Africa

Two thirds of the Nobel Readers are in Africa! AFRICA! That's so far away. What will I do with myself for the next few weeks without them? Probably drink a little less and sleep a little more. I guess that's okay as long as they both come back safely.

The Death of Nobel

I fear the Nobel Readers are dead. I know that's not true because we still talk about meeting and discussing but time seems to be swiftly passing with no meetings or wine drinking to be had.

Soon two thirds of the group will be in Africa with no libraries to provide them solace during their feverish Nobel-less afternoons. What to do? The answer is obvious, march onward, pick a date and discuss (1904 that is).

And also look forward to 1905, Henryk Sienkiewicz.

El Gran Galeoto

I was surprised when I read "The Great Galeoto" to find that it was about gossip and the detrimental effect that gossip can have on the people about whom it circulates. In our world full of cheating movie stars and scandalous singers and athletes gossip has become ubiquitous.

What is so tantalizing about the stories of what goes on in other people's lives? Does it somehow provide affirmation that the rest of us are decent people because we don't do that, or nobody knows about it if we do? I've read theories of language development that state humans developed language because of the desire to gossip and it appears to be present in every human culture and language. For some reason we have some basic need to discuss the status and affairs of others.

Which leaves me to wonder if it is as detrimental to people now as it was when Echegaray wrote "The Great Galeoto"? Are reputations and relationships as delicate? We are certainly more inured to scandalous tales but just because they're more public and more known doesn't mean they're less harmful.

The Magic of Libraries

One of the challenges inherent in this monumental task we have undertaken is the relative obscurity of the authors who have won the prize. For those of us who have chosen to delve into the history of the award it makes it difficult for us to find the early works. They are mostly available through academic sources and also, because of that, ridiculously expensive. Plus many of the texts are used for language study which makes it difficult to find texts in English.

Which brings us to The Library.

The library has always been one of my favorite places, a magical storehouse of knowledge that I can access for FREE! But lately when I go I've been getting mostly movies and an occasional book or CD. I might walk by the information desk on my way to the non-fiction stacks or talk to them if the checkout computer isn't working. I have certainly not been making full use of the library's services. Until now.

In my quest to not pay a hundred dollars to read the next installment of Nobel winners I turned to the library. The St. Paul Public library has saved me in the past with Happy Boy; they had it in their basement and I was able to check it out. The Great Galeoto and Mireio presented a larger problem. The St. Paul library did not have them in their collection, and I happened to know that the copies owned by the Minneapolis Public library were checked out. What to do? I searched the University of Minnesota Library and there they both were, in English and on Campus. Fabulous! Except I do not have borrowing privileges at the U of MN libraries and the person in my house who used to does not anymore either. Hmmm....

I decided to go out on a limb and see if I could get them through inter-library loan. I stepped up to the information desk and sheepishly said "Um...yeah...um...can you..." And voila 5 minutes and 4 days later one of them is in my hand! Magic!!

I love the library.

A photo of Echegaray: Winner 1904

Losing Steam

It appears that our project is losing steam. We finished Rome (an incredible feat), we finished A Happy Boy (which was very happy by the way) and now we're on to....um a couple of guys. Yup, only one third (not me) of our trio has managed to be with it enough to find and get the materials.

I actually looked them up on Amazon and found that they are very expensive. I also found that you absolutely-for-sure cannot trust what language amazon says the text is in because I previewed a text they said was in English and found it to be completely in Spanish. Now, I would like to improve my Spanish but I do not think I would get as much out of the Spanish text as I would one that was translated for me.

So, we will carry on...somehow. This project may take more like 20 years rather than the ten I originally projected, but hey, that's life.

Next up

After Rome it seems that all of us have been a little slow to get the material for our next author.

Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson is a Norwegian author who is famous for his stories of Norwegian peasant life. He was very involved in politics and from his biography I gather that his written work has a strong political stance. I guess I had better pay my library fines so I can check out the books.

Fin

Done with Mommsen. I read the last ten pages after our meeting because I felt that after such time and effort I couldn't get to the end and not complete the book. It would be like getting a block from the finish line in a marathon and not finishing when you were still capable of running. Lame.

Lots of food for thought in Mommsen. It makes you think about the root of our culture and where our values, and problems, come from. Our trajectory is so similar and yet I still have hope for our future, as a country and as a global community. We can do better.