Nobel Prizes in Literature and Peace

I look forward every year to the Nobel Prizes, particularly the categories of Literature and Peace. And this year is no exception: in fact, I am more eager to know who will win the Literature Prize, to be announced tomorrow, as well as the Peace Prize, to be announced the following day, because I don't have the faintest idea who the frontrunners are (if there is such a thing, when it comes to this particular Prize). However, while speculating on who the honorees will be, I also thought of a couple of the past winners I admire and the memorable Nobel lectures they gave.

Here's an excerpt from Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's Nobel Lecture on Literature, which by the way reminded me of a classic essay by Mario Vargas Llosa, called Why Literature?. (Note: I do not completely subscribe to all Llosa says about the future of the book; I believe there is some merit to the idea of digitizing books, as this opinion piece in The New York Times argues):

But woe to that nation whose literature is disturbed by the intervention of power. Because that is not just a violation against "freedom of print", it is the closing down of the heart of the nation, a slashing to pieces of its memory. The nation ceases to be mindful of itself, it is deprived of its spiritual unity, and despite a supposedly common language, compatriots suddenly cease to understand one another. Silent generations grow old and die without ever having talked about themselves, either to each other or to their descendants.

Also, here is an excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr's Nobel Lecture on Peace:

This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man.

Update: The 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature was just announced. The recipient is Romanian-born, German author Herta Mueller. From the little I have read about her so far, she appears to be a deeply moving writer (The New York Times printed reviews of her novels The Land of Green Plums and The Appointment), who has experienced incredibly difficult ordeals in her life. Please see this article from the BBC website for a brief profile.

Update: The Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded to President Barack Obama. Here's an interview from the Nobel Prize Youtube Channel, where Geir Lundestad, Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, explains the selection. I see the decision to bestow this amazing honor on President Obama as an act of grace. Also I am impressed with the humble and selfless way in which President Obama received the award. I wish him well; he will have the support of many, both domestically and internationally.