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William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Speech
Here’s an excerpt from William Faulkner’s 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature acceptance speech, actually presented to him in 1950. An optimistic view of a writer’s duty. The full text is below. Ladies and gentlemen, I feel that this award was not made to me as a man, but to my work – a life’s work in the agony and sweat of the human spirit, not for glory and least of all for profit, but to create out of the materials of the human spirit something which did not exist before. So this award is only mine in trust. It will not be difficult to find a dedication for the money…
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As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner Published: 1930 I tried to read this once before, but I eventually gave up after some confusion. I had the same issues this time around to begin with, but I decided to persevere. The plot is fairly simple, actually. It’s set in the fictional county of Yoknapatawpha, Mississippi, and it follows the family of newly deceased Addie Bundren as they try to uphold her wish to be buried in the town of Jefferson. Never has a book been so simple and yet so bloody confusing. The plot is straight-forward, and the writing isn’t too hard to follow, especially compared to some other stream-of-consciousness…
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Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four (audio) by George Orwell Published: 1949 Narrated by: Samuel West This novel has haunted me since high school. Even if I didn’t tend to bother with homework, I still always enjoyed my assigned readings, but for some reason I managed to only read half of this. I’ve been meaning to return to it for over a decade now, and I’m very glad I finally did. I have the 2012 Back to the Classics Challenge to thank for the extra push! I loved this a lot more than I thought I would. I knew I’d enjoy it, and it would be good for me to read, but I didn’t…
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The Dresden Files #1: Storm Front
Storm Front by Jim Butcher Published: 2000 Harry Dresden is a wizard and a private investigator living in modern-day Chicago. That’s all you really need to know about this, to be honest. It’s a pretty great concept. He finds himself under suspicion for the string of murders he’s been asked to investigate and needs to find the killer to prove his innocence. I had heard this described as Philip Marlowe with magic, but I’d probably describe it more as Veronica Mars with magic. Still fun, but Chandler’s hard to live up to. I will say I was interested throughout the entire story, and I do really like the world he’s…
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George R. R. Martin Reads Nursery Rhymes
[via] I really wish that was actually him.
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Chew: Omnivore Edition, Volume 2
Chew Omnivore Edition, Volume 2 by John Layman Illustrated By: Rob Guillory Published: 2011 Publisher: Image Comics Collects: Chew #11 – #20 Unfortunately I decided to read these in the oversized hardcover editions, which are beautiful, but they take so very long to come out. I read the first Chew Omnivore volume a year and a half ago, so I was very excited when this was finally released. The series follows Tony Chu, an FDA agent tasked with tracking down black market chicken, which became illegal after a serious avian flu outbreak that killed millions. He’s also a Cibopath – someone who can get a sense of the history of…