You can break everyone into a dog person or a cat person, a chocolate person or a vanilla person, or (like I do) a Hemingway person or a Faulkner person. I’m a Faulkner person through and through.

July 6 marked 50 years since William Faulkner’s passing.One way to mark the occasion is to check out the University of Virginia’s digital archives of Faulkner’s materials and lectures from his time at the University. During one of his classes, Faulkner was asked about Caddy in The Sound and the Fury:

Frederick Gwynn: Is Candace a common name in Mississippi or—?
William Faulkner: No. No, Caddy seemed a nice name for her, and I had to think of something to justify it.

I kind of love that Faulkner just thought it sounded like the right name. Sometimes that happens–a character just comes to you in a certain way and you’re not quite sure why a particular detail rings true, but it does.

Lots of awesome material in there for all you fellow Faulkner fans.

(quotes and image from Faulkner at Virginia, © 2010 Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia; Author Stephen Railton)(via UVA Today)