Reading Nobel Winner Authors for a Week 📚

By starting my Monthly Wrap Up series, my suspicion that I'm a slow reader was confirmed since the number of books I read monthly is much smaller compared to the tons of books that BookTubers finish during the same time period. So, I decided to challenge myself by trying to see how many books I can read in just a week. In order to make things more interesting, I gave a theme to this challenge; all books had to be written by authors who have won the Nobel prize in Literature. Are you intrigued? Do you want to see how I did? If yes, just keep reading!

1) Mon-Wed: The Myth of Sisyphus and other essays by Albert Camus 

Albert Camus tries to explain people's absurd passion and desire for life, even though they are aware of their inevitable death, at a series of essays. 

It took me a little bit longer than I expected to finish this book because I haven't read any essays since my university years and I had to reread a lot of parts in order to make sure that I didn't miss anything important. However, I really enjoyed this book as it talked about the meaning of life and how we should not let the idea of death depress us, but just accept it and live our lives trying to be wise and find happiness. I love the fact that he uses characters from literature, like Don Juan and Frank Kafka's characters, as examples of people who, instead of giving up or committing suicide after being confronted  with meaningless incidents, led a life that made them bliss.

Albert Camus received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. 

2) Thu-Fri: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

George and Leni are poor workers and they are going to work at a ranch. They have this dream that the moment they gather just enough money, they will buy a farm of their own and some rabbits, which Leni himself will take care of. However, Leni's irresistible desire to touch anything beautiful-looking combined with his extreme physical strength but weak mind will raise obstacles to the fulfilment of this dream of theirs.

This is a story that stays in your mind long after you have finished reading it. The themes of friendship, human solidarity, dreams and social class are investigated in a very realistic, and even raw, way. Besides the tragic story of the two friends, I was really impressed by the fact that when you reach the end of the book, you realise that the story would be ruined or it wouldn't be so impactful if the author had omitted any scene.

John Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962.

3) Fri-Sat: House of the Sleeping Beauties and other stories by Yasunari Kawabata

There are three short stories in my edition; these are The House of the Sleeping Beauties, One Arm and Birds and Beasts. The protagonist of the first story, Eguchi, is 67 years old, and he visits a brothel where elderly men spend their night with young women who have been drugged so that they remain asleep all through the night. At the second story, a man spends the night with the arm of the girl he likes. As for the last story, the protagonist shares his peculiarity of preferring the company of birds more than the company of people. However, he seems to struggle to take care of them. 

All of the short stories are very intriguing as Kawabata investigates human weakness, singularity and even perversities in a symbolic and metaphorical way.

Yasunari Kawabata received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968 and he was the first Japanese author to be honoured by the Academy.

4) Sun: Queenie by Alice Munro

Chrissy visits her stepsister, Queenie. This meeting is extremely important as they haven't seen each other since Queenie left their home suddenly when she was 18 years old without confiding in anyone about the secret and disturbing events that were going on in her life. 

This is a short story and I don't want to reveal too much. However, I have to say that although the story seems to move towards a specific direction, towards the end the moral lesson and the focus of the story shift. I would say that readers should question the significance and the power of the bonds that people create with each other while reading this. 

Alice Munro received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013.

BONUS: The Dwarf by Pär Lagerkvist  

Although I started The Dwarf on Sunday, I finished it on Monday; thus, it doesn't really count, but I wanted to share some of my thoughts about it here as well.

Our protagonist is a powerful dwarf, as he is one of the most trusted servants of the Pince in the court. He observes everyone and he knows everything. His loyalty to the Prince is evident as he doesn't hesitate to commit crimes for his sake. Besides, it is him who knows what the Prince desires best.

Reading this novel is an experience. The dwarf, who narrates the whole story, is such an egotistic and evil creature that challenges the reader to question everything he says and to think critically of everything and everyone. I appreciate the fact that all the characters are neither good or bad; they are just flawed beings that happened to assume positions of power. Personally, I think that although many characters remain anonymous throughout the book, those whose names are given are the ones who can provide a moral lesson to the reader.

Pär Lagerkvist received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1951. 

So, 4 books in a week isn't bad, is it? Have you read any of the books mentioned above or any other books from those authors? If yes, write your thoughts on them at the comment section below.