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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
Faulkner's 3rd novel, and first set in his Mississippi world. It sets the backdrop of Snopes and I think much or most of his other work going forward. It's an odd novel in that I kept wondering why he was telling me about what he was telling me, even as he goes on and on. And even after I book the book down, I kept wondering this. But I took in the characters, adapted his take on this post-WWI world and its mixture of modern and backward, black and white, moneyed and poor, ambitious and passive. What strikes the reader are the affections made, how much white characters can feel for each other, and absence of any normal warmth these same characters send to their black servants, their affections there, but paternalistic. The racial aspect is disturbing, and uncomfortable, as in all Faulkner. He creates his own version of black characters, always an other, and tries to romantically blend these mysterious characters into his world. So, it's both elegant and awful.
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Jest to książka znacznie prostsza od "Światłości w sierpniu". Jest też zupełnie inna językowo, aż ciekawa jestem jak bardzo różnią się te książki i w oryginale (są podstawy sądzić że znacznie, bo dzieli je sporo czasu) - bo polskie tłumaczenia mają dwóch autorów. I, co mnie sama zaskoczyło, Tarczyński wygrał z Płazą, Płaza wydał mi się nadmiernie konserwatywny. Same "Flagi..."? Powieść obyczajowa z dziejów jednej rodziny i jednego miasteczka - to znowu - A raczej po raz pierwszy - hrabstwo Yoknapatawpha (tu jeszcze jako Yokona). Poznajemy członków kilku pokoleń rodziny Sartorisow przez pryzmat codziennych spraw, głównie ekscytacji zakupem szybkiego samochodu przez najmłodszego z nich, Bayarda, który dopiero co wrócił z I Wojny Światowej. Faulkner porusza problemy ptsd, norm i układów społecznych, stalkingu (!), fascynacji rozwojem techniki i skutków tych przemian. Największą siła tego tekstu są niewątpliwie postacie - złożone, wyraziste, pełne kontrastów i opisywane z pewnym dobrodusznym dystansem który pozwala przedstawić ich gorsze cechy bez popadania w belferstwo.
Świetna, świetna, świetna książka. Chociaż obiektywnie jest pewnie gorsza niż "Światłość w sierpniu" mnie podobała się bardziej.
Świetna, świetna, świetna książka. Chociaż obiektywnie jest pewnie gorsza niż "Światłość w sierpniu" mnie podobała się bardziej.
I'm going to be in northern Mississippi in a few weeks so I decided to give Faulkner another chance. I'd read a few of his short stories in college, but he was on my list of "literary icons that bore me to death."
I polled members of the Goodreads "southern literary" group for "accessible Faulkner" and this title came up.
Oh gee, what now? Well, let me thank the respondents. And if any of them are reading this review, they should stop right now.
First, the good: Faulkner mastered the craft of writing. Sharply drawn characters. True to life dialog. Descriptions that illumine the atmosphere in a few words.
Only two parts are missing:
-A discernible story
-People you want to be with
Yes, I get that this is a slow motion tragedy. I get that young Bayard has PTSD. I get that old Bayard has either early stage dementia or clinical depression or both, and his own PTSD. I get that Miss Jenny is a termagant because her kin are dying around her.
And I feel a theoretical sympathy for these characters. But not enough to keep reading.
The writer's first job is to engage the reader. Faulkner got 150 pages to engage me. He got more of my attention than a less exalted writer would have gotten.
But I don't want to spend a moment more of my time with these racist, self-indulgent, five year olds in adult bodies. Sorry, Bill. I'm done.
I polled members of the Goodreads "southern literary" group for "accessible Faulkner" and this title came up.
Oh gee, what now? Well, let me thank the respondents. And if any of them are reading this review, they should stop right now.
First, the good: Faulkner mastered the craft of writing. Sharply drawn characters. True to life dialog. Descriptions that illumine the atmosphere in a few words.
Only two parts are missing:
-A discernible story
-People you want to be with
Yes, I get that this is a slow motion tragedy. I get that young Bayard has PTSD. I get that old Bayard has either early stage dementia or clinical depression or both, and his own PTSD. I get that Miss Jenny is a termagant because her kin are dying around her.
And I feel a theoretical sympathy for these characters. But not enough to keep reading.
The writer's first job is to engage the reader. Faulkner got 150 pages to engage me. He got more of my attention than a less exalted writer would have gotten.
But I don't want to spend a moment more of my time with these racist, self-indulgent, five year olds in adult bodies. Sorry, Bill. I'm done.
Meandering, very loose plot. No urgency, no driving force to push the narrative along.
But still--it's Faulkner, and there are hints of his genius throughout.
But still--it's Faulkner, and there are hints of his genius throughout.
adventurous
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Found it hard to care about a troubled southern dynasty.
Ok, it's a book about transition; new positions in society, crumbling of old ways, death and rebirth. But it feels like a book looking for literature status.
It's also often unclear who the narrative is following, from whose perspective a chapter is written, or even who is speaking.
There is some lovely writing and as a reader you disappear at length some times, then you again are faced with the book instead of passages.
Ok, it's a book about transition; new positions in society, crumbling of old ways, death and rebirth. But it feels like a book looking for literature status.
It's also often unclear who the narrative is following, from whose perspective a chapter is written, or even who is speaking.
There is some lovely writing and as a reader you disappear at length some times, then you again are faced with the book instead of passages.
challenging
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is Faulkner's third novel. He took the wide social spectrum of his first novel (Soldiers' Pay) and the flights of language from his second (Mosquitos) and mashed them together under the influence of Sherwood "Winesburg, OH" Anderson's advice to write about Mississippi. The result is a strange, artful, and highly overwritten hot mess. There isn't much plot. There is barely a sense of character transformation. There is so much artful description that it becomes almost annoying (however beautiful the prose at times). Still, this is a completely worthwhile read. You bare witness to an author simply overcome with feelings for a subject. He had so much to say about his home and he just couldn't contain himself his first time out. Really, reading the famous Yoknapatawpha County for the first time puts all of his later works into context.
I highly recommend this novel as a starting place for anyone interested in Faulkner.
I highly recommend this novel as a starting place for anyone interested in Faulkner.