Oh Help, I picked up Faulkner

Aurelian · 16th October 2007, 10:19 AM

Specifically Absalom, Absalom! and while his writing is reported as "classic" and compared to fine wine, this is one. depressing. read.

I will grant that he has had several lovely descriptive passages, and I started this book knowing he was verbose, but I put the book down feeling worse than when I picked it up.

So, who reads this guy, or who "gets" this style of writing? I am decades past high school, and am tempted to pick up Cliffnotes or something to help this along.

Any fans out there? Any Faulkner apologists?

Maybe I need to read up on Southern Gothic as a genre.

Thanks for anything you wish to share on the topic,

A

Sasha · 16th October 2007, 12:43 PM

Maybe the genre just isn't your cup of tea. Or perhaps you need to work up to his novels by reading some of his short stories, I think they're more interesting but having said that I should tell you I'm not a big fan.

However, I understand how you feel; I got so depressed reading Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" I put it down and never picked it up again.

Sasha

ksbluesfan · 16th October 2007, 01:20 PM

I felt the same way when I tried to read James Joyce's "Ulysses".

Sasha · 16th October 2007, 01:25 PM

I actually got through that one, mostly because I was a teen-ager and the four-letter words were fun. Same with "Tropic of Cancer."

boloboffin · 16th October 2007, 02:13 PM

Just give him a bottle of Jack Daniels and you can ditch him in an hour.

JoeTheJuggler · 16th October 2007, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by Aurelian

Specifically Absalom, Absalom! and while his writing is reported as "classic" and compared to fine wine, this is one. depressing. read.

I will grant that he has had several lovely descriptive passages, and I started this book knowing he was verbose, but I put the book down feeling worse than when I picked it up.

So, who reads this guy, or who "gets" this style of writing? I am decades past high school, and am tempted to pick up Cliffnotes or something to help this along.

I liked it--though it's been ages since I've read it.

I do remember one thing that was pretty cool. The two guys are chatting in a room, and one asks the other a question. There follows about 37 pages of stream of consciousness in italics (including, IIRC, entire dialogs from the past), and then back in Roman type, the answer: "Yes." (Or was it, "No"? It's been a long time.)

ksbluesfan · 16th October 2007, 02:16 PM

Oddly enough, I enjoyed "Crime and Punishment" and "The Brothers Karamazov". I haven't read any of Faulkner's novels though, only short stories.

fuelair · 16th October 2007, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by Sasha

I actually got through that one, mostly because I was a teen-ager and the four-letter words were fun. Same with "Tropic of Cancer."

Tanya baseball bat.

supercorgi · 17th October 2007, 01:19 PM

I've never liked Faulkner - he's just too wordy. I remember in college when I was struggling through Faulkner and a friend was struggling through Joyce's "Ulysses" - we took a passage from some other book which I rewrote in the style of Faulkner while my friend rewrote it in the style of Joyce. We had some pretty funny results.

Tricky · 18th October 2007, 11:39 AM

Faulkner takes some getting used to. I've read a number of his books, my favorite being "The Sound and The Fury", but not "Absalom Absalom". His genius lies in his ability to create mental imagry with his words. It probably helps to be from the South and steeped in the history of Reconstruction.

But no, it is not light reading and yes, it can be depressing as hell. He is probably the most eminant of the Southern Gothic school of writers. Other notables are Tennessee Williams, Flannery O'Connor, and Harper Lee.

What can I say to make you like Faulkner? I'm not sure. I finish one of his books feeling drained, as if I've been living in a decaying southern mansion. But I also feel like I know who lives there. I know them like kin. His characters are among the most real of any author's creations that I have encountered.

dudalb · 18th October 2007, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by ksbluesfan

Oddly enough, I enjoyed "Crime and Punishment" and "The Brothers Karamazov". I haven't read any of Faulkner's novels though, only short stories.

Doestovevsky is much more straightforward and conventional then Faulkner or Joyce are.

Elizabeth I · 21st October 2007, 09:49 AM

It's easily remedied - put him right back down again.

RedIbis · 24th October 2007, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by JoeTheJuggler

I liked it--though it's been ages since I've read it.

I do remember one thing that was pretty cool. The two guys are chatting in a room, and one asks the other a question. There follows about 37 pages of stream of consciousness in italics (including, IIRC, entire dialogs from the past), and then back in Roman type, the answer: "Yes." (Or was it, "No"? It's been a long time.)

You're thinking of The Bear, and it's a conversation between two cousins, mostly about why one cousin shouldn't inherit the land that the mythical bear was shot on because essentially, no one in the south deserves land after slavery.

IMHO, The Bear is the single greatest piece of American literature, but I've been known to say that about quite a few texts.

