Unsolicited Nobel Prize

[L.A.]

I have always been a great fan of Dylan, but he has just gone up in my estimation by several notches.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37740379

I imagine he feels much the same way that I do when I get a letter or email telling me I have won a prize in a competition that I didn't enter.

If he lived in the UK perhaps he could make a complaint under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971

"Unsolicited goods or services are goods or services supplied to someone who has not asked for them. New rules under the Fair Trading Act make it illegal for a business to demand payment for goods or services that haven't been requested by the recipient." 

[jeremyp]

So what unsolicited goods and services have the Nobel Prize committee delivered that they want Bob Dylan to pay for?

[Brownie]

I was thinking that too, jeremy.
Much as I love Dylan, to just ignore this prize is a snub.  If he felt he didn't deserve or doesn't agree with such prizes, the least he could have done was decline graciously, perhaps giving reasons that everyone would understand.  As it is, it appears he still has the award even if he hasn't acknowledged or collected it.  Discourteous.  Someone else might have been thrilled to receive it, not just for themselves but for their family.

[L.A.]

I am aware that one or two members on this board have difficulty in recognising when a statement is not intended to be taken literally. This is generally known as a 'Joke'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke

I had intended the posting to be light-hearted but the point I was trying to make was this:

The Arty-Farty elite have bestowed their greatest accolade on Dylan and he (apparently) doesn't want to know - I think that is great.


It is as if the Emperor has declared to his admirers that there are no 'new clothes' and what is more they have none either - except he makes the statement without using words. The man is a genius.

[jeremyp]

I am aware that one or two members on this board have difficulty in recognising when a statement is not intended to be taken literally. This is generally known as a 'Joke'

I am aware that one or two a lot members on this board blame the readers for misunderstanding their posts rather than their own lack of writing skills.

That was a statement of light hearted intent but with a kernel of truth in it.

[Brownie]

This bit I got:  The Arty-Farty elite have bestowed their greatest accolade on Dylan and he (apparently) doesn't want to know - I think that is great.

I had a feeling that was what it was all about and when I was a young person, probably would have thought it was great;  that doesn't change my view now.

Dylan is a genius, I've have always admired him and have seen him perform but I honestly believe it would have been courteous of him to at least say, "Thank you but this award is not for me", rather than just blanking it.  He's a very mature man now.  Someone else, equally worthy, might have been pleased to receive it.

Jeremy has posted while I was writing the above and I agree with what he said, but it isn't that big a deal, LA.  We all view things differently.

There are those who consider Dylan to be part of the arty-farty elite.

[L.A.]

One of the very few advantages with getting old is that you can be totally incomprehensible and if people don't understand you - it's all their fault!

I think the fact that Dylan has apparently managed to retain his 'anti establishment' fervour with his advancing years is something we might all celebrate and emulate 

[Brownie]

If it comes naturally I'd agree with you, LA, but most people change a little bit as they mature, they tend to have less 'attitude', thus their behaviour modifies.  Not usually a complete metanoia but things become clearer from more than one angle.  However Dylan keeps himself to himself so is something of a mystery man; who knows what he thinks now.

[Enki]

Perhaps he might introduce the fact that he was awarded it in his next advertising venture. It might help sell a few more pepsis.

[jeremyp]

I think the fact that Dylan has apparently managed to retain his 'anti establishment' fervour with his advancing years is something we might all celebrate and emulate 

Compare and contrast with Iggy Pop and Johnny Rotten.

[Brownie]

  I don't think any of us could seriously do that (Pepsi and Country Life butter don't really mix well), but we might with Leonard Cohen who says he intends to live forever in Sunday Times Culture article today;  as Freddie said, "Who wants to live forever?"; now we know.  Cohen's poetry can certainly be compared with Bob Dylan's but, in contrast, he wasn't an anti-establishment/anti-war figure, certainly not "the voice of a generation".

I haven't forgotten Bob Dylan saying that he hadn't really meant all he wrote and sang about, which was somewhat disillusioning.  His then girlfriend, Joan Baez, who was a committed anti-war activist, had egged him on somewhat.  Much later she said it hadn't been fair of her but I'm not so sure, it certainly took off.  One thing that really surprised me was learning that Bob had wanted to go to West Point to train to be an army officer  .

People are so seldom what they seem, sometimes it's better not to know.

[Brownie]

Last night I read an interview with Leonard Cohen, published in the Sunday Times Culture.

When asked what he thought about Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize, he said:
"It is like pinning a medal on Everest for being the highest mountain".

I was well impressed with that.