Nobel lecture

The academy's rules required a lecture within six months of the December ceremony, and he sent his as an audio recording, read over a quiet piano. He began with the music that first stirred him, recalling seeing Buddy Holly perform shortly before Holly's death and discovering Lead Belly and the folk tradition. Then he turned to three books from his school years that had stayed with him: Moby-Dick, All Quiet on the Western Front and The Odyssey, retelling each in his own way. He ended by arguing that songs are meant to be sung and heard, not just read on a page. Some writers later pointed to close similarities between parts of his Moby-Dick passage and an online study guide, adding one more twist to an already unusual laureateship.