Has anyone read this book? I didnt think I'd like it but I did. I might buy Faulkner's "As I lay dying" next.
The sound and the fury
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Absalom! Absalom! is my favorite Faulkner. The Sound and the Fury is a pretty close second.
Both are tremendous books.
As I Lay Dying would be pretty far down the list, for me. It's a lot "thinner" than most of Faulkner, and the linguistic wizadry on showcase in the two books I mentioned at the top is pretty much absent. (Still, the "My mother is a fish" chapter is almost worth the price of admission just by itself.)
I would highly recommend against reading Faulkner if you're writing something. It's one of those styles that will find its way into your writing; there's really no way to keep him out.
Both are tremendous books.
As I Lay Dying would be pretty far down the list, for me. It's a lot "thinner" than most of Faulkner, and the linguistic wizadry on showcase in the two books I mentioned at the top is pretty much absent. (Still, the "My mother is a fish" chapter is almost worth the price of admission just by itself.)
I would highly recommend against reading Faulkner if you're writing something. It's one of those styles that will find its way into your writing; there's really no way to keep him out.
I am still not getting over the Quentin section. It was really intricate so I had to read it twice. It really has gotten into my head. The way he is paralyzed by his obsession with caddy, how he wants to escape time and ends up committing suicide. All I think about is, ”Dalton Ames. Dalton Ames. Dalton Ames.”
Actually, now I’ve decided that I’m not reading anything else by Faulkner. You read and you end up wasting your time thinking about characters you learn nothing from + you feel depressed.
Actually, now I’ve decided that I’m not reading anything else by Faulkner. You read and you end up wasting your time thinking about characters you learn nothing from + you feel depressed.
Oh no!
Don't give up on Faulkner. He's one of the few Americans who makes the language sing. His ability with words is well worth studying.
Don't give up on Faulkner. He's one of the few Americans who makes the language sing. His ability with words is well worth studying.
I once read a commentary by a book reviewer (years ago, I can't recall his name) that said a most perceptive thing: "Students are taught to hate Faulkner by being forced to read The Sound and the Fury."
He's right. Not that S&F is a bad book, by any means, just that it's not the first Faulkner you probably should read. Or the second, or third, for that matter.
I had the good fortune of taking an undergrad class in Faulkner many years before present, under a Faulkner specialist. It was at the time, he maintained, the only undergraduate course in the nation specializing solely in Faulkner. For that class, we started with The Unvanquished, then Sartoris, then the shorts in Go Down, Moses, and after that, The Wild Palms. Only with that intro did we get into the books considered Faulkner's heavyweights. Of those, he wanted us to read Light in August first, but at the time it was only available in a very expensive hardback, so we skipped it (I read it after the class was over).
And even then, we put off S&F and As I Lay Dying until after we'd read The Snopes Trilogy; that set of three novels (The Hamlet, The Town, The Mansion) was for me, the high point of the course. I regard the Trilogy as one of the chief accomplishments of American literature. Far too few people are familiar with it.
We finished the course with The Reivers, Faulkner's last novel, and one explicitly intended to be his finale; a fine book in its own right, though somewhat lighter in tone and spirit than the great masterpieces. Faulkner died a short time after its publication.
So, in summary, if you are having trouble with S&F, you might consider tackling some of the more accessible Faulkners first, and The Unvanquished is a very good place to start.
caw
He's right. Not that S&F is a bad book, by any means, just that it's not the first Faulkner you probably should read. Or the second, or third, for that matter.
I had the good fortune of taking an undergrad class in Faulkner many years before present, under a Faulkner specialist. It was at the time, he maintained, the only undergraduate course in the nation specializing solely in Faulkner. For that class, we started with The Unvanquished, then Sartoris, then the shorts in Go Down, Moses, and after that, The Wild Palms. Only with that intro did we get into the books considered Faulkner's heavyweights. Of those, he wanted us to read Light in August first, but at the time it was only available in a very expensive hardback, so we skipped it (I read it after the class was over).
