For more than a century, the Pulitzer Prize for fiction
(originally the Pulitzer Prize for novels from 1918 to 1948) has honored some
of the most groundbreaking and spellbinding pieces of modern American
literature, including works from such visionary authors as Edith Wharton, John
Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth, and Junot Diaz. In the
U.S. literary world, there is no greater honor.
Stretching across different genres and styles, Pulitzer
Prize-winning books offer myriad gems of abiding wisdom. These works traverse
the landscape of American history (and its possible future), from the glitz of
the Gilded Age in Edith Wharton’s “The Age of Innocence” to the Dust Bowl
devastation of John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.” The subjects often get
to the heart of the American experience. Jeffrey Eugenides navigates the
complexities of gender in 2002’s “Middlesex,” while novels such as Alice
Walker’s “The Color Purple” (1982) and Colson Whitehead’s “The Underground
Railroad” (2017) document the devastating effects of racism from differing
viewpoints and time periods.
The following list compiles insightful and heartening
quotes from 20 Pulitzer Prize winners, from some of the very first honored
works to the very latest.
1919: THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS BY
BOOTH TARKINGTON
Whatever does not pretend at all has style
enough.
Set in a fictionalized Indianapolis, “The Magnificent
Ambersons” follows the decline of the wealthy Amberson family across three
generations. The book was adapted into a silent film called “Pampered Youth” in
1925 and then a film directed by Orson Welles in 1942. It is full of wisdom,
such as this quote speaking to integrity and authenticity. In a world where
people try to fit in, being yourself is all the style one needs.
1920: THE AGE OF INNOCENCE BY
EDITH WHARTON
Ah, good conversation — there's nothing like
it, is there? The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.
Edith Wharton’s masterpiece “The Age of Innocence”
follows protagonist Newland Archer as he attempts to reconcile his true
feelings with the shallow and often misguided world in which he lives. This
quote speaks to the collaborative power of the mind, suggesting that it’s in
conversation with one another that we discover our best ideas.
1923: ONE OF OURS BY WILLA
CATHER
Ruin and new birth; the shudder of ugly
things in the past, the trembling image of beautiful ones on the horizon;
finding and losing; that was life.
“One of Ours” takes a powerful look at America at the
dawn of the 20th century. The main character, Claude Wheeler, typifies a young
man looking to make his way in a changing country when the Great War engulfs
the world. This quote succinctly describes the joys and sorrows of everyday
life, suggesting events don’t just passively happen to us; they are life
itself.
1925: SO BIG BY EDNA FERBER
About mistakes, it's funny. You've got to
make your own; and not only that, if you try to keep people from making theirs,
they get mad.”
“So Big” is a novel about mistakes. When Dirk, an
architect turned stock broker, decides to abandon the pursuit of art in search
of money, he’s warned of his mistake by his mother. Slowly, his life falls
apart and he is ultimately left alone regretting his decision to pursue the
superficial. In the end, he learns an important lesson — one he might never
have learned without making his own mistakes.
1949: THE GRAPES OF WRATH BY
JOHN STEINBECK
How can we live without our lives? How will
we know it's us without our past?
One of John Steinbeck’s most famous novels (and a beloved
1940 film directed by John Ford), “The Grapes of Wrath” focuses on struggling
farmers during the Great Depression, who must uproot their lives to find a
brighter future in California. This quote speaks to the importance of place and
memory; as we move forward, we never forget where we came from.
1953: THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA BY
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
Now is no time to think of what you do not
have. Think of what you can do with what there is.
A classic of high school English classes everywhere, “The
Old Man and the Sea” is one of Ernest Hemingway’s last major works. The novella
follows Santiago, an old fisherman who has gone 84 days without catching a
fish, and then makes the catch of his life. This quote focuses on the power of
a positive, solution-oriented outlook and the importance of living in the
present.
1961: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD BY
HARPER LEE
People generally see what they look for, and
hear what they listen for.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” is considered one of the greatest
works of American fiction. Set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, the
story is told through the eyes of six-year-old Jean Louise “Scout” Finch as her
lawyer father, Atticus Finch, steadfastly defends a Black man from a gross
injustice. This quote speaks to the prejudices in all of us, and the duty we
have to fight against them.
1983: THE COLOR PURPLE BY
ALICE WALKER
Everything want to be loved. Us sing and
dance and holler, just trying to be loved.
In 1983, Alice Walker became the first Black woman to win
the Pulitzer Prize, for her novel “The Color Purple.” The book gives an
unforgiving look at the racism and misogyny embedded in American culture.
Despite all the complexities of the narrative, this quote strips down the human
experience to the barest essential — that everyone, no matter where they come
from or who they are, just wants to be loved.
1988: BELOVED BY TONI
MORRISON
Me and you, we got more yesterday than
anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.
