The Sound and the Fury

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

So, I just read this. My first Faulkner novel. It was tough. I almost gave up part way through the second chapter. The first part, from Benjy's perspective, was one of the most difficult literary pieces I have ever read. Reminded me of James Joyce.

In the end, I really liked it. Jason's chapter was a nice relief since it was so straightforward, as was the final chapter. I tell ya, I would not have made it through the first to sections without Sparknotes, lol.

I'm going to start Light in August tonight. Hopefully it won't be quite as difficult. Sparknotes is always there, though.

What other Faulkner novels should I check out (and please don't be shy about pointing out the easier ones).

[mayneverhave]

So, I just read this. My first Faulkner novel. It was tough. I almost gave up part way through the second chapter. The first part, from Benjy's perspective, was one of the most difficult literary pieces I have ever read. Reminded me of James Joyce.

In the end, I really liked it. Jason's chapter was a nice relief since it was so straightforward, as was the final chapter. I tell ya, I would not have made it through the first to sections without Sparknotes, lol.

I'm going to start Light in August tonight. Hopefully it won't be quite as difficult. Sparknotes is always there, though.

What other Faulkner novels should I check out (and please don't be shy about pointing out the easier ones).

I'm glad you stuck it out. Using sparknotes isn't terrible, if it helps you toward a better understanding of the novel, especially if you're having problems with the plot. Just don't rely on Sparknotes as the be-all end-all of criticism. Sparknotes is just the gateway, so to speak, not the destination.

As for reminding you of Joyce - both are difficult, yes, but in different ways. With the Benjy section of The Sound and the Fury, the main problem was dealing with the shifts in time. Joyce's difficulty lies in the almost encylopedic knowledge the reader must posses in order to understand his allusions. Faulkner is not reference heavy.

I would recommend As I Lay Dying. It tends to be more entertaining and easier to maintain than The Sound and the Fury because its sections are shorter, and the constant shift in narration is refreshing. Light in August is not a bad idea either.

[higley]

I second As I Lay Dying. There are a lot of nuances in the passages that are nice to find and like mayneverhave said, not so many page-long sentences. ;) But Light in August is great too.

[JBI]

The hard part, I found, with the novel is getting over Benjy's narration, as it seems to drag and be quite tedious at times (in part due to the narrators consciousness).

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Yeah, if you can get through the first part from Benjy's perspective, it is a lot better, though the second part from Quentin's point of view has some difficult parts.

[bluosean]

I agree with As I Lay Dying. It is quite good. Light in Agust is one of the books i plan to read in the near future. I hear that it is quite good.

[Barbarous]

I thought Light in August a bit mediocre, but As I Lay Dying is one of my favorite books. I enjoyed The Sound and the Fury too.

[Nick Capozzoli]

As I Lay Dying is my favorite Faulkner "novel," though some might say that it stretches the definition of novel. It reminds me a lot of Tristram Shandy in terms of construction and even style. "My mother is a fish."..."My father is a horse."...

Has anyone ever tried to make a movie out of AILD? I think it would be fantastic!

[Virgil]

The Sound and the Fury was a Lit Net book club selection one month and it had a very good discussion, which you can read through here: http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16592. Feel free to comment in that thread.

[islandclimber]

As I lay Dying is a great book.. but I can't say I think much of The Sound and the Fury.. I found it quite tedious.. Light In August as one poster has said, well I found it quite mediocre also...

Mostly I prefer his short stories though.. like Mirrors of Chartres Street, Red Leaves, Pennsylvania Station, Dull Tale, WIth Caution and Dispatch, The Tall Men, Delta Autumn,Fool About a Horse are some good ones, but there are many others..

[colorsofcrayola]

I am also reading The Sound and the Fury! I just finished Benjy's chapter. It was so hard, and i admit turning to spark notes for guidance at least twice. Though I guessed his mental retardation, I didn't realize the time shifts. That's one of the first things spark notes helped me out with.
I'm amazed at Faulkner's talent, though i have no other author to compare him with, since i have not yet read titles by James Joyce, as you mention.

[country doctor]

absalom absalom...

[dfloyd]

Absolam! Absolam! I second. As I Lay Dying has some humour, be it black humour, but it is about people I am not interested in.

[mal4mac]

So, I just read this. My first Faulkner novel. It was tough. I almost gave up part way through the second chapter. The first part, from Benjy's perspective, was one of the most difficult literary pieces I have ever read. Reminded me of James Joyce.


The James Joyce of Dubliners (2), Portrait(5), Ulysses(8), or Finnegan's Wake (10)? The numbers are from "the Joyce Scale" - a scale of perceived, subjective difficulty of reading. On this scale I would place "As I lay Dying" at 4. Where would you place "Sound"? I'm guessing at least a 7...

[five-trey]

Quentin's narrative was more difficult to get through than Benjy's. Both are abstract, but I understood the shifts in time easier than I did Quentin's flood of raw thought. When Faulkner abandons punctuation midway through it, my mind had to work twice as hard to pay attention to the words I was reading and decipher them simultaneously. Benjy moves along the timeline very frequently so Faulkner leaves us with shorter chunks of thought, while Quentin's narrative is comprised of enormous streams that are much harder to tackle if you missed anything along the way. Ironic that I found the words of a mentally retarded man more coherent than that of a Harvard student.

And I definitely agree with the poster who said Sparknotes is only a gateway. I thought its explanation of Jason's narrative oversimplified his character.