do you know that no Italian writer will ever receive a Noble prize
> for I don't know how many years only because the only member of the
> committee who was knowledgeable of Italian literature and language
> died 6 or 7 years ago?)

You are misconstructing what I have written. Of course the selection
of prize winners is based the subjective views of the members of
the Swedish Academy. For many, unfortunately, the Academy was 
dominated by the extreme leftwing author Artur Lundkvist.

I do not want to get into namecalling because it is of no
use. Will only mention Alexande Solzhenitsyn. Although his
winning the price developed into a scandal because the then Swedish
government was afraid that the prize
would hurt the Stockholm-Moscow relations. Otherwise, 
I cannot see that giving Solzhenitsyn the prize was an act
of political correctness at the time.

Who would the only Academy member be who knew about Italian
literature ? A name would be interisting. By the way, it would be
interesting to learn what Italian authors you might believe are suitable
for the prize. Come on, are'nt we a little nationalistic now ?

Hoping that you agree with my view that Juenger should have
the price as soon as possible.

Bertil Haggman
bertil.haggman@helsingborg.se