A review by sookieskipper
Soldiers' Pay by William Faulkner

3.0

This is one of those books that oscillates between two and four stars with every chapter change. While Faulkner is redundant while describing nature, his description of Donald's health's decay is fascinating and quite chilling. World War 1 was confusing enough for many as the war changed perception of many people about the world and the political aspects of it. Faulkner lets these things simmer in the background while he draws attention to lives of people who are directly affected by it. Some of the experiences seems visceral and Donald, at times, is designed to voice Faulkner directly. This change in Donald's tone is evident to give a whiplash affecting the reading process.

Faulkner uses colloquial language as a tool to add flavor to this haunting story. His handling of emotion is twisty and churns stomach with gallons of feelings. As this is my first Faulkner I have nothing to compare his prose to. Its very much like Proust but more visceral.

I quite enjoyed the run-of-the-mill story but was left impressed with Faulkner's writing.