He then chronicles the influence of Leadbelly and folk music before turning to several literary war horses<br />that he said he read “way back in grammar school”: “Moby-Dick,” “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “The Odyssey.”<br />Every week, stay on top of the latest in pop and jazz with reviews, interviews, podcasts and more from music critics.<br />In the speech, which is just over 4,000 words long — and about 27 minutes, in an accompanying recording — Mr. Dylan shows<br />that he has been thinking about the question too, and gave a defense detailing his literary and musical influences, and ending on a note that every lit major should know.<br />Bob Dylan Delivers His Nobel Prize Lecture, Just in Time -<br />By BEN SISARIOJUNE 5, 2017<br />After Bob Dylan was named the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature last October, the literary<br />commentariat wrestled with a fundamental question: Can song lyrics be literature?<br />But Ishmael survives the shipwreck, “in the sea floating on a coffin.” The theme “works<br />its way into more than a few of my songs,” he wrote, but gave no examples.<br />“All Quiet on the Western Front” — which is also admired by President Trump — portrays the hell of war,<br />and the role of an artist to document it and give the world a reason to survive.
