“The Sound and the Fury” by William Faulkner
So, I finished William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury a few weeks ago. And I can confidently say it is the most confusing novel I've read to date.
The book follows the Compson family, an American family, and their lives in 1910 and 1928. The family features Mr. and Mrs. Compson, their children Quentin, Caddy, Jason, and Benjy, their servants Dilsey and Luster, and Caddy's daughter Quentin. Yes, there are two Quentins. That took me forever to figure out. And another duplicate is in Jason. Thus it looks like Faulkner's main "male" characters were all duplicated.
But that's pretty much the extent to how much I understood the book. Besides a few minor details, such as I hate Jason (Jr.). But ya, after reading the novel, I read the plot summary on Wikipedia and apparently I missed out on a suicide and a castration. So obviously, I didn't understand this novel at all. It's gonna take a second reading (maybe more) to sort out this plot line. Hopefully I'm willing to give it a second go at a later date. Definitely not right now--sick of Faulkner.
Anyhow, I recommend this book (available from http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0679732241/) to people looking for a challenge. Or fans of Faulkner. Or people who simply want to see how much a book can kill your brain a first time around. I can't say how much I enjoyed this book since I didn't really understand it; based purely on the writing style, I can't say I liked it, but I didn't hate it either.
Anybody interested in discussing this book, feel free to discuss it here: http://forums.deathofdestiny.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=21.
Also, note to anybody that’s interested: our book club is reading D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers for the month of December. It will be discussed at http://forums.deathofdestiny.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=23.
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December 26th, 2009 - 23:21
umm, there was only one Jason. Two Quentins and two Maury’s (although not everyone may notice that).
December 26th, 2009 - 23:57
Are you sure? I thought there was bitch Jason, and then I thought his father was named Jason as well?
I know about the Quentins… …but I didn’t notice the two Maury’s. Who was the other Maury?
December 27th, 2009 - 00:08
Oh, wait. Benjy was given the nickname Maury after his uncle, wasn’t he?
January 3rd, 2010 - 09:41
Ok, there were definitely two Jasons. Jason III was the father of the four children, and he died from complications of alcoholism before 1928. In part 4 of the novel, Jason IV, his son, is the head of household, and he’s the one everyone hates.
As for the Quentins: One of them was one of the 4 main children, and he narrates part 2 (at Harvard). He’s the one who eventually commits suicide. The other Quentin is Caddy’s illegitamate daughter. She’s also refered to as Miss Quentin.
And last but not least, Benjy/Maury. Benjy was originally named Maury, after their uncle, but his name was changed to Benjamin when they learned that he was severely retarded. They don’t say it explicitly, but they did this because they considered Benjy an embarassment to the family, thus they did not want him to have a family name.
January 4th, 2010 - 08:09
Thank you very much for the clarification, Caitlin :)