Youd
It has been a few decades since the sound of a typewriter filled the air at Rowan Oak, the home of Nobel-prize winning author William Faulkner. This week, that sound returns, as typewriter artist Tim Youd sets out to perform his unique show that includes retyping the entirety of Faulkner’s renowned novel, “The Sound and The Fury.”
This event got me thinking. When was the last time I heard the sounds of manual typewriter keys pecking away at their paper? Have today’s Ole Miss students ever heard this sound? Even back in the dark ages when I was an undergraduate, the manual typewriter was nearly obsolete as a machine for creating correspondence, much less writing papers for school. It had been replaced with faster, electronic models, word processors and the then-emerging technology of personal computers. With the onslaught of new technology, including incredibly quiet keys of laptops and touch screen devices, the manual typewriter is likely in the same category as rotary phones.
For me, the familiar sound of the keys elicits wonderful memories from my childhood, when mom or dad would be at the home desk typing a letter, usually with me looking over their shoulders asking tons of annoying questions about what each sentence meant, and to whom the letter was going to be sent. While it surely slowed down the writing process, it brought me great joy to push the manual lever, adjusting the paper so that it was ready to soak in the next line of ink. When my parents moved out of my childhood home, the typewriter was flagged for donation. I quickly stepped in to protest. Today, it rests safely covered in a storage room off their garage, waiting for me to retrieve it and all of the nostalgia it holds for me.
I appreciate Tim Youd’s art, and I’m grateful to him for reviving the unique musicality that only manual typewriter keys can create. It is definitely worth your time unplug and listen. Youd will be at Rowan Oak, during normal summer hours, until June 12. After that, the nearly unbearable sound of silent typewriter keys will again ring throughout Faulkner’s home.
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