BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Author Le Clezio wins Nobel prize
French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize for Literature. The 68-year-old has been honoured with the 10m kronor (£820,810) award for his distinguished life's work. The Swedish Academy describes him as "an author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy." It goes on to call him "an explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilisation." British author Doris Lessing won last year's prize. Le Clezio's breakthrough as a novelist came in 1980 with Desert, a work the Swedish academy praised for its "magnificent images of a lost culture in the North African desert."
French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize for Literature.
The 68-year-old has been honoured with the 10m kronor (£820,810) award for his distinguished life's work.
The Swedish Academy describes him as "an author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy."
It goes on to call him "an explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilisation." British author Doris Lessing won last year's prize.
Le Clezio's breakthrough as a novelist came in 1980 with Desert, a work the Swedish academy praised for its "magnificent images of a lost culture in the North African desert."
British author Doris Lessing won last year's prize.
No American has won since Toni Morrison in 1993 and no American was expected to win. Le Clézio did put in a plug yesterday for Philip Roth.
No surprise, I suppose, given that most of the bookstores these days are huge chains full of bad writing by the likes of Nicholas Sparks.
So, what can you tell me about Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio? Titles? I'm willing to try reading him in French, but it would go a lot faster if I could do so in English.
Seems like very few of his novels have been translated to English; maybe this will change after the Nobel...
His Wikipedia entry is quite complete, although it's missing its latest novel "Ritournelle de la faim", published earlier this year. Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
Because the titles are often changed when a translation is published, I couldn't tell for sure if one of the two I was looking for was already in English.
I'll keep looking. Perhaps I can get two copies, one in French and another in English to help me along.
I know a tiny bit about Mauritius, so that one might be an interesting read.
The Prospector (Le chercheur d'or) is on powells.com, but on backorder. Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
JMG Le Clezio first breakthrough in France was as early as 1963 when he was awarded the Renaudot prize. Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
