William Faulkner

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INTERVIEWER

Do you mean the writer should be completely ruthless?

FAULKNER

The writer’s only responsibility is to his art. He will be completely ruthless if he is a good one. He has a dream. It anguishes him so much he must get rid of it. He has no peace until then. Everything goes by the board: honor, pride, decency, security, happiness, all, to get the book written. If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the “Ode on a Grecian Urn” is worth any number of old ladies.

-- William Faulkner at The Paris Review

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Saturday

More rain. This is no longer a surprise. In fact, we expect that this weather system should linger at least through Monday. I was hoping that this rainfall might hold off for another few hours, so that I could wade the mower through the drowned back yard and mow the front yard, but I will just have to enjoy a lazy Saturday afternoon. Nonetheless, once I can get to work out there, I am going to have a hell of a job in front of me. The lawn is getting kind of wild.

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2200

So, I still can be surprised by this weather system. We got hit with the worst storm yet. It was wildly ferociously windy, as though a tornado were not out of the question, in addition to the hard raining. The power went out. It wasn't out for an hour, but it was long enough for me to fire up our candles. It was also enough to ruin my chance to record Johnny Depp's "Transcendence", for which movie I have been waiting for a while. Well, at least it made for a cozy evening, with Pop staying at Kay's for another day, leaving just me and the cats in the candlelight.