With Faulkner it's the cadence, the imagery, and his extraordinary use of the English language. Not to mention his insight into human psychology.

That conversation is essentially a conflation of human history. He goes from Genesis through slavery and then the Reconstruction and why the bequeathed repudiated, should repudiate the repudiation.

RedIbis · 24th October 2007, 03:06 PM

double post. How Faulknerian!

RedIbis · 24th October 2007, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by Tricky

Faulkner takes some getting used to. I've read a number of his books, my favorite being "The Sound and The Fury", but not "Absalom Absalom". His genius lies in his ability to create mental imagry with his words. It probably helps to be from the South and steeped in the history of Reconstruction.

But no, it is not light reading and yes, it can be depressing as hell. He is probably the most eminant of the Southern Gothic school of writers. Other notables are Tennessee Williams, Flannery O'Connor, and Harper Lee.

What can I say to make you like Faulkner? I'm not sure. I finish one of his books feeling drained, as if I've been living in a decaying southern mansion. But I also feel like I know who lives there. I know them like kin. His characters are among the most real of any author's creations that I have encountered.

Nicely put. O'Connor! Truly the Queen of the Southern Gothic. Some might call my interest in her work, obsessive.

"She would have been a good woman, had there been someone there to shoot her every minute of her life."

hgc · 24th October 2007, 03:54 PM

I agree that the best way to get into Faulkner are his shorter works. The novella "The Bear" is a minor masterpiece, and it showcases his almost inscruitable style. But short stories like "Spotted Horses" or "Old Man" are also nice pieces. Certainly some things are more accessible than others. I would recommend the trio of novels "The Town," "The Mansion," and "The Hamlet." They're relatively short books, and fairly accessible. I just read "Light in August," which also fairly accessible for his longer novels. "The Sound and the Fury" is very tough going, especially in the first part.

I like to think of reading Faulker as an act of faith. He takes you down difficult-to-follow trails, often for pages and chapters at a time, but he almost always pays off with something sensible and comprehensible that makes the journey worthwhile, and the temporary suspension of comprehension totally redeemed.

RedIbis · 24th October 2007, 04:00 PM

If anything, As I Lay Dying is a good first novel. Just look on the internet and there are plenty of helpful synopses.

This one too is not that long, shows off his masterful convention of multiple narrators, including the matriarch who speaks from the dead.

And of course it contains the famous one line chapter, "My mother is a fish."

RedIbis · 24th October 2007, 04:03 PM

This is the sentence that hooked me early on, from "A Rose for Emily". It's still one of my all time favorite single sentences.

"They held the funeral on the second day, with the town coming to look at Miss Emily beneath a mass of bought flowers, with the crayon face of her father musing profoundly above the bier and the ladies sibilant and macabre; and the very old men --some in their brushed Confederate uniforms--on the porch and the lawn, talking of Miss Emily as if she had been a contemporary of theirs, believing that they had danced with her and courted her perhaps, confusing time with its mathematical progression, as the old do, to whom all the past is not a diminishing road but, instead, a huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from them now by the narrow bottle-neck of the most recent decade of years."

Aurelian · 30th October 2007, 12:43 PM

Thank you...I'm nearing the finish of the book, and was thinking maybe I was sleep-reading or something when I read the post about the conversation mentioned by JtJ. It does help to know that sometimes reading can be work. I've heard good things about 'The Bear' but was told it was a short story...and am not surprised to see it classified as a novella. The reason I remember it is because I was told that it had one of the longest sentences in published literature, within the context of Faulkner having one of the highest average of words-per-sentence.

I do appreciate an author that takes me on a journey...and has a few surprises, so hgc's comments are apt, and while I took a break (and was too busy to read or post here, really) I'm coming back to the book feeling refreshed by the comments here. (And have perused quite a bit of the "overrated authors" thread as well. I like to read, but a lot of this backs into why we like what we read/writing mechanics/variations of entertainment.

Thanks everyone!

A

16th October 2007, 10:19 AM	#1
Aurelian Tire Kicker Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Left Field Posts: 475	Oh Help, I picked up Faulkner Specifically Absalom, Absalom! and while his writing is reported as "classic" and compared to fine wine, this is one. depressing. read. I will grant that he has had several lovely descriptive passages, and I started this book knowing he was verbose, but I put the book down feeling worse than when I picked it up. So, who reads this guy, or who "gets" this style of writing? I am decades past high school, and am tempted to pick up Cliffnotes or something to help this along. Any fans out there? Any Faulkner apologists? Maybe I need to read up on Southern Gothic as a genre. Thanks for anything you wish to share on the topic, A

