2008年諾貝爾文學獎 / 2008 Nobel Prize Winner of Literature Jean-Marie Gustave le Clézio

I recently visited my blogger friend 周游列國 and read her December 25, 2008 article entitled "好好讀" As the title suggests, it is a great article on the 2008 Nobel Prize winner of literature, Jean-Marie Gustave le Clézio. I am taking the liberty of sharing with you my comments posted there. If you wish to leave an opinion, please go to:
http://wordwordword.wordpress.com/2008/12/25/%e5%a5%bd%e8%ae%80-6/

Haricot's Comments:

Thank you for your blog article and the links (Nobel Prize articles re his background and the interview, which I read). In many ways, writers are like painters, they are the instruments through which "reality" (in the eyes of the beholder) expresses itself. I do find that the more an artist or a writer is exposed to different culture, the less cultural eccentric the person will become. To this end, JM Gustave le Clézio has translated his cumulative overseas experience into his work, which is perhaps something that many contemporary Chinese writers should emulate.

Now, I am just a blogger and am light years away from the realm of Nobel Prize winners such as le Clézio. However, I do have a comment on the following quotation:

“... Culture, as I have said, belongs to us all, to all humankind. But in order for this to be true, everyone (and especially children) must be given equal access to culture. The book, however old-fashioned it may be, is the ideal tool ... ”

I can't help but disagree with (or nick-pick) the word "ideal". I can think of at least three books that have been central to both the transaction and transformation of culture: The Bible, The Koran and the Quotations from Chairman Mao. You know where I am going with this one: A tool is only as good as the person(s) interpreting it. As the old adage goes: "Meanings are in people, not in words." So, I would submit that the book (in hardcopy or electronic form) is the ideal tool provided that ..... Well, I will let you fill in the blank.


Link:

To see the original blog article "好好讀", please click
http://wordwordword.wordpress.com/2008/12/25/%e5%a5%bd%e8%ae%80-6/