Does anybody else have a problem with Faulkner?
William Faulkner, Pulitzer and Nobel prize winning American writerI am sure he was a great guy, but....man...
I swear I have tried to read "As I Lay Dying" 12 times and only got half way through...Who is talking? Is it Jewel or Darl or Addie or Dewey or... Boo or Scout or Jem or Mr. Ewell.... I never know...
I've tried to pick up "The Sound and the Fury" because I just know there must be something by Faulkner I can get into. I know there is a huge gap in my literary understanding without at least having read Faulkner. I mean how can one claim to love literature--or worse, claim to be a writer, without having read this American 20th century Master? So, I started "The Sound and the Fury" and tried to get acquainted with these "unreliable narrators" -- but I was also reading "Ethan Frome" by Ms. Edith Wharton at the same time and I eventually I just chose to read about Ethan and his sick wife Zeena and her cousin up in stark turn of the century Massachusetts and therefore I never really got to the Compson family down in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi...
Is it just the stream of consciousness thing? I mean, I've got through some of Joyce. (A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man) With difficulty, yes, but maybe his Irish setting and all that repressed- by- Catholicism -sexuality are more interesting to me than rambling less- than- literate- southerners burying their dead mother? I also genuinely like Virginia Woolf. Though I can't claim to have read a lot of her either, I have gotten through a couple of her books. Maybe Woolf's and Joyce's "streams" of consciousness are just more like my own stream...
James Joyce as a young manWho knows?
Virginia Woolf (she was pretty and sad...)
Virginia Woolf (she was pretty and sad...)So, I've never finished anything by Faulkner. Until yesterday.
The last few days I've been shifting through, discovering, surveying and just straight up reading numerous American short stories as I prepare the curriculum for my Creative Writing Course. It is a lot of fun. In one of the American short story anthologies I have there is a piece called "The Old People" by Mr. William Faulkner...ever read it?
I didn't think so...
Anyway, "the Old People" is no more than 10 pages long. I kept skipping it as I flipped through the book, but finally this sense of guilt--or shame--I have about never having gotten through Faulkner got the better of me. I determined I would read it-- no matter what. " Come on, it's only 10 pages," I thought....
Listen, don't read Faulkner in bed, people.... unless you wanna fall asleep.
I am happy to report that I have both found a method for falling asleep and-- after three frustrating, but restful nights-- have finally finished something by Mr. William Faulkner!
Problem is... I have no idea what "The Old People" is about or what I read....
Faulkner. What is up with him?
Thank you for all your suggestions on sleep. I have been meditating, stretching, drinking tea, warm milk, and, of course, reading Mr. Faulkner in bed...
It is working!
Have a good day and please share your thoughts. Convert me to Faulkner.
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13 comments:
Don't force yourself to read someone you don't like. Even if (God forbid) it is Shakespeare.
Read for you.
Yes, as a writer there are things to be learned from the classics, both about what to do and what not to do.
I would say you have done your due dilligence, but reading should be an adventure, a love affair; not a punishment.
Super glad you are sleeping though! There were loads of great suggestions. I am back to my clock being off after this surgery, I have been up all night. Perhaps it is time for me to try your method.
I have never read Faulkner but to be honest I find most of the "classics" to be dull beyond measure.
Faulkner and sleep here I come.
I did read As I lay Dying in high school. I don't remember much. But on my shelf sits The Sound and the Fury. You know I love good literature, I am a bit of a snob. But, my goodness, I've been trying to read The Sound and the Fury for 10 years now (I think I read 2 pages every year), no exaggeration. You know where I got it, from Ann Acord. Don't tell her I haven't finished it yet.
i also read as i lay dying in high school...i really hated it.
but if it helps you fall asleep...read it every night!
Perhaps I don't remember much about as I lay dying because I was too preoccupied with big hair, acid washed jeans and my back laced boots:), remember?
I was required to read all that crap in high school and I mostly didn't read it and failed a lot of tests. I think mostly, they are WAY overrated. Those hoity people claiming it was good writing were friends of his who passed down these myths just to get into the clubs under his name...
...This is why I am not a writer.
Great pics, though.
did we all have ms. morris for ap lit? that is where i read as i lay dying. i HATED the book but loved listening to everyone's "take" on it. maybe that is what makes it a classic. the reading part was terrible but the class discussion was amazing. what does that make me? someone who should just read cliff notes. i'm glad you found something to put you to sleep.
I had ms. Morris for AP lit. the worst experience ever. I dropped out. It's all about Mrs. Phyllis "Mama" Bestor.
As for Faulkner, I disagree. Try Gatsby. Wow. I loved it.
Boy, poor William! I read several books of his and my favorite was, really, Sound and the Fury....of course remember what comes after S&F..."signifying nothing." I may have to go back and read it again because maybe I just thought I was supposed to like it.
Never picked up Faulkner. And, frankly, I never got through "Ethan Frome" either. Couldn't stand it! I think you learn enough from the books that give you pleasure, and there are so many out there, so why try to force the tough stuff? I'm sure Faulkner is perfect for some people, but clearly, he ain't for you.
I just started "The Bell Jar". A little light reading for the holidaze...
Matt, "The Great Gatsby" is by F. Scott Fitzgerald and is one of my favorite books. Faulkner and Fitzgerald are like night and day..
Fitzgerald is amazing....Faulkner is ... a sleep aid....
Thanks for correcting me. I wasn't thinking before I posted. Or maybe it's just the 5th day of my Master Cleanse thinking.
I did read As I Lay Dying in HS. Not such a fan. Depressing and boring.
I'm sort of a Faulkner fanatic. Try Intruder in the Dust as a last ditch. It's more of a page turner than the others...Otherwise, screw it. Hope all is well over there. Trying to strategize a concrete reason for another Moscow trip.
I guess it's like broccoli. You either love it or you don't. I read the Sound and the Fury in high school, even though I didn't have to. I loved it. But it's been years.
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