And even then, we put off S&F and As I Lay Dying until after we'd read The Snopes Trilogy; that set of three novels (The Hamlet, The Town, The Mansion) was for me, the high point of the course. I regard the Trilogy as one of the chief accomplishments of American literature. Far too few people are familiar with it.
We finished the course with The Reivers, Faulkner's last novel, and one explicitly intended to be his finale; a fine book in its own right, though somewhat lighter in tone and spirit than the great masterpieces. Faulkner died a short time after its publication.
So, in summary, if you are having trouble with S&F, you might consider tackling some of the more accessible Faulkners first, and The Unvanquished is a very good place to start.
caw
Good post, blacbird.
I believe there's a film version of The Reivers.
The Robert Duvall film Tomorrow is a pretty good film.
Absalom! Absalom!/The Sound and The Fury
Absalom! Absalom! was one of my favorite books in college but I hadn't read much else of Faulkner. When I saw that The Sound and the Fury also had Quentin Compson, I was so happy and bought it right away. Oh boy! I thought. A sequel!
Absalom! Absalom! was one of my favorite books in college but I hadn't read much else of Faulkner. When I saw that The Sound and the Fury also had Quentin Compson, I was so happy and bought it right away. Oh boy! I thought. A sequel!
I was just going through the threads in the book club and I came upon Faulkner. My son's middle name is Faulkner! Carson Faulkner Dodge. Anyway, Will, you're right. There was a film of THE REIVERS and Steve McQueen played Boon Hogenbeck. Will Geer played Ike's grandfather. Blacbird, my first year as an AP teacher I taught THE SOUND AND THE FURY. I soon discovered that I had compiled a huge number of kids who would never read Faulkner again. Now I teach AS I LAY DYING. They read LIGHT IN AUGUST for summer reading. Anyway, for anyone who would be interested, I wrote a short story based on Quentin, Caddy's daughter, and it was published at projected letters. I'd be interested to hear what Faulkner fans think.
Any Faulkner fans out there?
I hope to dedicate this summer to reading him more.
Can I ask everyone, what was your initial attraction to Faulkner? Your favorite novel of his?
I'm kind of wondering how he is viewed in the consensus of today's criticism. In other words, he obviously paralleled familial legacies with the history of the South among many other "hefty ideas," but what are current readers saying about his very historically-confined texts?
Penny for your thoughts
I hope to dedicate this summer to reading him more.
Can I ask everyone, what was your initial attraction to Faulkner? Your favorite novel of his?
I'm kind of wondering how he is viewed in the consensus of today's criticism. In other words, he obviously paralleled familial legacies with the history of the South among many other "hefty ideas," but what are current readers saying about his very historically-confined texts?
Penny for your thoughts
I also ask because of my recent discovery of the following article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/mar/19/william-faulkner-france-telerama
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I hope to dedicate this summer to reading him more.
Can I ask everyone, what was your initial attraction to Faulkner? Your favorite novel of his?
I'm kind of wondering how he is viewed in the consensus of today's criticism. In other words, he obviously paralleled familial legacies with the history of the South among many other "hefty ideas," but what are current readers saying about his very historically-confined texts?
Penny for your thoughts
He's tough. Very very tough. But, as with most things, if you can read and understand him it's very rewarding. I've read Light In August, As I Lay Dying, and The Sound and the Fury, and I'd say The Sound and the Fury is my favorite I've read. I need to get around to Absalom, Absalom though...
And although his texts may be historically-confined (although, I don't really know if this is true or not), his style wasn't. He was a pioneer at writing fiction, and both he and Ernest Hemingway changed prose more than another other American writers ever, I believe. Not one of my oh-my-gosh-I-love-him authors, but no one can deny his talent and his contribution to writing in general.
I can agree with this. The two I have read are As I Lay Dying and Absalom, Absalom! and I can def. agree with his innovative modernist techniques.
Anyone else want to chime in??
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I read The Unvanquished and Absalom, Absalom! I didn't hate either one, but it certainly wasn't light reading. In fact, I read them both in graduate school and struggled tirelessly through them. I loved the characters and the plot though. We read those the same semester as Gone with the Wind though, and in retrospect, I think I dislike Faulkner just because his writing was more difficult than Mitchell's novel. Not as fun and airy.
