tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18086590.post116075088222424933..comments2023-12-23T05:12:55.809-05:00Comments on The Written Nerd: Comment: Awards Week, with Audience ParticipationBook Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02896226559142059293noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18086590.post-1161074241463273132006-10-17T04:37:00.000-04:002006-10-17T04:37:00.000-04:00Interesting that the Nebula and Hugo was mentioned...Interesting that the Nebula and Hugo was mentioned. Frank Herbert had some interesting comments on that exact matter. It was a foreword he wrote for a selection of Nebula winners.<BR/><BR/>I'll go see if I can track down a link to it.<BR/><BR/>I don't know, literary awards - are they really all that different from the self-congratulatory Oscars?<BR/>I just can't help remaining skeptical.<BR/>It's more like a peer thing really - awards are writers/ artists peers giving a nod of the head.<BR/>Unfortunately, it very easily becomes popularity contests.David de Beerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03191810429175260146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18086590.post-1160956164611019632006-10-15T19:49:00.000-04:002006-10-15T19:49:00.000-04:00I'm just waiting for your review of Richard Powers...I'm just waiting for your review of Richard Powers' latest. Will your enthusiasm for him continue?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18086590.post-1160872413371572052006-10-14T20:33:00.000-04:002006-10-14T20:33:00.000-04:00I thought that one was a strange addition, too. I...I thought that one was a strange addition, too. <BR/>I think its fine to give out awards, at least to help get an author's work noticed in this ever-expanding swamp of verbage we live in. The monetary aspects are nice, I'm sure. But there are really only three viable ways to award a prize, and each has predictable and unfortunate results. <BR/>First, it can be thrown open to the reading public. (Usually the reading public with internet access these days.) Sadly, that tends to award the lowest common denominator in books. Examples of this are the Hugo and, the shame of booksellers everywhere, the Quill. <BR/>There are prizes judged by members of organizations, like the Nebula whose winners are selected by members of the SFWA. This leads to better choices, sometimes, because when it comes down to it people who write books themselves are just better judges than the populace at large, and in fact have usually read more widely. These awards, however, are so clubby that it can be discouraging. In the case of the Nebula that means established genre writers only. Up'n'comers might be nominated, but the understanding is that if they're serious enough about writing well in the field, there will always be another chance to let them walk onto the stage. For awards like these, the individual books themselves are almost incidental.<BR/>Lastly there are the awards judged by a panel or, worse, a single individual. Could you be utterly fair in that position? What would it even mean to be called fair or unfair in a role like that? What if you genuinely liked the book your longtime friend wrote more than any other you'd read? <BR/>I suppose my point here is that as much as I appreciate seeing these authors garner acclaim, maybe it's best not to mistake lists of awards nominees for assigned reading.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18086590.post-1160760357903434652006-10-13T13:25:00.000-04:002006-10-13T13:25:00.000-04:00I'm baffled by the inclusion of "Only Revolutions"...I'm baffled by the inclusion of "Only Revolutions" on the National Book Award short list. At best, it could be put down to a noble failure of an experiment.CRwMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07896615209770501945noreply@blogger.com