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A review by msand3
Soldiers' Pay by William Faulkner
4.0
Faulkner's first published novel (although not the first one he wrote) is also his best early effort before he unleashed The Sound and the Fury on the world. In Soldiers' Pay Faulkner is already experimenting with fragmented narrative, multiple perspectives, and a type of stream-of-consciousness technique that he would perfect in later works. We also get to see some early examples of classic Faulkner stylistic traits: his first use of the word "myriad," mules as symbols, a character named "Loosh" (although not the same Loosh as in The Unvanquished), oddball punctuation, etc. These moments are a real treat for Faulkner fans.
The plot itself is a bit soap opera-ish, with soldiers returning home from war only to fight each other over women. I get the impression that each of these male characters contains a bit of Faulkner himself: the lovable loser who goes home to mamma in the hope of winning the girl, the wise-cracking good fella who is locked into the "friend zone," the wounded vet who is caught in a love triangle but is too close to death to care, and even the skeezy drifter who didn't actually fight in the war and manages to tick off everyone he meets (probably the closest to the actual Faulkner!). The reader is subjected to some cheesy Southern Gothic melodrama throughout, but Faulkner's unique style keeps the pace moving quite rapidly. I don't think an unbiased reader would rate this as high as I did, but Faulkner fans will enjoy the read. Even if it doesn't quite have that classic Faulkner "feel" of Sartoris/Flags in the Dust, it's certainly better than the tepid and forgettable Mosquitoes.
The plot itself is a bit soap opera-ish, with soldiers returning home from war only to fight each other over women. I get the impression that each of these male characters contains a bit of Faulkner himself: the lovable loser who goes home to mamma in the hope of winning the girl, the wise-cracking good fella who is locked into the "friend zone," the wounded vet who is caught in a love triangle but is too close to death to care, and even the skeezy drifter who didn't actually fight in the war and manages to tick off everyone he meets (probably the closest to the actual Faulkner!). The reader is subjected to some cheesy Southern Gothic melodrama throughout, but Faulkner's unique style keeps the pace moving quite rapidly. I don't think an unbiased reader would rate this as high as I did, but Faulkner fans will enjoy the read. Even if it doesn't quite have that classic Faulkner "feel" of Sartoris/Flags in the Dust, it's certainly better than the tepid and forgettable Mosquitoes.