Toni Morrison’s most famous novel is dedicated to the “60
million and more” lives lost due to the Atlantic slave trade. Set only a decade
after the Emancipation Proclamation, the novel weaves together the horror of
American slavery with traditional narrative elements of the horror genre, such
as the haunting of a supernatural being named “Beloved.”
1994: THE SHIPPING NEWS BY
E. ANNIE PROULX
What we fear we often rage against.
“The Shipping News” follows the life of Quoyle, who
reaches the disastrous end of one stage of his life only to embark on a
promising new chapter as he begins reporting on traffic accidents and the
shipping news in Newfoundland, Canada. This quote speaks to the power of fear
to unleash some of our strongest and darkest emotions.
1998: AMERICAN PASTORAL BY
PHILIP ROTH
There is no force more powerful than that of
an unbridled imagination.
“American Pastoral” follows its characters as they
experience the societal convulsions of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The
nation becomes a metaphor for the characters in the novel, many of whom also
have an untold number of secrets. However, this quote strikes a note of
optimism and possibly offers a glimpse into Roth’s creative beliefs. Maybe
that’s why many consider “American Pastoral” to be one of the best novels in
American history.
2001: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF
KAVALIER & CLAY BY MICHAEL CHABON
We have the idea that our hearts, once
broken, scar over with an indestructible tissue that prevents their ever
breaking again in quite the same place.
Set during the golden age of comic books in the 1930s and
early 1940s, Chabon’s novel follows artist Joe Kavalier and writer Sammy Clay
as they create “The Escapist,” a popular superhero. The story explores LGBTQ+
relationships, questions the convention of the “nuclear family,” and underlines
the importance of authenticity and friendship.
2003: MIDDLESEX BY JEFFREY
EUGENIDES
Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into
a mind.
“Middlesex” follows the life (and family) of Cal
Stephanides, an intersex man, as he grows up and evolves amid the
contradictions embedded in the American experience. This quote tackles the
distinction of biology versus life, a major theme of the novel.
2006: MARCH BY GERALDINE
BROOKS
Who is the brave man — he who feels no fear?
If so, then bravery is but a polite term for a mind devoid of rationality and
imagination.
“March” is a companion novel to Louisa May Alcott’s
famous book “Little Women.” It follows the life of the father of Alcott’s
characters as he fights in the Civil War. This quote speaks to the experience
of being a soldier, and reminds us that bravery doesn’t refer to the absence of
fear, but to righteous action in the face of it.
2007: THE ROAD BY CORMAC
MCCARTHY
Keep a little fire burning; however small,
however hidden.
Not many post-apocalyptic novels snag the Pulitzer, but
Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” is an exception. In a dark future where an unknown
calamity has laid waste to the planet, a father and son try to survive in an
unforgiving world. Here, the fire that warms them is a symbol for the hope
inside them, no matter how bad things get.
2008: THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF
OSCAR WAO BY JUNOT DIAZ
You can never run away. Not ever. The only
way out is in.
In this novel, Junot Diaz tells the story of a Dominican
family living in New Jersey. Entering the mind of his young protagonist, Oscar
de León, Diaz weaves the language of comic books, fantasy, and science fiction
throughout the novel. The book is full of wisdom like this line speaking to the
inevitability of facing our fears.
2001: A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD BY
JENNIFER EGAN
We have some history together that hasn’t
happened yet.
More of a collection of 13 short stories than a
traditional novel, “A Visit From the Good Squad” explores all the myriad ways
and strange directions one’s life can go. These words suggest the importance of
an open mind; a complete stranger can become someone closer, who changes the
trajectory of your life.
2014: THE GOLDFINCH BY DONNA
TARTT
"When you feel homesick," he said,
“just look up. Because the moon is the same wherever you go."
“The Goldfinch” is a coming-of-age tale that begins when
13-year-old Theodore Decker must confront the horrors of his mother’s violent
death. Abandoned by his father and longing for his life before the tragedy,
Decker embodies these words. He searches for comfort in the constants around
us, even those we often take for granted.
2017: THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD BY
COLSON WHITEHEAD
Sometimes a useful delusion is better than a
useless truth.
Colson Whitehead earned his first Pulitzer Prize (he won
again with “The Nickel Boys” in 2020) for “The Underground Railroad,” which
tells the story of the famous smuggling system that freed enslaved people
before the Civil War — only this time, it’s an actual railroad. These words
tell us that sometimes our beliefs don’t square with our reality, but that
positive “delusion” can lead us in the right direction, whether in the search
of justice, peace, or happiness.
2019: THE OVERSTORY BY
RICHARD POWERS
This is not our world with trees in it. It's
a world of trees, where humans have just arrived.
Richard Powers’ “The Overstory” is filled with the
existential dread of climate change, especially how warming temperatures and human
activity threaten Earth’s most distinctive feature: its trees. This quote
speaks to our tendency to put humanity at the center of the planet’s story,
even though that narrative isn’t true. In reality, we all have a responsibility
to respect the natural world we live in.
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