The Nobel Prize for Literature in 2025 will be announced soon this month. Hello everybody, hope you’re doing fine, be welcome to my new book post of this year. Nobel and cool are not words you will see together anytime soon, but I’m here to tell you a few Nobel Prize winners by can be as cool as anything you see out there. Discover which ones they are in this post.
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” – Albert Camus
Known as the inventor of dynamite and other explosives, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel was also a humanitarian and a philanthropist. At his death in 1896, he left the bulk of his fortune to establish what came to be the most highly regarded of international awards, the Nobel Prize. These prizes are awarded annually since 1901 in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace; a sixth prize, for economics was first awarded in 1969.
In the field of literature, 121 authors from many different countries have won the coveted prize. French poet Sully Prudhomme was the first winner in 1901, whereas South Korean novelist and poet Han Kang was the latest winner in 2024. However the prize for literature has received severe criticism raising controversies over the years, and has been accused of being partialized and leaning towards the lefty side of politics.
But, controversies aside, on this list you will find five great and cool novels that while easy to read will also expose you to the good literature and leave you with something to ponder about. So, without further ado, let’s begin:
5- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962)
By Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
A cover (via: goodreads.com)
In 1945, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was arrested and taken to a Gulag for comments he made criticizing the oppressive regime of Joseph Stalin. He drew inspiration from his own experiences in the Siberian prison to write what would be One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. The story takes place in just 17 hours, and describes the misadventures of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, an innocent man sentenced to ten years in prison. The hard life in a forced labor camp, the scarcity and poor food, the jokes and complains of the prison guards, the games prisoners play, and the way Shukhov manages to maintain his dignity in those harrowing conditions is faithfully portrayed here by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
At just 140 pages, this is a novel you can finish in a day or two, and will leave your pondering about the corruption and the dehumanizing consequences of that thing called Communism.
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn in 1976 at Stanford University's library (via: gettyimages.com)
Something that has always caught my attention is at the beginning when a hungry and desperate Shukhov steals a piece of bread and hides it inside his own mattress. As the day unfolds and the prison continues its monotonous life, Shukhov cannot stop thinking about that piece of bread he just hid, what will happen to it? Will the guards discover it? Will another prisoner steal it? Meanwhile Shukhov has no choice but endure hunger, work, wait, and find out later. This short novel appeared in 1962 after Stalin’s death and Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization campaign. It caused a major sensation and assured Solzhenitsyn of instant celebrity.
Nevertheless, his works would soon be forbidden in the Soviet Union, and he had to rely on the secret system known as Samizdat in order to have his books published outside the Communist country. In 1970, Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a testimony of vitality and what a man is capable to endure in order to survive.
4- The Stranger (1942)
By Albert Camus
The 1966 Penguin Modern Classics cover of The Outsider (via: theguardian.com)
“Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday: I can’t be sure.” are the immortal words which open one of the most important French novels of the last century. Published in 1942 amidst World War II, The Stranger or The Outsider in English, was the first of only three novels Albert Camus, born in Algeria in 1913, ever published in his lifetime.
Meursault, a young French man, lives a quiet life in Algiers. He works as a clerk, has a circle of friends, a pretty girlfriend, likes to go to the beach and to the movies. But he has a fault: he doesn’t seem to have the basic emotions of a normal human being. Later, a tragedy will occur which results in a trial and jail time. The man has time to reflect in prison; but his conclusions will outrage society.
Albert Camus in 1948 (via: theguardian.com)
The publication of L'Étranger during the German occupation of France brought Camus instant notoriety and fame. The well-written novella deals with themes of nihilism and existentialism. It has become a cult classic over the years, it was one of David Bowie’s favorite books, and even inspired the great debut single by that great band that is The Cure.
Born in 1913, Albert Camus grew up poor, but happy, enjoining the sun and sea of his native Algeria. In 1957 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but just three years later he would die in car accident on the road from Provence back to Paris; he was just 46. Camus was an idealist, a moralist, and an anticommunist. In The Stranger you have some of the best pieces of literature of the 20th century.
3- Hunger (1890)
By Knut Hamsun
A cover (via: google.com)
A somewhat autobiographical story, this is probably the best novel ever written about poverty and hunger. A down-on-his-luck journalist whose name is never mentioned, suffers depression and delirious episodes due to the lack of money and the inability to buy food to feed himself. After having pawned part of his clothes, and being rejected by newspapers, harassed by the police, insulted by a whore, rejected by friends, and kicked out from the home he was living in, the man wanders around the city of Kristiania (now Oslo) with the hopes of selling one of his articles and having enough money to buy something to eat.
Told in the first person, and with bits of arrogance, tenderness, and a sardonic sense of humor, Hunger was Knut Hamsun’s first masterpiece. Published in 1890, this short but magnificent novel antedates the works of James Joyce and Franz Kafka and exerted a great influence on 20th century literature. Hamsun was Henry Miller’s literary model when he began writing, and the egotistical and autobiographical works of Charles Bukowski probably wouldn’t have existed without him.
