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A review by graywacke
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
challenging
medium-paced
5.0
The opening section is the magic. This is roughly the same story told four times, but each is totally different. First mute Benji tells his version on his 33rd birthday. Then his brother Quenten from Harvard 17 years earlier, then his brother Jason from the day before, and finally a 3rd person narrator from the day after.
Benji's section is special because he can't talk and can't express what he thinks, even to the reader. He merely observes, confusing timelines, mixing memory and the present, taking up smells and ultimately understanding a lot more than anyone realizes. He grows up with his two brothers and sister Caddy who he adores, and who cares from him until she gets married. But Benji's main caretakers are the black servants, the sons and grandsons of Dilsey, who takes care of the house.
The white family is the Compson family, fully flushed on self-pride, spoiling the children, and hiding financial problems. As the fortune collapses, the family tries to get by strictly on pride alone, becoming uglier and more pathetic at every step. Benji is witness, as is Dilsey. But unlike everyone else, Dilsey maintains her pride, and integrity, suffering and yet growing, becoming the graceful one in the family, even as she is overlooked at a negro servant.
I'll leave this here. Suffice to say I enjoyed it. I was enraptured by the Benji section.
Benji's section is special because he can't talk and can't express what he thinks, even to the reader. He merely observes, confusing timelines, mixing memory and the present, taking up smells and ultimately understanding a lot more than anyone realizes. He grows up with his two brothers and sister Caddy who he adores, and who cares from him until she gets married. But Benji's main caretakers are the black servants, the sons and grandsons of Dilsey, who takes care of the house.
The white family is the Compson family, fully flushed on self-pride, spoiling the children, and hiding financial problems. As the fortune collapses, the family tries to get by strictly on pride alone, becoming uglier and more pathetic at every step. Benji is witness, as is Dilsey. But unlike everyone else, Dilsey maintains her pride, and integrity, suffering and yet growing, becoming the graceful one in the family, even as she is overlooked at a negro servant.
I'll leave this here. Suffice to say I enjoyed it. I was enraptured by the Benji section.