Winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature was first awarded in 1901. All Nobel laureates in literature are listed HERE. Those selected for inclusion on You Read it Here dot com include those (a) available in the public domain, (b) well known to me, (c) generally well known, and (d) available in English.
Nobel Prize Winner, 1909: Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlöf.
Read “The Wonderful Adventures of Nils” by Selma Lagerlöf on Google Books. (With images.)
Read “The Wonderful Adventures of Nils” by Selma Lagerlöf for free on Project Gutenberg. (No images.)
In 1909 Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. She was also the first woman admitted to the Swedish Royal Academy. “The Wonderful Adventures of Nils” is a geography book of Sweden written for children. “Christ Legends” is the most frequently downloaded Lagerlöf book on Project Gutenberg. Lagerlöf’s novella, “The Girl from the Marsh Croft” was made into a 1935 film and a 1958 film. Lagerlöf never married and her lifelong companionships and correspondence with women suggest romantic relationships that would have been illegal at the time. Lagerlöf destroyed much of the personal correspondence which might have shed light on her personal relationships. There is a Selma Lagerlöf Society, but the English version of its website is very limited. See the Pantheon ranking of Lagerlöf.
Nobel Prize Winners in Literature
Nobel Prize Winner, 1901: Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen
Read “The History of Rome” (Volumes 1 – 5) by Theodor Mommsen for free in Project Gutenberg.
Mommsen’s work was dictated in part by necessity. Having been fired from his university post for revolutionary activities, he was approached to write a history of Rome based on his lectures. He agreed and began his life’s work. It’s interesting to note that he returned to teaching and long after his death some of his students filled in missing pieces of his histories by compiling lecture notes.
The translations from the German were made by William Purdie Dickson. Some may be interested in Volume 5, which
focuses on the military monarchy, culminating in the rule of Julius Caesar.
Of course, the Nobel Prize was not given in the 18th Century, but comparisons are made to Edward Gibbon’s “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire“. The Guardian still lists Gibbon as the top book on the Roman Empire. In any event, the work of Gibbon largely picks up where Mommsen’s leaves off.
Nobel Prize Winner, 1907: Rudyard Kipling
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Read “The Jungle Book” for free in Project Gutenberg.
Read “The Jungle Book” for free in Google Books.
Rudyard Kipling wrote two of his most beloved books while living in the United States. According to Christopher Benfey in “If: The Untold Story of Kipling’s American Years”, Kipling arrived in the United States broke and proceeded to write “The Jungle Book” and the “Just So Stories” which were enormously popular. For a review of Benfey’s book, see Stacy Schiff’s New York Time’s review, titled “Taking Another Look at the Author of ‘The White Man’s Burden’”. The title expresses some of our modern concerns with Kipling’s later work. While in Vermont, Kipling also wrote “Captains Courageous” which was the basis for the Academy Award winning movie starring Spencer Tracy and Freddie Bartholomew. Kipling also completed a draft of his spy novel “Kim” which was first published in McLure’s magazine in 1900 – 1901. “Kim” greatly influenced spy novels published subsequent to it. Kipling won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. He is also known for the stoic poem “If“. There is a Rudyard Kipling Society.
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Read “Just So Stories” for free on Project Gutenberg.
Read “Just So Stories” for free in Google Books.
Nobel Prize Winner, 1915: Romain Rolland
Jean-Christophe: Dawn, Morning, Youth, Revolt by Romain Rolland
Read “Jean-Christophe: Dawn, Morning, Youth, Revolt” for free on Project Gutenberg.
Romain Rolland was a prolific French author. Only a few of his books are available in English on Project Gutenberg. The ten volume Jean-Christophe series has been compared to Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time,” and both are monumental undertakings. As far as I can tell, not all ten volumes of the Jean-Christophe series are not available in English on Project Gutenberg. Rolland was a lifelong pacifist and vegetarian. He was also an admirer of Josef Stalin. Other than references in encyclopedias, I can find little on Rolland. Though he was a friend and correspondent of Gandhi and Freud, Rolland was mainly a loner dedicated to writing. I expect that there is much more available on Rolland to readers of French.
