Faulkner wrote most of his stories based on the emotions and trials in his own life. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949. From listening to his speech, you can get from him that he writes what he feels. In his speech he addresses the new and current writers, almost snarling his nose at their type writings. He says "the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat." Towards the end of the speech he says, "The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail."
What I gather that Faulkner is saying is that these writer's are scared to write about things that are bothersome. They are not willing to write about things that show the courage that we as man have to make.
You can listen to Faulkner's speech below.
Or you can read the whole speech here.
I found it interesting after researching about Faulkner's past that his last name was actually spelled "Falkner." His name's spelling was first changed in the employer books at Winchester Repeating Arms Company. After employment with the company, he went to register for the Army, where he spelled his name on his application "Faulkner." It is said that he changed the spelling so that it sounded more British so that he may join.
After the Civil War, Faulkner purchased an antebellum mansion in Oxford, Mississippi, which he named "Rowan Oak." This house is open for tourist and is owned by the University of Mississippi. There were some photos and an article published on the Southern Living website that give detail to the home and surroundings in Oxford.
Ernest Hemingway is and was a well known writer. His writing style was often told to be very short and to the point. He was known to be a man of few words, but the words that were written were full of meaning and emotion. He was also a writer who included his previous experience in his writings.
This can be found in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro." In the short story, he has flash backs of his life and of his wife, which were a reflection of his own life and the feelings for his own wife. Hemingway had cheated on his wife, Hadley and later married the woman he had an affair with, Priscilla, and had a son. They moved to Key West and his home is still there for touring today.
The history of the home in Key West is very interesting. The home was built in 1851 by Asa Tift. The house is made of limestone and it is believed that the limestone was excavated from where the house is now. They believe that they dug down approximately 14 feet retrieving the stone and back filled 5 feet upon construction for the basement. There were no power tools at this time so all of the construction was done by hand and by slaves.
Tift died in 1889. The house was left abandoned and Hemingway came through the Florida Keys and he and his wife fell in love with the house, purchasing it for $8,000 in back taxes. After Hemingway's death, Bernice Dixon bought the home where she later opened it up for touring to the public to pay tribute to Hemingway. Bernice's family is now owners of the property who continue to keep the property open to the public.
There is more information on Hemingway's home and life story here.
Hemingway also owned a house in Cuba where he lived after his wife and children died. You can find more information on that house here.
"From things that have happened and from things as they exist and from all things that you know and all those you cannot know, you make something through your invention that is not a representation but a whole new thing truer than anything true and alive, and you make it alive, and if you make it well enough, you give it immortality." -- Ernest Hemingway
