Morning, Excellent and Fair: William Styron in the Village

William Styron, like many Greenwich Village writers, came from somewhere else, in this case North Carolina.

June 11 is his birthday and he spent his early writing career living at 45 Greenwich Avenue.

Here are two quotes from Sophie's Choice:

Someday I will understand Auschwitz. This was a brave statement but innocently absurd. No one will ever understand Auschwitz.

This was not judgement day — only morning. Morning: excellent and fair.

And one from Darkness Visible:

Depression is a disorder of the mood, so mysteriously painful and elusive in the way it becomes known to the self — to the mediating intellect — as to verge close to being beyond description. It thus remains nearly incomprehensible to those who have not experienced it in its extreme mode.

And one about great books:

A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it.

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William Styron's early years

Willaim Styron was actually from Newport News, Virginia. He was greatly influenced by the Nat Turner rebellion, which took place in nearby Southampton County, also Virginia.