A review by blueyorkie
A Recompensa do Soldado by William Faulkner, Maria João Freire de Andrade

3.0

This work is Faulkner's very first novel, published in 1926. The war of 14-18 hangs over the whole story, not evoked directly, but by the influence it may have had on the fate and the inner world of the characters, whether it was those who made it or others, civilians or young people just a little too young. An aviator disfigured by a terrible scar at the book's centre, Donald Mahon becomes blind and gradually moves towards inevitable death. Around him were three women who somehow attached themselves to him. And then a whole series of portraits of inhabitants of a small American town, former soldiers demobilized, relatives of the disappeared. It is a book of great richness, complex situations, and endearing characters; the writing is undoubtedly more straightforward than in later works. Nevertheless, I had the impression of something not quite accomplished, of a draft genius; I could not help but imagine what the Faulkner of maturity could have done with these themes and characters.