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Jan 19 2009

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Mission to read all the winners.

Posted by Christine Cavalier in Readin'

My small parochial school did its best to educate me. My university put me through a class where I read a bunch of short stories all semester, but unleashed me on the Psychology department after that.

pulitzerchaboneugenidesIt turns out, that even though I’d like to be a regular novelist, I’m not very well read. I’ve worked on this in my adult life, so I have many, many books under my belt by now. But I have to say, many have been by foreign authors. The reason for this is because I went through curricula from better high schools and read the books on their syllabi. Many of the “classics” are British novels from the previous two centuries. Prejudice kept me from filling in the gaps with varied American writers, poverty kept me from being exposed to anything more than the Bronte ladies, Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I had a little daydream today, like all budding novelists do, of winning a Pulitzer one day. Wouldn’t that be grand? It is the American novelist’s pinnacle, a lottery of bounty and a trophy of respect. I’m probably being totally naive with that image. Still seems cool though.

I don’t allow myself to laze away in the haze of a dream. I realized quickly I truly know nothing about the Pulitzer. Zero. Zip. Nada.  I’m about as far away from winning a Pulitzer as a chihuahua is from being named prima ballerina at the Bolshoi. But I can learn what MAKES a Pulitzer. Not that there is a formula, but I’d like to experience what the Pulitzer committee thinks is worthy of this nation’s top literary prize.  I decided, a few minutes ago, that I should read every single book on that list.

Here is the list (via wikipedia):

The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It replaced the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel.

I’ve read a handful of them, one or two I own but haven’t read yet, and some I’ve seen the movie.  For those that I’ve read, I should re-read because it has been years and I don’t remember them.  Going in order is impossible; I’ll be skipping around, beginning with the ones I own.  I’ll borrow the rest of the library.  Perhaps I’ll Netflix the movies that go with each story.

This project may take away from my enjoyment of cyberpunk (notice that these all are mainstream fiction) but I’ll just have to take even more time away from blogging and social media, I guess.  To be a good writer, one needs to be educated.  My literary education has been strained and almost non-existant, so I must continue, as I have done for the last 10 years, to read what I should have read as a youth.  I’m not about to get a degree in Literature, so this is my “DO IT YOURSELF” approach.  Yes, I know the nominees that didn’t win are worth a look, too, and some genres are totally ignored but this list is a good place to start.  I’ll keep you updated periodically and try to review when I can.

I remember being moved by The Color Purple, moved to the very core of my inner self.  I have a feeling that THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy is going to annoy me, from what I’ve read about it (how it isn’t his best work but the prize was more awarded for his life’s work, etc.) and its format, but I’ll give it a try.  I’m happy there are women on this list.  I look forward to reading with you.

Any of your favorites on this list? Maybe we can start a Pulitzer book club!  What do you think?

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 4:10 pm and is filed under Readin'. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • aceblack1965
    Hi Christine,
    I also recently decided to read (or re-read) modern english literature classics (and to add them to the book reviews on my site), and so while googling pulitzer prize winners I stumbled onto your site (starting on this post). I finished re-reading To Kill A Mockingbird today and was really knocked out by the emotional impact of that book.
    I enjoyed browsing around your site and found some interesting similarities (and many differences!) with my blog.
    I'll come back and look around some more, so keep up the good work!

    aceblack1965
  • Thanks ace! I'll run a search on your name to find your blog, I'd like to look it over! Thanks for coming.

    Peace!
    -PurpleCar






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  • Daniel G
    Also just got through reading Olive Kitteridge........loved it.
  • Daniel G
    One of my favorites is A Confederacy of Dunces
  • I looked at pulitzer.org for rules and past winners, Christine. (I know what you mean about wikipedia - it's useful up to a point but can't be absolutely counted on what with allowing just anyone at all to edit it. I mean, really, even I can be an editor and can I really be trusted??)

    Now I'm afraid to read Olive Kitteridge. I hate it when I can see the writing. That was my argument against Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible". Her writing (while beautifully crafted) got in the way of the story - for me anyway. Oddly, I absolutely loved "Prodigal Summer" that others complained about, saying that the writing got in the way for them. Go figure.

    I just finished reading "The Wars" by Timothy Findley - good book but really really depressing. I chose it because it was on a "banned books" list. Remarkable what books end up on those that are banned!

