Jonathan Franzen picks up Welt-Literaturpreis

       Jonathan Franzen picked up the Welt-Literaturpreis on Friday, and since it is run by a newspaper, Die Welt, they give it lots of coverage. Among the pieces on offer yesterday:

• Franzen's acceptance speech -- albeit only in German translation.
  
  
• Daniel Kehlmann's laudatio (in which he refers to his buddy as 'Jon' several times; it's unclear whether or not Franzen calls him 'Dan')
  
  
• Wieland Freund's tribute, Jonathan Franzen -- ein Magier des Wortes
  
  
• Jan Küveler's summary Ein Schwergewicht der Literatur, so wunderbar leicht

       Franzen's speech begins with him describing the TV show Hogan's Heroes as his introduction to Germany -- and he notes that when he first came to Germany he didn't take to Munich: he liked the food and beer, but it turned out that his parents -- from whom he was trying to get some distance/rebel against -- were, despite not having German ancestry, decidedly too Bavarian in spirit, and so he found the Bavarians stiflingly too much like good ol' mom and pop.
       And he notes that one of the qualities he really appreciates about German literature is its humor -- which, I fear, will backfire completely as an endorsement .....