A screenshot of Someone is Going to Come selling on second-hand trading platform kongfz.com for 9,999.98 yuan ($1,389.89…
A screenshot of Someone is Going to Come selling on second-hand trading platform kongfz.com for 9,999.98 yuan ($1,389.89)
After Norwegian writer Jon Fosse received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday, the popularity of his books has skyrocketed in China, with many readers saying they are having a hard time getting their hands on a copy. The prices of second-hand copies of his works have even reached as high as nearly 10,000 yuan ($1,390).
According to e-commerce platform dangdang.com, after the Nobel Prize announcement, Fosse's Someone is Going to Come ranked third on the search list and is currently only available for pre-order, as it has sold out online. On JD.com, a major Chinese e-commerce platform, all of Fosse's works have sold out and are currently listed only for pre-order.
Not only online, readers have found it very hard to get a copy of Fosse's works in physical bookstores, too. A staff member at a local bookstore in Nanjing said that not many people showed interest in Fosse's books before, but now they have nearly sold out.
"Every year when the Nobel Prize is announced, it triggers a book-buying frenzy. In addition to the Literature Prize, books written by or related to the research fields of the winners of the physiology, medicine, chemistry, and physics prizes also see a surge in readers."
On the second-hand trading platform kongfz.com, the price of Fosse's works skyrocketed, with the highest price reaching 9,999.98 yuan by Saturday from the original price of 55 yuan. The seller added a note, "Only one copy available, snatch it before it's gone."
Before Fosse receiving the Nobel Prize, his name was relatively unknown to Chinese readers. The Shanghai Translation Publishing House has published Jon Fosse's play selection Someone is Going to Come and Dream of Autumn. According to Chinese media, he has several more works set to be published in China, such as his representative novels Trilogy, Morning and Evening and Septology.
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