The Sound and the Fury (Vintage Classics)

This book is exceptional. It's not an easy read by any means so don't choose it as part of your holiday reading but the effort is definitely worth it. The book is split up into four parts which get progessively easier to read. They are by four different narrators and four different points of view of what is basically the disintegration of a once wealthy family in the deep south of America circa 1920's. It's well worth reading this book for Faulkner's prose alone.

I had to work at this reading because of the language, the structure and style. It needs further reading for me to begin unpacking everything. On a simple level it is an enjoyable read, the story moves along if at times confusingly so, the characters are well formed. There are different time lines and character names attached to different people at different periods, it can be hard to see who is who. Very much in the same vein as Woolf and Joyce though the writing is not as polished or advanced.

This is actually a testing narrative, or a series of narratives, particularly the second by Quentin I found, with the continual movement in time frames, but it is without doubt worth the effort to persevere as the book is a piece of creative genius the likes that one seldom has the privilege to read, and relates much to the sentiments of the passage from Macbeth from where the title of the book is taken. It is really best to go with the flow as another reviewer has suggested and appreciate the different narratives from three brothers caught up in one family's fall from grace in the American south with the ever present racial intolerance and the shame of one of the brother's mental incapacity and a sister's promiscuity - made more remarkable by the first narrative being the inward voice/observations of Ben, the brother with mental incapacity and the second narrative by Quentin, whose depression leads to suicide. The third narrative is by the more volatile brother who seeks redress for his lot in the family downfall and the events that unfold when his niece steals his ill begotten savings in the final part that moves from the individual's subjective perspective.

The Sound and the Fury *** Where to start? Well, anyone who says that they understood this novel first time around deserves,not one, but two gold stars! There are those who say it needs two to three reads of chapters 1 & 2, before the penny finally drops? I say that you still need to study the synopsis to truly understand it - ‘Spark Notes’ have a terrific summery of 'all things' on this book. It has been invaluable to me in the understanding of this novel. Let’s deal with chapters one & two, as 3 and 4 are very readable and not a challenge to the average reader. Chapter 1 is 63 pages but chapter 2 is a very long and hard 90 pages! The main problems in reading chapters one & two are that the story line constantly goes off at tangents – back into the past or the use of flashbacks, or just somewhere else, some are written in italics to help but not all. The story just rambles in places and you have no idea where it’s going or what the meaning really is. In parts there is no punctuation at all! Frankly, chapter two is an utter nightmare. I found chapter one very hard work and not particularly exciting, but just about bearable with a lot of patience. Benjy's age ranges from 3 to 33 and people and events are mentioned that haven't come into the storyline thus yet! I was hoping that chapter two would be easier! However, I found chapter two utterly impossible and on finishing it I had to consult the aforementioned synopsis for guidance. Very tellingly, that told me that all of the main events of those two first chapters had totally passed me by! Even re-working these chapters to find these events was not easy, as a lot of the events are ‘implied’ and left to your imagination or detection, but none are totally obvious or crystal clear! Nothing is simply stated. Once again we have the question of brilliance or self-indulgence? I read ‘As Lay Dying,’ which I found reasonably easy to read, interesting, witty and thoroughly enjoyable – but his is a totally different animal and you have to spend an awful lot of time on it to truly understand it and get to the bottom of it. It takes study more than reading! Had I read chapters one and two, a couple times, I still think that I would have missed some of the salient points! Of course when you’ve read the synopsis things start falling into place on a re-read, but here an overview here is pretty much essential. I loved parts of this book – I really enjoyed the passage when Quinton met the little Italian girl in the bakery, and chapters 3 & 4 are very good with some excellent storylines concerning the nasty, horrible Jason. I also thought the description of the Sunday church service absolutely lovely. I’m glad I persevered, as the story when finally grasped is worth the effort. Would I recommend it? I’m not too sure about that! I was determined to crack it, but I can see why a lot of people would give up on this read!