16th October 2007, 02:16 PM	#6
JoeTheJuggler Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: St. Louis Posts: 26,754	Originally Posted by Aurelian Specifically Absalom, Absalom! and while his writing is reported as "classic" and compared to fine wine, this is one. depressing. read. I will grant that he has had several lovely descriptive passages, and I started this book knowing he was verbose, but I put the book down feeling worse than when I picked it up. So, who reads this guy, or who "gets" this style of writing? I am decades past high school, and am tempted to pick up Cliffnotes or something to help this along. I liked it--though it's been ages since I've read it. I do remember one thing that was pretty cool. The two guys are chatting in a room, and one asks the other a question. There follows about 37 pages of stream of consciousness in italics (including, IIRC, entire dialogs from the past), and then back in Roman type, the answer: "Yes." (Or was it, "No"? It's been a long time.)
	__________________ "That is a very graphic analogy which aids understanding wonderfully while being, strictly speaking, wrong in every possible way." —Ponder Stibbons

16th October 2007, 08:08 PM	#8
fuelair Cythraul Enfys Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 28,936	Originally Posted by Sasha I actually got through that one, mostly because I was a teen-ager and the four-letter words were fun. Same with "Tropic of Cancer." Tanya baseball bat.
fuelair Cythraul Enfys Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 28,936

17th October 2007, 01:19 PM	#9
supercorgi Dog Everlasting Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: State of Confusion, Massachusetts, USA Posts: 2,525	I've never liked Faulkner - he's just too wordy. I remember in college when I was struggling through Faulkner and a friend was struggling through Joyce's "Ulysses" - we took a passage from some other book which I rewrote in the style of Faulkner while my friend rewrote it in the style of Joyce. We had some pretty funny results.
	__________________

21st October 2007, 09:49 AM	#12
Elizabeth I Olympic Equestrian Wannabe Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Defending the Alamo Posts: 9,265	It's easily remedied - put him right back down again.
	__________________ • There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man. - Winston Churchill • Never wrestle with a pig - you just get dirty and the pig enjoys it. • My blog: Pardon me, may I ask...

16th October 2007, 12:43 PM	#2
Sasha Muse Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 657	Maybe the genre just isn't your cup of tea. Or perhaps you need to work up to his novels by reading some of his short stories, I think they're more interesting but having said that I should tell you I'm not a big fan. However, I understand how you feel; I got so depressed reading Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" I put it down and never picked it up again. Sasha

16th October 2007, 01:20 PM	#3
ksbluesfan Graduate Poster Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 1,384	I felt the same way when I tried to read James Joyce's "Ulysses".

16th October 2007, 01:25 PM	#4
Sasha Muse Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 657	I actually got through that one, mostly because I was a teen-ager and the four-letter words were fun. Same with "Tropic of Cancer."

16th October 2007, 02:13 PM	#5
boloboffin Guest Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 5,001	Just give him a bottle of Jack Daniels and you can ditch him in an hour.

18th October 2007, 11:39 AM	#10
Tricky Briefly immortal Moderator Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: The Group W bench Posts: 42,359	Faulkner takes some getting used to. I've read a number of his books, my favorite being "The Sound and The Fury", but not "Absalom Absalom". His genius lies in his ability to create mental imagry with his words. It probably helps to be from the South and steeped in the history of Reconstruction. But no, it is not light reading and yes, it can be depressing as hell. He is probably the most eminant of the Southern Gothic school of writers. Other notables are Tennessee Williams, Flannery O'Connor, and Harper Lee. What can I say to make you like Faulkner? I'm not sure. I finish one of his books feeling drained, as if I've been living in a decaying southern mansion. But I also feel like I know who lives there. I know them like kin. His characters are among the most real of any author's creations that I have encountered.

18th October 2007, 01:45 PM	#11
dudalb Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 22,814	Originally Posted by ksbluesfan Oddly enough, I enjoyed "Crime and Punishment" and "The Brothers Karamazov". I haven't read any of Faulkner's novels though, only short stories. Doestovevsky is much more straightforward and conventional then Faulkner or Joyce are.

