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Nobel Writers on Writing
When in 1901 Alfred Nobel bequeathed to the world the funds to support the Nobel Prize, one of his few directives for the category of literature was that the artists selected be of "idealistic tendency." Since its inception, the prize has given a very public voice to some of the world's greatest writers, and their responses to the honor-their acceptance speeches-have themselves often been epochal within each author's body of literature. From the famed call to "arms" by William Faulkner to the multicultural song of Derek Walcott, from 1903's Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson to 1999's Gnter Grass, this collection traces the ideals of the artists and the selection committee itself throughout the entirety of the 20th century.
"Interestingly," writes Draugsvold, "none [of the writers] discuss the more technical aspects of their craft." Equally striking is the strength of the common thread of idealism found in these addresses-a firm belief in humankind and the power of art, in its role in "the service of truth and the service of liberty" as Albert Camus said in 1957. "I decline to accept the end of man" wrote the Old Man, William Faulkner.
The speeches presented here were chosen not by subjective but rather by substantive criteria, with biographical presentations and brief statements of gratitude omitted. Included are an introduction to each of the 28 writers chosen, an excerpted copy of the speech or lecture and a bibliography of works in English. The work concludes with a complete list of prize winners in literature and a bibliography of sources cited in the writer's introductions.
"Interestingly," writes Draugsvold, "none [of the writers] discuss the more technical aspects of their craft." Equally striking is the strength of the common thread of idealism found in these addresses-a firm belief in humankind and the power of art, in its role in "the service of truth and the service of liberty" as Albert Camus said in 1957. "I decline to accept the end of man" wrote the Old Man, William Faulkner.
The speeches presented here were chosen not by subjective but rather by substantive criteria, with biographical presentations and brief statements of gratitude omitted. Included are an introduction to each of the 28 writers chosen, an excerpted copy of the speech or lecture and a bibliography of works in English. The work concludes with a complete list of prize winners in literature and a bibliography of sources cited in the writer's introductions.
227 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
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December 4, 2020
I loved the Preface. Ottar Draugsvold really captured my attention by explaining why we read and why people write. He wrote: Reading can perform a cathartic function as an imaginative release from an odious reality. That was definitely the case for me after my dad died suddenly and I was bereft.
He also wrote: fiction can be nothing more than an amusement...perform a cathartic function...provides entry into worlds where profound meaning can be intuited. He said that great poetry and fiction can fill all 3 functions.
He quotes Walter Kerr when we said: “We must be prepared, after all of our preliminary sacrifice, to come away empty handed, with nothing left to us but a memory of delight, an increase in wellness so deep and so central and so invisibly distributed throughout the psyche that it cannot even be located, let alone measured and codified for a future use.” I definitely feel this way when I finish ready Wallace Stegner’s work.
He quoted Mark Twain...The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t.”
He wrote: “Annie Dillard (from The Writing Life) asks the right questions about fiction: ‘Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed?’ “ p 1
“Joseph Campbell, the eminent 20th century mythologist, described the impact of such reductive thinking: “ ‘We are looking for an experience of life but we’re shoving ourselves off the experience by naming, translating, and classifying every experience that comes to us.’ “. After such autopsies are complete, what had once been pulsing organic matter (wrenched from the creativity and souls of the writer) is transformed into a desiccated carcass.” P 2
“Reading great fiction means to experience ‘poetry, words, images that jump at the right moment, that break open old worlds with surprise, abrasion and pace.”
“Writing is a solitary life. Seclusion allows eccentric realms of the personality to flourish, free from controls imposed by teamwork and cooperation, allowing writers to be ‘more themselves’ than most of us. P 2
1. 1903 Laureate=Bjornstjerne Bjornson (1832-1910) from Norway; novels, plays & poetry
“Nothing can grow to power in a people which does not have root in its history.” ~ BB
“BB wrapped the new around the old in a vibrantly human bandage.” P 9
...he invigorated his readers with the struggle of accepting the modern.
“BB portrayed the assimilation of peasants into a modern, confusing society. He challenged the creaky political, religious, social and literary structure of his day, pointing the way to a future with confidence.
