and the prize goes to...

..Orhan Pamuk. Congratulations on getting the Nobel. Actually, I'm curious as to what the reaction will be in Turkey to it, especially considering his recent trial (and its subsequent collapse on the grounds that it was bloody stupid in the first place) for insulting Turkishness, just for having the temerity to mention the deaths of Kurds and Aremenians. I suspect that the reaction will be one of proud bafflement; pride for the fact that a Turk has won a Nobel, baffelemnt as to why anyone would read, and prize, his works. I'm a big Orhan fan - he's an absolutely superb writer, although I think he took his eye off the ball a bit in Snow.