24th October 2007, 03:06 PM	#13
RedIbis Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 6,829	Originally Posted by JoeTheJuggler I liked it--though it's been ages since I've read it. I do remember one thing that was pretty cool. The two guys are chatting in a room, and one asks the other a question. There follows about 37 pages of stream of consciousness in italics (including, IIRC, entire dialogs from the past), and then back in Roman type, the answer: "Yes." (Or was it, "No"? It's been a long time.) You're thinking of The Bear, and it's a conversation between two cousins, mostly about why one cousin shouldn't inherit the land that the mythical bear was shot on because essentially, no one in the south deserves land after slavery. IMHO, The Bear is the single greatest piece of American literature, but I've been known to say that about quite a few texts. With Faulkner it's the cadence, the imagery, and his extraordinary use of the English language. Not to mention his insight into human psychology. That conversation is essentially a conflation of human history. He goes from Genesis through slavery and then the Reconstruction and why the bequeathed repudiated, should repudiate the repudiation.
RedIbis Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 6,829	__________________ (RedIbis, on the other hand, exists to me only in quoted form). - Gravy (Mark Roberts)

24th October 2007, 03:09 PM	#15
RedIbis Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 6,829	Originally Posted by Tricky Faulkner takes some getting used to. I've read a number of his books, my favorite being "The Sound and The Fury", but not "Absalom Absalom". His genius lies in his ability to create mental imagry with his words. It probably helps to be from the South and steeped in the history of Reconstruction. But no, it is not light reading and yes, it can be depressing as hell. He is probably the most eminant of the Southern Gothic school of writers. Other notables are Tennessee Williams, Flannery O'Connor, and Harper Lee. What can I say to make you like Faulkner? I'm not sure. I finish one of his books feeling drained, as if I've been living in a decaying southern mansion. But I also feel like I know who lives there. I know them like kin. His characters are among the most real of any author's creations that I have encountered. Nicely put. O'Connor! Truly the Queen of the Southern Gothic. Some might call my interest in her work, obsessive. "She would have been a good woman, had there been someone there to shoot her every minute of her life."
RedIbis Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 6,829	__________________ (RedIbis, on the other hand, exists to me only in quoted form). - Gravy (Mark Roberts)

24th October 2007, 03:54 PM	#16
hgc Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 13,008	I agree that the best way to get into Faulkner are his shorter works. The novella "The Bear" is a minor masterpiece, and it showcases his almost inscruitable style. But short stories like "Spotted Horses" or "Old Man" are also nice pieces. Certainly some things are more accessible than others. I would recommend the trio of novels "The Town," "The Mansion," and "The Hamlet." They're relatively short books, and fairly accessible. I just read "Light in August," which also fairly accessible for his longer novels. "The Sound and the Fury" is very tough going, especially in the first part. I like to think of reading Faulker as an act of faith. He takes you down difficult-to-follow trails, often for pages and chapters at a time, but he almost always pays off with something sensible and comprehensible that makes the journey worthwhile, and the temporary suspension of comprehension totally redeemed.
	__________________ Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse assail him and wail him with monster truck force. - Cake, The Distance Was there a second singer on the grassy Knowles? - Stephen Colbert

24th October 2007, 04:00 PM	#17
RedIbis Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 6,829	If anything, As I Lay Dying is a good first novel. Just look on the internet and there are plenty of helpful synopses. This one too is not that long, shows off his masterful convention of multiple narrators, including the matriarch who speaks from the dead. And of course it contains the famous one line chapter, "My mother is a fish."
RedIbis Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 6,829	__________________ (RedIbis, on the other hand, exists to me only in quoted form). - Gravy (Mark Roberts)

24th October 2007, 04:03 PM	#18
RedIbis Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 6,829	This is the sentence that hooked me early on, from "A Rose for Emily". It's still one of my all time favorite single sentences. "They held the funeral on the second day, with the town coming to look at Miss Emily beneath a mass of bought flowers, with the crayon face of her father musing profoundly above the bier and the ladies sibilant and macabre; and the very old men --some in their brushed Confederate uniforms--on the porch and the lawn, talking of Miss Emily as if she had been a contemporary of theirs, believing that they had danced with her and courted her perhaps, confusing time with its mathematical progression, as the old do, to whom all the past is not a diminishing road but, instead, a huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from them now by the narrow bottle-neck of the most recent decade of years."
RedIbis Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 6,829	__________________ (RedIbis, on the other hand, exists to me only in quoted form). - Gravy (Mark Roberts)

30th October 2007, 12:43 PM	#19
Aurelian Tire Kicker Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Left Field Posts: 475	Thank you...I'm nearing the finish of the book, and was thinking maybe I was sleep-reading or something when I read the post about the conversation mentioned by JtJ. It does help to know that sometimes reading can be work. I've heard good things about 'The Bear' but was told it was a short story...and am not surprised to see it classified as a novella. The reason I remember it is because I was told that it had one of the longest sentences in published literature, within the context of Faulkner having one of the highest average of words-per-sentence. I do appreciate an author that takes me on a journey...and has a few surprises, so hgc's comments are apt, and while I took a break (and was too busy to read or post here, really) I'm coming back to the book feeling refreshed by the comments here. (And have perused quite a bit of the "overrated authors" thread as well. I like to read, but a lot of this backs into why we like what we read/writing mechanics/variations of entertainment. Thanks everyone! A