“As a poet, he evoked the beauty and history of Norway with the love of a naturalist and the ardor of a patriot.”
2. 1923 Laureate=William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
“ Yates was an ardent proponent for the primacy of literature as a cultural force.” I believe that literature is the principal voice of the conscience and that it is its duty age after age to affirm its morality against the special moralities of clergyman and churches, and of Kings and Parliament and Peoples.” When he lacked a vocabulary to express his particular vision, he invented one by using conventional terms in unusual ways. “ when I spoke of the emotions as the first thing and last in education, I did not mean excitement. In the completely emotional man the least awakening of feeling is a harmony, in which every chord of every feeling vibrates.... excitement is the feature of an insufficient lay emotional nature, the harsh discourse of the vibration of but one or two chords [Autobiographies]. I have spent my life in clearing out of poetry every phrase written for the eye, and bringing all back to syntax that is for ear alone.” P 16
5. 1938 Laureate=Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973)
The Good Earth
25. 1991 Laureate=Nadine Gordimer (b. 1923)
July’s People
27. 1993 Laureate=Toni Morrison (b. 1931)
The Bluest Eye
He also wrote: fiction can be nothing more than an amusement...perform a cathartic function...provides entry into worlds where profound meaning can be intuited. He said that great poetry and fiction can fill all 3 functions.
He quotes Walter Kerr when we said: “We must be prepared, after all of our preliminary sacrifice, to come away empty handed, with nothing left to us but a memory of delight, an increase in wellness so deep and so central and so invisibly distributed throughout the psyche that it cannot even be located, let alone measured and codified for a future use.” I definitely feel this way when I finish ready Wallace Stegner’s work.
He quoted Mark Twain...The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t.”
He wrote: “Annie Dillard (from The Writing Life) asks the right questions about fiction: ‘Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed?’ “ p 1
“Joseph Campbell, the eminent 20th century mythologist, described the impact of such reductive thinking: “ ‘We are looking for an experience of life but we’re shoving ourselves off the experience by naming, translating, and classifying every experience that comes to us.’ “. After such autopsies are complete, what had once been pulsing organic matter (wrenched from the creativity and souls of the writer) is transformed into a desiccated carcass.” P 2
“Reading great fiction means to experience ‘poetry, words, images that jump at the right moment, that break open old worlds with surprise, abrasion and pace.”
“Writing is a solitary life. Seclusion allows eccentric realms of the personality to flourish, free from controls imposed by teamwork and cooperation, allowing writers to be ‘more themselves’ than most of us. P 2
1. 1903 Laureate=Bjornstjerne Bjornson (1832-1910) from Norway; novels, plays & poetry
“Nothing can grow to power in a people which does not have root in its history.” ~ BB
“BB wrapped the new around the old in a vibrantly human bandage.” P 9
...he invigorated his readers with the struggle of accepting the modern.
“BB portrayed the assimilation of peasants into a modern, confusing society. He challenged the creaky political, religious, social and literary structure of his day, pointing the way to a future with confidence.
“As a poet, he evoked the beauty and history of Norway with the love of a naturalist and the ardor of a patriot.”
2. 1923 Laureate=William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
“ Yates was an ardent proponent for the primacy of literature as a cultural force.” I believe that literature is the principal voice of the conscience and that it is its duty age after age to affirm its morality against the special moralities of clergyman and churches, and of Kings and Parliament and Peoples.” When he lacked a vocabulary to express his particular vision, he invented one by using conventional terms in unusual ways. “ when I spoke of the emotions as the first thing and last in education, I did not mean excitement. In the completely emotional man the least awakening of feeling is a harmony, in which every chord of every feeling vibrates.... excitement is the feature of an insufficient lay emotional nature, the harsh discourse of the vibration of but one or two chords [Autobiographies]. I have spent my life in clearing out of poetry every phrase written for the eye, and bringing all back to syntax that is for ear alone.” P 16
5. 1938 Laureate=Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973)
The Good Earth
25. 1991 Laureate=Nadine Gordimer (b. 1923)
July’s People
27. 1993 Laureate=Toni Morrison (b. 1931)
The Bluest Eye
Displaying 1 of 1 review