Nobel Prize Winner, 1920: Knute Hamsun
“Hunger” by Knute Hamsun
Read “Hunger” by Knute Hamsun for free on Project Gutenberg.
“Growth of the Soil” by Knute Hamsun.
Read “Growth of the Soil” for free on Project Gutenberg.
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1920 was awarded to Knut Pedersen Hamsun “for his monumental work, Growth of the Soil,” which was made into a silent film in 1921. “Hunger” has been made into two films, one in 1996 and another in 2001. Hamsun was a Nazi sympathizer and supported the German occupation of Norway. He was charged with treason after WWII but not convicted due to his old age and suspected mental incapacity.
Nobel Prize Winner, 1921: Anatole France
The Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France
Anatole France won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1921. “The Revolt of the Angels” is the story of the war led by Satan against the ruling hierarchy of heaven. Anatole France’s socialist leanings figured into his narrative. France worked in his father’s bookstore and was exceptionally well-read. He played a role in the Dreyfus affair and wrote about it in his 1901 novel “Monsieur Bergeret,” for which I have not found a public domain translation. He is also well known for his satire; “Penguin Island” and “The Gods are Athirst.” For other works by Anatole France, see his page at Project Gutenberg.
Nobel Prize Winner, 1925: George Bernard Shaw
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Read “Pygmalion” for free on Project Gutenberg.
In Pygmalion, Henry Higgins takes a bet that he can take teach a lower-class girl to pass as a lady by learning proper English.
To his surprise, she has a mind of her own. This play served as the basis for the smash Broadway musical, “My Fair Lady,” though the musical had a happier ending. Shaw resisted happy endings to Pygmalion. “Arms and the Man” was Shaw’s first success in 1894. The play earned him enough to quit his day job as a critic and devote himself to playwriting and politics. At one point, Shaw was regarded by some as “second only to Shakespeare” as a playwright, but his reputation has not endured, at least not at that level (whose would). Shaw is also renowned for Man and Superman and Saint Joan, which is not yet in the public domain. Shaw’s 4th most popular play on Project Gutenberg is Mrs. Warren’s Profession, a play about a brothel owner. The play is downloaded about a thousand times a month and has a rich Mrs. Warren’s Profession. Many of Shaw’s plays are still performed, which is a measure of his success and influence.
Nobel Prize Winner, 1930, Sinclair Lewis
Read “Babbit” for free on Project Gutenberg.
Read “Main Street” for free on Project Gutenberg.
Sinclair Lewis‘s best-known novels are “Main Street” (1920), “Babbitt” (1922), “Arrowsmith” (1925), “Elmer Gantry” (1927), and “It Can’t Happen Here” (1935) about the election of a fascist to the Presidency. Of these, only “Main Street” and “Babbitt” are currently in the public domain. Lewis’s works generally reflect an earnest midwestern skepticism towards capitalism. Lewis won the Pulitzer Prize for “Arrowsmith” in 1925, which he refused because he was upset that he hadn’t received
it for “Main Street.” “Arrowsmith,” “Elmer Gantry,” and “Dodsworth” were made into highly successful movies. In 1930, Sinclair Lewis became the first American writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Nobel Prize Winner, 1949 William Faulkner
Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 for “his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel”. His best-known works are “The Sound and the Fury,” “As I Lay Dying,” and “Absalom, Absalom!” which are available to our Canadian readers. Two of Faulkner’s novels “A Fable” (in 1954) and “The Reivers” (his last, 1962) also won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. For much of his career, Faulkner was short on money, and from 1932 through most of the 1940’s he worked as a Hollywood screenwriter for the steady income. His most notable screenplay was “The Big Sleep,” which starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. He served as the first writer in residence at the University of Virginia in 1957 and again in 1958.
Most of Faulkner’s novels are available in the public domain in Canada, where published works usually become available 50 years after the death of the author. Faded Page is a public domain website in Canada and most of Faulkner’s works are available on Faded Page for Canadian readers.
Nobel Prize Winner, 1954: Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. Few of his works are in the public domain. His first novel, “The Sun Also Rises,” entered the public domain in 2022 and is the lead novel featured on this site. It will be moved here in future months.
