# Faulkner Reader Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-reader-thread/170385 "2003-04-22T19:18:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BlackLabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlackLabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackLabel)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-reader-thread/170385/1 "2003-04-22T19:18:14Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-reader-thread/170385/2 "2003-04-22T19:23:08Z")
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!!) ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-reader-thread/170385/3 "2003-04-22T23:22:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-reader-thread/170385/4 "2003-04-23T16:58:17Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-reader-thread/170385/5 "2003-04-23T17:31:12Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-reader-thread/170385/6 "2003-04-23T18:43:12Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-reader-thread/170385/7 "2003-04-23T18:54:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-reader-thread/170385/8 "2003-04-23T19:09:43Z")
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.