I just finished reading “The Sound and the Fury” for the fourth time the other night and I’m wondering:
If there are any other William Faulkner readers around these parts? If so, what are your favorite books?
for the fourth time? Wow, you must speak Benji-ese much better that I do…
I really like As I Lay Dying - still technically well-crafted, but more accessible, interesting characters and an engaging story. (I have a first edition, too!!)
My favourites are The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying and Absalom Absalom!, which I reread regularly. I haven’t yet read Requiem for a Nun, though I have it on my bookshelves.
Absalom Absalom! and Light in August proved to me that Faulkner was a god among men. While I love me some The Sound and the Fury, I sort of felt that it petered off during Jason’s section, though the final quarter made up for it. Perhaps the reason I like Absalom so much is that Quentin (the guy) was really the most interesting Compson (well, besides Caddie) to me.
I liked Light in August and The Old Man and the Bear.
I’m from Oxford (his hometown) and know some folks who remember Ol’ Bill.
The first time I read the Sound and the Fury, I finished it on a metro train in Washington DC at night. I read the last sentence and immediately started from page one again.
My favorite, though, is Light in August.
“My my, but a person does get around.”
My favorite is Absalom, Absalom!, which is probably my single favorite book, period. The story develops before your eyes, with every new chapter sketching in detail that makes things both more clear and more confusing. It’s an amazing work.
I’ve been considering trying to read all of Faulkner’s novels in order. I doubt I’ve read more than 5 or 6 total, and I know that he’s got his share of duds. (Pylon or A Fable, anyone?) But I think it would be cool to immerse myself in his world and follow the meandering paths of his writing.
Quick anecdote (don’t have a cite, but it was told to me by a knowledge-able rare book dealer of high repute, so I am inclined to accept it as true):
When Faulkner was in Hollywood trying to earn a little cash (working on To Have and Have Not, among other films), he apparently went hunting with a movie producer and Clark Gable. Over time, the conversation moved to books, and this somehow led to Gable to ask Faulkner:
“I want to read the best writers of today. Who would you say they are?”
to which Faulkner replied:
“Dos Passos, Hemingway and myself”
Gable said “really - you’re a writer?”
Faulkner replied “yes - and what do you do?”
Okay, maybe not a knee-slapper, but I thought it was funny.