If I'd bet on the actual winner, I'd be retiring right about now.
"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"
Trump is Putin's bitch.

Dearie me.
You're my wife now.

I first thought it was an April's fool's joke, but it's October.
This means the bookies were wrong again.
I just recently read an article which lamented, that American authors haven't won for two decades.
Hang on tightly, let go lightly

I thought this was a joke. It's not.
Hey, this is the Sh*tty Restaurant would you like to make a reservation?

Haha.

Yep, it's almost purely political. Literary merit barely enters into it.

I guess the Nobel Prize in Literature would be a pretty huge honor for any author to win, but isn't it really much more of a political/human rights award than a literary one?
I guess Murakami could win based purely on the fact that his name has been floated as a favorite for so long and they could just decide it's his turn; but, regardless of literary merit, I don't really see him as being their kind of aspirational writer

What are the odds on Dan Brown winning the Nobel?
I would like to see Murakami win. I have read two of his books and even though I didn't
love
them I do intend to read more.
Don't give me songs
Give me something to sing about

Nice.
P.S. I've got your Christmas present sorted out:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/10/jim-broadbent-writes-graphic-novel-inspired-by-bruegel-dull-margaret-dix
You're my wife now.

Not to my knowledge. He's a bit more punk rock than his namesake. And his books have better covers:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8c/Coinlockerbabies.jpg/220px-Coinlockerbabies.jpg

Never heard of him!
Any relation?
You're my wife now.

I'd love for them to give it to the
good
Murakami, just to piss everyone off:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryū_Murakami

I'm sure they just reprint the same article every year.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/23/haruki-murakami-nobel-prize-literature
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/04/haruki-murakami-favourite-nobel-prize-literature
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/09/nobel-prize-literature-alice-munro-second-favourite
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/06/haruki-murakami-favourite-nobel-prize-literature-ngugi-wa-thiong-o

He doesn't really feel like a Nobel winner though, does he? There's little in the way of politics in his work (certainly not on the firmest ground on sexual politics), there's not much of a sense of writing to challenge beliefs or behaviours, overcoming adversity, etc. Personally, I'd quite like to see them just cave in and give it to Roth while he's still alive. If just for The Human Stain and Sabbath's Theatre.
Rusty chains and armoured pillows stuffed with silver pins

"It's usually some obscure w*nker, most people have never heard of. "
Not according to the article.
You're my wife now.

But the favourite almost never wins. It's usually some obscure w*nker, most people have never heard of.
Hang on tightly, let go lightly

could have been squelchy.

Thanks Carl / Ffa!!
Yeah, he's awful

Yeah, no way I'm reading him now. I trust you and Mark!
You're my wife now.

I really hate him, yeah.
His books usually start well but end up a hateful, overlong, ridiculous pile of shìte.
MarkVoyager can't stand him either.

I can't remember to be honest. I may have done - even though I've never read a word he's written!
If not me, it could have been Squelchy perhaps?
You're my wife now.

didnt you once compare his novels to horse manure?