Originally Posted by Alison Flood, writing in The Guardian

The Lord of the Rings might have spawned a thousand pallid imitations, been crowned the UK's best-loved book and sold millions of copies around the world, but according to newly declassified documents, it was damned by the Nobel prize jury on the grounds of JRR Tolkien's second-rate prose.

The mysterious workings of the Nobel committee remain a secret until 50 years after the award is made, when the archive for that year is opened in the Nobel library in Stockholm. Swedish reporter Andreas Ekström delved into 1961's previously classified documents on their release this week, to find the jury passed over names including Lawrence Durrell, Robert Frost, Graham Greene, EM Forster and Tolkien to come up with their eventual winner, Yugoslavian writer Ivo Andrić.

While Andrić was lauded for "the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from the history of his country", other nominated writers received shorter shrift from the Nobel committee, Ekström revealed in Swedish newspaper Sydsvenska.

The prose of Tolkien – who was nominated by his friend and fellow fantasy author CS Lewis – "has not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality", wrote jury member Anders Österling. Frost, on the other hand, was dismissed because of his "advanced age" – he was 86 at the time – with the jury deciding the American poet's years were "a fundamental obstacle, which the committee regretfully found it necessary to state". Forster was also ruled out for his age – a consideration that no longer bothers the jury, which awarded the prize to the 87-year-old Doris Lessing in 2007 – with Österling calling the author "a shadow of his former self, with long lost spiritual health".

Durrell, meanwhile, "gives a dubious aftertaste … because of [his] monomaniacal preoccupation with erotic complications", while Italian novelist Alberto Moravia "suffers from … a general monotony".

Greene, who never won the Nobel, was 1961's runner-up, with Danish writer Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa, coming in third.

"I have been doing this as a bit of a personal and journalistical tradition the past five years or so, and this was the first time I have seen Tolkien's name among the suggested candidates," said Ekström. "Today, there are usually about 300 suggestions each year – back then, it was more often around 50. Not anyone can suggest a winner. The Swedish Academy invites certain academics, former winners and other institutional representatives to nominate, and can itself of course nominate too.

"The academy keeps a strict secrecy around the archives for 50 years, but doesn't reveal everything. The final decision is made without any notes ever becoming public. But the list of suggestions is indeed public, with some commentary to it. Tolkien was nominated by CS Lewis, that was the first thing I saw … Lewis was a professor of literature, and hence qualified to nominate. However, the short commentary from Anders Österling, the dominant literature critic in the academy, was fairly sour. He basically just said about the [Lord of the Rings] trilogy: 'the result has not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality'. Wham!"

Originally Posted by Lalaith (Post 665843)

However, I've never read Ivo Andric so I don't feel in a position to make a final judgement!

Originally Posted by Lalaith (Post 665843)

However, I've never read Ivo Andric so I don't feel in a position to make a final judgement!
Oh and 'diktning' is more about 'poetic creation' than storytelling, my Swedish source has just told me....I'm just asking him if the bit about the bad translation could be true...

Originally Posted by Lalaith (Post 665912)

Heren, have you *seen* the canonicity thread? ;)

Originally Posted by Inziladun (Post 665842)

Things like this are the reasons I don't consider awards earned by books as a ringing endorsement that I should read them. Word of mouth from friends is a much more reliable gauge of quality than the opinions of Ivory Tower academics.

Originally Posted by skip spence (Post 665913)

The phrasing actually suggest that Österling started out with some praise for Tolkien but that this was edited out, leaving only a curt dismissal.

Originally Posted by Gauteamus (Post 665945)

Maybe the harsh depictions or Easterlings in the triology played a part in Österlings rejection of the stories. I do not know what translation of Easterling the swedish edition used.

Originally Posted by Inziladun (Post 665950)

The similarity of Österling's name to the Easterlings in the books as a factor? That's pretty unlikely. If it were true though, it would seem a rather petty concern for one on a Nobel committee.

And welcome to the Downs!

Originally Posted by Inziladun (Post 665950)

The similarity of Österling's name to the Easterlings in the books as a factor? That's pretty unlikely. If it were true though, it would seem a rather petty concern for one on a Nobel committee.

Originally Posted by blantyr (Post 665956)

I would agree this ought not to be a significant factor in Nobel discussions. Still, Tolkien's depiction of humans from the east and south (Southrons) of Middle Earth are not the most politically correct of all possible depictions. If one is not from the northwest of Tolkien's world, one is apt to be portrayed as a crude evil barbarian in league with the Dark Lord.

Originally Posted by Lalwendë (Post 665868)

What struck me is that Tolkien was in excellent company as a Nobel reject - Lawrence Durrell, Greene, Forster and Robert Frost all having written things I've loved.