September '13 / Faulkner Reading: The Reivers

[Scheherazade]

In September, we will be reading The Reivers by Faulkner.

Please share your thoughts and comments in this thread.

[Scheherazade]

Read the first three chapters and finding the characters utterly charming.

Admittedly, the prose is challenging but enjoyable nonetheless.

[neilgee]

I think that this is straight forward prose by Faulkner's standards, he wrote much more experimental stuff than this. For those who are wondering how "difficult" Faulkner is I'd have to say this isn't very difficult, more than anything I found it just a good yarn, an exciting story, or at least it can be read as that. Grandfather buys the first motor car in Yoknapatawpha County (but doesn't drive it himself) and the story takes off from there...

This was Faulkner's last novel, published in the year he died 1962. The title "Reivers" is a term that was used for border crossing cattle thieves in earlier centuries, primarily in Scotland, gangs would cross the border into England at night steal cattle and escape back across the border with them, this is Faulkner's version of that I guess through the eyes of an eleven year old narrator.

All I can say is I recommend it wholeheartedly, do read it if you're at all interested in Faulkner. This is terrific literature.

[mona amon]

I made a slow start - been reading the first 3 chapters for ages, in fits and starts, and with not much attention, but now I'm in chapter 5. At last I understand what's going on, and am liking it very much.

[neilgee]

Well let us know what you thought of the rest of it Mona. It made me want to read his whole oeuvre...

[Scheherazade]

I absolutely loved this book. Like Mona, I felt it started slowly and I wasn't sure about what to expect but after the first 50 pages I was hooked.

There is something very touching about an old man reminiscing about his 11-year old self... And I think it makes it easier for him to be honest.

Love all the characters... Almost like Steinbeck's, so lively, human and humble.

[Abanera]

The Reivers is one of Faulkner's most "accessible" books. He was well past his prime (most of his later books were inferior retreads or sequels to his earlier masterpieces. It's a straightforward 'yarn' that doesn't require a master's in literature in interpret. If I was going to use a contemporary example, say Thomas Pynchon, I'd say that The Reivers is to The Sound and the Fury or Absalom, Absalom what Pynchon's Inherent Vice is to Gravity's Rainbow and V.

[Scheherazade]

Does being "accessible" or not requiring an MA to interpret make a work less worthy or inferior? Or much less enjoyable?

I felt the issues he dealt with in this book were much more universal... Surely did not require a historical and cultural knowledge of the South for the most part, which made it very accessible to me.

[mona amon]

Well let us know what you thought of the rest of it Mona. It made me want to read his whole oeuvre...

Finished! Loved it, like you and Scher. Yes it was different from Sound and Fury and Absalom, and more like Intruder in the Dust, but these are all wonderful books in their own way, so hats off to Faulkner!

[mona amon]

There is something very touching about an old man reminiscing about his 11-year old self... And I think it makes it easier for him to be honest.

Yes, an eleven year old who suddenly finds himself firmly in the grip of Non-virtue - irresistible! The plot was very Wodehousian, with the 'borrowed' car being exchanged for a horse, and everything that follows regarding Ned and the horse.

[neilgee]

I'm glad you enjoyed the rest of it, Mona, like you say it was just an excellent yarn, if that's Faulkner "well past his prime" all I can say is I would give a lot to be able to write half as well. Don't get me wrong, I loved his so called difficult stuff too (particularly The Sound and the Fury) but that doesn't make me look down on this later effort, in fact I thought it was brilliant!

[Scheherazade]

I think what I loved most about this book is Faulkner's mastery in creating the voice of an elderly man reminiscing and remembering the adventures of his 11 years old self. The reader feels that these are the impressions of a young boy even though his mature, seasoned self is the messenger.

Recently I have read Gaiman's "Ocean at the End of the Lane", which is also a reminiscence, but the voice telling the stories is far from convincing, in my opinion.