Faulkner is not difficult. The idea of reading him has become so. Absalom! Absalom! is probably his best work. His work is dated, to be sure. Very few writers today spend as much time writing as they do watching movies and TV. Light in August is my favorite because he had lines in it like this "Memory knows before knowing can remember." Yes, I am a fan. As I Lay Dying is interesting because he had several characters narrating but they all had pretty much the same voice. That is either cheeky or incompetent. I go with cheeky. The whole Southern Writers' thing is something I have always found suspect. Suspect in that someone like Faulkner is considered too provincial. I think northeastern writers could be accused of the same. Or Indian, or Chinese, whatever. So...big fan
I've been a Faulkner fan since college. His work rang true for me, probably because a lot of it echoed the South I was born and grew up in. In addition to the earlier novels, mentioned above, I liked The Town, The Hamlet, and The Mansion. I also liked his short stories. If you've never read "Turnabout," please do.
Why do you think Absalom, Absalom is his best? I guess I'm trying to position Faulkner with the other Modernist writers of his period, and seeing how he is often held in higher literary regard than the others.
The Sound and the Fury is a great - and certainly initially difficult - novel. It's the only one I've read, though.
I've read As I Lay Dying and Sanctuary, and liked them both, especially the former. I love the liberties Faulkner takes with writing. I read AILD for a college course (but was so glad it was assigned!) and read Sanctuary because in the foreword of the novel, it said something about how when Faulkner presented the manuscript to his editor, the editor gaped at him and said "They're not going to publish this!" It was supposed to be too scandalous, or too perverse maybe, for publication. That made me so curious that I had to read it.
I've been slowly working my way through Faulkner. I'll admit I was intimidated by his "difficult/impossible read" reputation, but I'm glad I started (albeit with a collection of his short stories.) He's a great story teller (and yest, I agree, sometimes a bit cheeky). Yoknapatawpha County (I hope I've spelled that right) is a great example of world-building.
I've only read As I Lay Dying, and it was only this semester. It was a rough read, and I'm certain I still haven't grasped everything there is to his work. I'll probably read more of his work at some point, but I have a lot of other classics and literary legends to read through first.
tomber
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I've read everything, except for a handful of short stories. However, his best works grow deeper with re-reading. I've gone through his major works at least three times or so. Each time the experience is more pleasurable, even if the emotional experience is more jarring. I mean, aside from the difficulty of the texts themselves, the almost relentless pessimism of his early, best works makes the going rough.
His greatness is indicated by the fact that Sound and Fury, As I lay Dying, Light in August, Absalom Absalom, and Go Down Moses are all required reading for anyone interested in true literacy. Five books? Amazing.
The Snopes Trilogy, Unvanquished, Intruder in the Dust, The Reivers and Collected Short Stories are probably not essential, but their value is diminshed only when compared to the titles on the first list; they would be considered masterpieces in nearly any author's ouvre.
I never cared for Sanctuary or Fable, however.
So it's well and good that you're dipping your toes into Faulkner this summer, but I think he can only be fully appriciated after many rewarding years of grappling with his texts.
Of course, now as in during his lifetime, there are a number of well-respected critics who wouldn't recommend reading him at all.
His greatness is indicated by the fact that Sound and Fury, As I lay Dying, Light in August, Absalom Absalom, and Go Down Moses are all required reading for anyone interested in true literacy. Five books? Amazing.
The Snopes Trilogy, Unvanquished, Intruder in the Dust, The Reivers and Collected Short Stories are probably not essential, but their value is diminshed only when compared to the titles on the first list; they would be considered masterpieces in nearly any author's ouvre.
I never cared for Sanctuary or Fable, however.
So it's well and good that you're dipping your toes into Faulkner this summer, but I think he can only be fully appriciated after many rewarding years of grappling with his texts.
Of course, now as in during his lifetime, there are a number of well-respected critics who wouldn't recommend reading him at all.