    You have to toughen up? Noooooo!! Since when is it necessary to be tough and/or depressed to be a good writer?
  • Having read more about how Pulitzer prize is awarded, I'd be rethinking about it too if I were writing a novel. And I'm rethinking which list to use for what books to read as well. There seem to be authors decidedly missing from the Pulitzer prize list. Carson McCullers? John Irving? J.D Salinger??

    And what about the years that no award was given? Does that imply that the Columbia University jury felt that no American author wrote "distinguished fiction [...] preferably dealing with American life" (taken from pulitzer.org) and/or was worthy of receiving the prestigious award in those years?

    For instance, there was no award given in 1957, the year that Ray Bradbury published "Dandelion Wine". Personally, I think it fits into the category. But maybe it wasn't considered to be distinguished enough? (What, exactly, does "distinguished" mean?) Or perhaps it's not depressing enough.
  • Elizabeth, do you have any informative links about how the Pulitzer is awarded? I don't like to blindly trust wikipedia, especially when the key players of the subject are well over 40 and probably not all that concerned with wikipedia accuracy.

    I've heard that the missing years were due to war, etc., but I agree. Missing years seem... inappropriate.

    Maybe I just have to toughen up if I really want to be a good novelist. But I swear, that Olive Kitteridge was just overwrought "art" writing and reeked of classism. -PC
  • Elizabeth, no such thing as a late comment in the blogging world! Thanks so much for coming!

    And I think you're right, the more devastation and "Oh! THE HUMANITY!" in a book, the better the chances of snagging the Pulitzer. I am re-thinking this goal.

    -PC
  • I haven't read all the books on this list but I have read some of them. I can't say that I've loved all of them though. So much devastation! I just barely managed to get through McCarthy's "The Road" and am very surprised to see that Jim thought it ended hopefully. Perhaps I am too jaded. For me there was zero hope by the end and the bleakness was pervasive.

    Perhaps devastation is the key to getting a Pulitzer prize. Make sure you don't write any happy comedies....

    (Again, I must apologize for commenting so late. I've just blundered onto your site.)
  • Jim
    I've been reading the Puliitzer winners since I was a teenager. I faithfully look forward to getting the new Fiction winner every April. (P.S. This year's ceremony is next Monday, 4/30, at 3PM EST.) I've read every single one, except one: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter. It's been sitting on my shelf for probably 15 years and every time I try and start it, I just can't get past the first couple of stories. I decided I was finally going to bite the bullet and at least get further along before this year's winner turns my head next week.

    Yes, debating the "worth" of a Pulitzer is about as pointless as whether or not SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE deserved the Oscar. (Nope, not in my opinion.) But since it is the most prestigious award we have in this country for Arts and Letters, it will always hold a certain cache, even if many of the choices are debatable.

    And, yes, I count the Novel awards as fiction. So the list really goes back to 1917. Most of the "novel" winners blend together for me in a haze of antiquated writing styles and stories that haven't particularly stood the test of time, even though there are some major authors represented.

    As for my favorites, here in year order are winners that I can wholeheartedly recommend, whether or not they're the "best." I remember liking many of them that won't be on the list, but if I can't really tell you why, then they must not have made that much of a lasting impression, right?

    Gone With the Wind - There's so much more to the book that wasn't in the movie.
    The Grapes of Wrath - I hated being forced to read it in high school. It meant so much more to me as an adult.
    To Kill a Mockingbird - I don't you need my opinion on this one. :)
    Collected Stories of John Cheever - WASPy, brittle stories about some mighty unhappy people.
    The Executioner's Song - Long, engrossing, depressing fictional retelling of death row inmate Gary Gilmore who died in the electric chair.
    The Color Purple - I'm with you, PurpleCar, it moved me to my very core. So much better than Steven Spielberg's wretched movie.
    Lonesome Dove - Big, sprawling Western that I absolutely never wanted to end. It could have gone on another 900 pages.
    Breathing Lessons - Not Anne Tyler's best, but I'm a sucker for her writing, even if all the books seem to be the same.
    Rabbit At Rest - No one writes like Updike did. Arguably his best book.
    A Thousand Acres - Thoroughly engrossing retelling of King Lear.
    Interpreter of Maladies - Riveting short stories. Lahiri has continued her winning streak with a novel and her latest batch of stories. The woman can do no wrong.
    The Road - You get used to the style. It's an absolutely bleak, horrific novel that still somehow leaves you with hope.