Knut Hamsun (via: theguardian.com)
Born in 1859, Knut Hamsun started writing at the age of 18. He’s considered Norway’s greatest novelist and, after Henrik Ibsen, is the nation’s second most important literary figure. During his youth he worked at many odd jobs, and lived twice in the United States. He went to write several other acclaimed works depicting nature and characters that rejected society and tended to escape to far places. In 1920 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the second Norwegian writer who won the prize.
In his lifetime he received adulation, but was later condemned as a traitor and a renegade. He died in 1952. He was a towering figure whose influence and contribution are still present in literature. Isaac Bashevis Singer called Hamsun the father of modern literature. Hunger, a novel told in a simple yet powerful prose, is a book you cannot afford to miss, particularly if you’re a man reading this.
2- Siddhartha (1922)
By Hermann Hesse
A cover of Siddhartha (via: etsy.com)
This is a book I never get tired of reading, and whenever I finish it I always want to read it again. After living a comfortable life in his father’s palace, Siddhartha will start wandering around in search for meaning to his life. He will encounter Buddha himself, will have a romance with a beautiful courtesan woman, will become a wealthy business man, only to turn his back and start wandering again.
He will find solace in a simple life near a river; an old boat man will become his friend and mentor. Then Siddhartha will have to learn to find the truth that hides in his own self. This short but magnificent novel was the product of a trip Hermann Hesse took to India in 1911. He tried here to apply the Eastern principles to our own Western society.
Hermann Hesse (via: dw.com)
Born in 1877, Hermann Hesse was a novelist, short-story writer, poet and essayist. He wrote many significant novels, some of them highly influential in the 20th thought, and, like Goethe, saw himself as a wanderer and a seeker. In 1946 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his inspired writings which, while growing in boldness and penetration, exemplify the classical humanitarian ideals and high qualities of style.” He retired to live in Switzerland where he died in 1962.
The short novel Siddhartha was rediscovered in the 1960s and since then has become and enduring classic for the ages. Its pages are jam-packed with wisdom, they’re beautifully written, and every time you read it it feels like you’re reading it for the first time and discovering something new.
1- Enemies, A Love Story (1972)
By Isaac Bashevis Singer
A cover of Enemies, A Love Story (via: bashevissinger.com)
Herman Broder, a survivor of the Holocaust, lives now in New York City as a refugee. He’s married to Yadwiga, the Polish woman who hid him from the Nazis, but he’s in love with the beautiful and neurotic Masha, another survivor of World War II. In the meantime, Herman barely makes a living as a ghostwriter for a Jewish rabbi, from whom he also hides personal information. Herman’s web of lies, deceits, and secret escapades only gets worse when he finds out that Tamara, his first wife, whom he thought was killed during the war, has survived all kinds of hardships and is now living in New York City.
Mixing the old world and post war America, the trauma of the Holocaust, the war between the sexes, nihilism, the love and hate relationship with God, and the perpetually impending doom Herman Broder lives, this novel is regarded as Singer’s masterpiece, and was his first to be set in modern United States.
Isaac Bashevis Singer at his NYC apartment, circa 1980s (via: infobae.com)
Considered the master storyteller of the 20th century, Isaac Bashevis Singer was born in Poland in 1904. He wrote novels, short-stories, essays, and even children’s books; he always wrote in his native Yiddish language. He published his first novel in 1935, the same year he migrated to the United States. He became popular through his short-story collections and in 1978 received the Nobel Prize for his special literary vision, and is the only author in the Yiddish language who has won the prestigious award. Singer died in Miami in 1991.
Enemies, A Love Story was made into a movie in 1989 directed by Paul Mazursky. With beautiful descriptions, an amazing plot, and great characters, this is a book that grabs you and never lets you go, and is a story that could only be conceived by a master like Singer. Probably the best novel ever written about lies, do yourself a favor and read this one.
Conclusion
A painting of Alfred Nobel (via: thoughtco.com)
Guys, I hope you have liked this post and have learned something new. While great authors like Albert Camus, Hermann Hesse, and Mario Vargas Llosa truly deserved the award, other great authors like Vladimir Nabokov, Yukio Mishima, Jorge Luis Borges, and Philip Roth were never recognized for their influential contributions; more recently Japanese author Haruki Murakami has been snubbed a number of times in favor of other lesser authors.
But now I want to hear from you. Have you ever read any of these five cool novels? Which one caught your attention the most? Which one do you plan to read first? I’ll be waiting for your answers in the comment section.
For the writing of this post I consulted the following books at my local library:
-Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, Vol. 2: E-K (ISBN: 1-55862-375-2)
-Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, Vol. 4: S-Z (ISBN: 1-55862-377-9)
-The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropedia, Vol. VII
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Until Next Time
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Orlando Caine.