I'm not that familiar with American literature of this type,but I found it a compelling read.Although the work needs a short explanation via the introduction to set the reader on the right tracks, once you are aware of the basic timing and structure you shouldn't find it that hard.It is basically a tale of a dysfunctional middle-class southern American household in the 1920's and is a satisfying read.Its characters are vivid and their personal situations are communicated in great style.

I wish there had been a zero rating! I’ve just permanently deleted the book from my kindle and other devices.I could have just had it removed from my devices but no, after a week of simmering fury and utter frustration I didn’t want to see it ever again and be reminded of a week of joyless reading . As someone who English is not his mother tongue I always persevere with difficult to read books as I see them as a linguistic and intellectual challenge. But boy on boy this one beat me and was awful and uncomprehensible. I came to a point where I couldn’t continue,then I read a few of the “one star” reviews and was relieved to know that other people felt exactly the same. Please don’t waste your time and money on this book.

There are four narrative voices in work, three are Faulkner in character and the final one his own third person narrator with all the fine detail you may expect. It is, perhaps as his first novel,easier to piece together than Absalom Absalom in which he revisits a couple of the characters. A tale of a southern family who variously seem to be hardput to maintain their projected dignity, or bent on self destruction and appear increasingly dysfunctional as the plot unravels only to turn back upon itself and end where it started, again with a semblance of order. In parallel and in contrast runs the story of the black help who seem infinitely better adjusted to their circumstance. Faulkner s literary treatment of this latter group may seem problematic to a present day reader, may even raise a few eyebrows but one can't help feeling it is sympathetic, though I feel unqualified to comment on possible uncle Tom element of it.

This is a complex, intellectual sort of novel which is all about style and the way things are said as much as the content of the story. It's the sort of book you sit and study and write essays about, not necessarily one you curl up with to enjoy. The novel is divided into four parts, each with a different narrator, and all concerning the same very unpleasant set of characters - a family in 1920s southern USA. The first two narratives are the most difficult to read - the second in particular - as they employ stream-of-consciousness (a technique I hate) and frequently jump around in time and leave sentences unfinished. Many of the characters' speech is written to reflect their southern American accents which adds another barrier to easy understanding. There is no explanation for who the characters are and whilst I gradually managed to work out a thing or two, I remained puzzled on much and it's hard to enjoy a book when you can't work out what's supposed to be going on. The third narrative is a more straightforwards first person on, and the final section is in the third person and focusses on the family's cook as well as tying up the main 'storylines' such as they are. Whilst these sections are more readable that's only in relative terms to the first sections. The characters are all horrible, apart from the mentally disabled Benjy (the point of view character for the first section) and the much put upon cook Dilsey. I loathed the characters and disliked the way the book was written, and as for plot, there's little of it. I can appreciate the cleverness of the way it's written, but that isn't enough to have made me enjoy it. I want to be entertained when I read, not feel like I'm sitting an English literature exam. It gets two stars for being clever and despite the fact I hate many of the literary techniques in it and the characters, I did manage to keep reading to the end and even have a degree of interest in the outcome. Which must say something for the novel because really on paper it would be the epitome of things I hate in a story. I found the easiest way to read the streams of consciousness - and the whole book really - is to skim it. Your eyes will catch naturally on the names and when something interesting happens. In this way I was able to grasp the story without having to suffer through every word (and I probably understood it better than if I'd tried to read it that way). I know I got all the key points because I read a synopsis afterwards to check. So if you want or are obliged to read this story, I would suggest that as technique for getting through it.

This book is a testament to Faulkner's immense shrewdness as a writer. And it expects an equal degree of application of patience and alertness from the reader to finish it. The inventive literary style of disjointed time periods, stream of consciousness amd disregard to grammar & punctuation make the first two sections of the book extremely opaque. Mercifully, Faulkner uses italics to signify shifts in time periods as the first section is described from the viewpoint of a mentally disabled man. The smog clears away by the third section and the final section is completely linear, thus bringing relief to the reader who finally gets to understand the gradual, tragic disintegration of a once proud Southern U.S. aristocratic family. I'd highly recommend this book for its memorable characters and a unique literary experiment by Faulkner.

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The packaging and design of this book are amazing. It strongly evokes a desire to read.

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