Drifts of Goncourt : between marketing and litterature

100 000 copies. It is the approximate number of sold books of the Goncourt. This price is a luck to be weel known but at what price ? French academy reward the bestseller rather than the best literary works but the marketing criterion does not amount necessarily to the literary quality.

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" J'ai tout fait pour l'éviter, mais, malheureusement, oui, ils me l'ont donné", Jonathan Littell.

The selection takes place in closed environment, at restaurant Drouant in Paris. But what's happen before ? The Goncourt price is it always give to a novel in the literary high quality or a novel more popular of a big publishing house.

The Goncourt price 2007 has been given to Gilles Leroy for Alabama Song to Mercure de France (Gallimard) monday, november 5th. Both favoris of Bernard Pivot, member of jury, is Leroy and Adam. He chose Leroy's book because it is fascinating that the author make Zelda Fitzgerald a current woman.
Daniel Pennac received Renaudot Price for his book, Chagrin d'école (Gallimard).
Amélie Nothomb, as for her, won the Flore Price for his novel, Ni d'Eve ni d'Adam (Albin Michel) thursday, 8th.

The Goncourt is a brand which people buy

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The goncourt, the price the most desired and mediatized, makes sell. It cannot reward any book but only a bestseller. Others books very well writen go unnoticed. The goncourt selects a novel which is going to acquire a big fame and it offers to the criticisms the books which were not held among the list. The brand of Goncourt is Goncourt and not the novel in a sense. He has to reward for big literary success otherwise they would lose its legitimacy. Alabama song is a book which has a public big potential...

And in the inverse effect the goncourt ruins spiritually the prize-winners. Jonathan Littell has won the Goncourt 2006 for The kindly ones. He entrusts the daily newspaper El pais with he didn't want the Goncourt. According to him, the prices have nothing credit note with the literature but more with the marketing. Authors never recovered from the goncourt like Paule Constant, Pascale Roze or Jean Carrière... (video in french of Nouvel Observateur, click the link).

The Goncourt remains a means to reach the literary elite : it gives the advertising impact which throws a career. The problem is that it rewards only writers in the already thrown career...

Link : http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/videos/player.php?id_video=1992