    I'm an award junky. What I love about the Pulitzers (and any award for that matter) is that it exposes me to books, movies, music that I may not have found on my own. I don't need someone else's opinion to dictate what I should or shouldn't like (any more than you should use this long-winded comment as anything other than my personal opinion), but I do like being exposed to new things. And awards do that for me. It's a crap shoot that doesn't always pay off, but I'm okay with that. :)

    I say go for it if you want to read all the Pulitzer winners. You'll read some great books and some not-so-great. And you'll make them entirely your own.
  • Jim,
    Thanks so much for this thoughtful and informational reply. I want to spend some time discussing this with you. Hopefully I can respond in more detail tomorrow. I'm not a big short story collection fan either, actually. The genre seems to be gaining in popularity though.
    -PC





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  • Reuben
    I started reading the Pulitzer fiction winners a few years ago and have almost finished (I've got 14 to go). They are all good, but my two favorites are "Lonesome Dove" (1986) and "The Confessions of Nat Turner" (1968).

    Good luck and enjoy.
  • Reuben,

    What made you want to read all of the Pulitzer fiction novels? After I get done the two I have, I'll move on to your favorites, Lonesome Dove and the Confessions of Nat Turner. Thanks!

    Peace!
    -PurpleCar






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  • loved it! could relate to the whole aspect of the enigmatic pulitzer!
  • Gloria
    I would love to be a part of your book club! I have read a few of these books, but, like you, feel like I should be better read. You had mentioned Middlesex. It looks like a wonderful story. I am all for starting with that one. Just let me know when you get the book club up and running and I will head right out and get the book.
  • murcuryvapor
    I thought Pynchon won one...hmmm.
  • Bob
    Hi, C,

    The Interpreter of Maladies, Kavalier & Clay, and Mambo Kings Sing Songs of Love are my three favorites on this list.

    Call me a literature snob, but I've always found the Pulitzers to be a political popularity contest along the lines of the Oscars. If I were to pick from a contemporary list of prize winners, I'd go for the Booker Prize list, which is the best book in English by a British writer. Their winners have aged better. MIdnight's Children by Salman Rushdie won, and that's still considered one of the best novels of the last 50 years. Of course, reading Bookers might actually hurt your quest for a Pulitzer. That then becomes a debate over success versus art.

    As a lit snob, I'd go with the top 100 novels list that came out around 2000 with all the other century lists. Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man topped the list and is a great place for any budding novelist to start. Invisible Man was so good, unfortunately, that Ellison found it impossible to complete another novel, always fearing his second book would pale by comparison, so be warned.

    --Bob

    P.S.--Happy Obamarama Day!
  • Bob is my real life friend and neighbor, everyone! Check out his in-depth art blog at http://artblogbybob.blogspot.com/

    Hey Bob!

    I hear ya, I knew someone was going to give me some hassle about the worth of the Pulitzer. But they are all Americans and the list has some good female authors in it. I can do the Bookers next. Talk to me in about, hmmm, 5 or 6 years?

    I'm not going to win a Pulitzer, no worries. :)

    -PC
  • I love the idea-I'd be up for it!

    I read some on the list: To Kill a Mockingbird I've read several times, own & love it but would reread; the Color Purple I read once & was moved by it; Beloved I read, didn't understand & didn't like.

    John Updike was born & raised near where I live, but I don't recall reading any of his books (although I did hear him speak when I was in college & have the pleasure of speaking with him briefly).

    Count me in! What's first?
  • Cool, L!! Thanks!

    Pulitzer Book Club (a.k.a. #PCB) has commenced!

    What do you think of starting with Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides?
    http://product.half.ebay.com/Middlesex_W0QQprZ2...

    Also, we will read one book a month, how is that? 30 days for each book, perhaps a bit longer for longer books? What do you think?
  • I think PCBs are banned (lol) but I'm up for tweeting #PBC.

    I'll check my library & Access PA first to see if I can borrow Middlesex, if not I'm sure Amazon has it.

    I think 30 days is doable-maybe it will go quicker for shorter titles.
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