Reviews with content warning for Racism - O Som e a Fúria

I'm really impressed by this, but I'm only giving it four stars because I'm not sure I understand it, and I don't want to call it a masterpiece when I may just be enamored with its status as Great American Literature.
I had no idea what I was in for when I picked this up. I've never read Faulkner before. I've not really read anything stream-of-consciousness before either. This was a wholly new experience for me. I loved the gradual progression from incomprehensible to lucid as the narrator changes over the course of the novel. Benjy's P.O.V., which takes up the first seventy-five pages of the novel, is an impressive artistic achievement. We are trapped inside the head of a person who has little sense of self and no cohesive concept of time.
Speaking of Benjy's section, this book is difficult to read at times. Cruelty, depression, and casual bigotry are centerpieces of this story. Faulkner does a wonderful job of injecting the reader into another person's mind, and the minds he wants to trap us in for The Sound and the Fury are by design some of the most difficult to live in. Maybe that's the key to this whole thing: to take characters that should be entirely Other and force you to understand that you can understand them, you can be them.
I'll likely try more Faulkner later on, and I'll probably reread this one eventually. I hope on reread I can feel more confident in my interpretation.

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gamer_phil_elverum's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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theoriginalallison's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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wisteriaearl's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It's an incredibly interesting book with a unique writing style. Stream-of-consciousness is a hit or miss with a lot of books. But Faulkner does a really good job putting you in the head of the characters. You get them as people and how they think.

Quentin's chapter is my personal favourite and if the rest of the book was about his POV i would give it 5/5. I'm on the cusp because the last chapter felt a little unfulfilling in my taste. It didn't quite thematically come around as I hoped, especially considering the extra info Faulkner gave about the book post-ending.

But this book is very memorable and I can see why it's considered a classic.

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sixtimes's review against another edition

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Verbose and dry

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dreavg's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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

1.0

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