so-soHmm. Does it work? This novel is actually two separate stories in each in a kind of distinct contrast. Chapters alternate. One is a medical student who abandons his career to run off with a married woman. The other is a convict who gets lost during the 1927 Mississippi flood, and finds himself floating alone in a small boat with a woman in labor.
These stories are ok, but really only for Faulkner completists.
I‘ve been working through this as i‘ve had time. I might have finally gotten to the point of enjoying it. The first 150 pages were not all that fun.
pickMy 13th Faulkner book, here a collection of linked stories, was also the easiest Faulkner to read. It was a nice break after Absalom. These stories cover the civil war from the perspective of two boys at home in Mississippi, one white and one a loyal slave. Told in 1st person, it reads like a document of an era, although it‘s not clear what Faulkner‘s sources were. Could have been his own imagination. Anyway, possibly a good intro to Faulkner.
My current book. The first easy to read Faulkner… (this will be my 13th Faulkner)
so-soA lot of deep Faulkner readers say this is his best book. I found it hard - 4-min/pg hard. It propels itself. But it didn‘t leave me in awe. Just exhausted. My 12th Faulkner novel, and by far the most difficult to read.
pickThis is an attempt to use William Faulkner to explain southern culture. The idea is maybe the unspoken, Faulkner being known for not telling us what he‘s reading about. The Civil War and its mythology are central to Faulkner‘s work and yet lightly touched, at best. Another oddity is that Faulkner the writer was a better person than the RL Faulkner. He was moderate on race (ie racist), but his writing demanded more human treatment.
pickI‘m so irresponsible giving this a pick. It‘s a mess. Directionless, rushed, sometimes incoherent. But it‘s a Faulknerian mess. It has its joys on flying, New Orleans (lightly fictionalized), Mardi Gras, drunkness, and lust…and its Macbeth themes/parallels. And its neologisms, words like yair, or smashed-together words like umbrellarib. If you can hack through, you might actually find it fun. I did.
I think it‘s time to get back to Faulkner. I‘m about to start this one, from 1935
New audiobook. Started this evening.
Terrific introduction. He explains the book as response to the Tea Party lunacy in 2010. He started researching how the contemporary US remembers the Civil War, and why those divisions then still play so prominent a role in American life and politics. He found Faulkner to be ideal for this topic, and began focusing on Faulkner from that perspective.
