The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to French writer Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, renowned by his long and successful career. The French Nobel Prize winner is the author of 40 books, of which only 12 have been translated into English, a series of novels and essays and a collection of children’s books. Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio is considered a cosmopolitan man, a true citizen of the world, blessed with the talent to depict his knowledge and stories to others willing to learn. There is something altruistic about a man who wishes to share his experience, and the better and wiser that man is, the more altruistic his act of sharing is.

The fact that the prize was given to a French writer raised spirits in America, the decision being widely criticized. Horace Engdahl, the Swedish Academy’s permanent secretary, responded that American writers are too insular and too keen on American popular culture to have won the Nobel Prize. He also said that this is not a competition between nations, but one between individuals. And so it is. Or is it? Nicolas Sarkozy commented upon the matter claiming that this is a great accomplishment for France and, generally, for the French speaking world.

The last American writer to have won The Nobel Prize for Literature was Toni Morrison in 1993. Even so national pride has always been at stake regarding the Nobel Prizes. This year, the award for literature was given to a man worthy of the prize, being the right and most logical selection of a man that can represent the world though his work.