Positive and negative reactions to Bob Dylan's Nobel prize win

Bob Dylan winning the 2016 Nobel prize in literature has been greeted with positive as well as negative comments.

* It’s a bitter disappointment to those of us who hoped that Morrissey would win this year. But it gives us hope for next year.
(Jonathan Franzen. novelist)

Bob Dylan winning a Nobel Prize for Literature says everything about the establishment’s understanding of the appeal of popular music – ie it has none.

* Bob Dylan winning a Nobel Prize for Literature heightens the gender and race divide between ‘serious’ rock music and ‘disposable’ pop music.
(Music journalist Everett True)

* Dylan’s name has often been mentioned over the past few years but we always thought it was a joke,” said the French novelist Pierre Assouline, who could not hide his fury at the Nobel committee.

“Their decision is contemptuous of writers,” he told AFP. “I like Dylan but where is the (literary) work? I think the Swedish Academy have made themselves look ridiculous.”
(AFP)






The quots above come from The Guardian's liveblogging of the news. Well worth a look for different reactions and perspectives if you so like.

Catch The Guardian's liveblog feed here:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/live/2016/oct/13/nobel-prize-in-literature-2016-liveblog