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Smiling Shelves

The Sound and the Fury [My Thoughts]

10/15/2015

4 Comments

 
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I really didn't know much about this book before I read it. I knew William Faulkner was one of our great American authors, which is why I added this book to my Classics Club list. I knew he used a stream-of-consciousness writing style. And that's pretty much it.

Maybe it would have helped if I knew more about it before I read it. But if I had known more about it, I probably never would have read it at all.

There are many people out there who will disagree with me, but I have to be honest about my reaction. I strongly disliked this book, and I don't understand why it's a classic.

The stream-of-consciousness thing wasn't so bad. It did make the first chapter hard to follow, although that was more because it was narrated by mentally challenged Benji, who really didn't have a clear idea of what was going on anyway. (Sidenote: That made it extremely hard to figure out who was who at the beginning. Especially when a character I thought was male was suddenly referred to as "she." What?? At least that made sense eventually, as I kept reading.)

The stream-of-consciousness style was interesting. That wasn't what troubled me about this book. My problem is that this book is essentially about incest. Why would you feel a need to write a book about that? And is that supposed to be the part that's so profound that this book becomes a classic? The family's troubled. I get it. But that didn't make me feel attached to them or want to cheer for them. It made me want to yell, "Get it together already!"

There's a quote from Malcolm Cowley on the back of my copy. It says, "Faulkner performed a labor of imagination that has not been equaled in our time. . . First, to invent a Mississippi county that was like a mythical kingdom, but was complete and living in all its details; second, to make his story of Yoknapatawpha County stand as a parable or legend of all the Deep South."

A parable of all the Deep South? I think if I lived in the South, I would be highly insulted at the idea that this book represents me. That probably just means that I didn't really understand the depths of this book at all. But really, I'm okay with that.

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4 Comments
Erin @ Quixotic Magpie link
10/16/2015 08:35:38 pm

I love this review. I totally get it. Sometimes I read a classic and I am like, seriously? This book? And I agree - I would be offended if a book about incest were to represent my culture. I am not super familiar with Faulkner either. I know about as much as you did to begin with. I tried to read As I Lay Dying while I was in high school and was super confused, and I have never gone back.

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
10/18/2015 05:29:18 pm

I think I can safely say I won't be going back to Faulkner any time soon, either. :)

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Darlene @Lost in Literature
10/19/2015 08:24:49 pm

I'm going to read As I Lay Dying because I've had that for a while on my shelf. But I don't plan to read any more of his stuff unless I end up really liking it. I love that Faulkner and Hemingway used to jab each other.

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
10/19/2015 08:33:46 pm

I hadn't heard that about Faulkner and Hemingway. Behind-the-scenes author stuff is fun! :)

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    My name is Julie, and I own a lot of books. As in, they are stacked on the floor because I've run out of room on the shelves. And those shelves? There are so many books on them that they smile -- not sag; smile. This blog will cover book reviews and all manner of other bookish things.

    You can contact me at julie@smilingshelves.com.

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