Nobel - Page 15

Max Goodman · #**141** 10-25-2016, 03:09 PM

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...=.48193c077623

That link will probably only work for Washington Post subscribers and those who have viewed fewer than 3 articles there this month. Garrison Keillor's take on Dylan--with thoughts about Mark Twain, Bill Murray, and Donald Trump thrown in for good measure.

Jennifer Reeser · #**142** 10-25-2016, 03:16 PM

Well, as for me, I am with all those here defending Dylan's disrespect of the decision. Because the way I look at it, the Nobel judges are like the shopper in the grocery store, taking fifty different soups through the "Express 10 Items or Less" checkout, all which must be scanned individually, and insisting they are justified. Technically, it's all soup.

Ann Drysdale · #**143** 10-26-2016, 02:37 AM

Perhaps he could accept the accolade with a wry smile and ask them to donate the cash to MusiCares...?

Erik Olson · #**144** 10-26-2016, 03:26 AM

Many geniuses, of course, have unbecoming habits that are not worthy of emulation. As for Dylan, I think he takes a perverse pleasure in doing anything but what people expect of him in the context. This is not a new pattern in him. Depend on it, if the academy had projected somehow that Dylan, as a bohemian, would likely not show up for the ceremony, he would be there in a heartbeat. Nay, he would look enthusiastic to reap the prize, in proportion as he thought others expected him to snub it. Time and again, it seems, he loves to fly in the face of what the rest of mankind deems reasonable, customary, or appropriate for a given scenario. I bet he is secretly beside himself that the world is now in baffled suspense by his aloofness. Though shocking much of his fandom be part of his shtick, he probably knows that there are always 'true' Dylan fans who know his game and who will follow him no matter how jarringly he modifies his appearance, voice, hits*, or conduct.

* From Bob Dylan, Gypsy Troubadour ... He goes out night after night and gives them yet another version of his time-honoured songs from his vast repertoire accumulated over 40 years. But not only has Dylan mutilated the songs themselves over and over again, he has continually changed his image and his appearance over the years too. In recent years probably one of the most perplexing changes to his fans have been his haggard look, his apparent mental and physical instability and his unusual, craggy, monotone, nasal singing style that literally butchers his songs. As a matter of fact, during his 30th Anniversary renditions of the two songs mentioned above, Dylan seemed almost testing his fans to see just how far he could go before he'd lose them completely.

Claudia Gary · #**145** 10-26-2016, 05:31 PM

Erik, what you describe sounds something like Oppositional Defiance Disorder. Really? Such deliberate unpredictability is, in my opinion, no less boring than plain old predictability.

Garrison Keillor alludes to Minnesotans feeling unworthy...another stereotype.

Either way, I think turning down the prize would be wasteful. I like Ann's MusiCares idea the best, and hope Dylan will consider something like that. Just my $ -0.02.