Upon doing multiple Google searches about the different types of narratives like linear vs. nonlinear and the different types of perspectives that books are written in, I came across a book called The Sound and the Fury.
The back cover reads: "One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, The Sound and the Fury is the tragedy of the Compson family, featuring some of the most memorable characters in American literature: beautiful, rebellious Caddy; the manchild Benjy; haunted, neurotic Quentin; jason, the brutal cynic; and Dilsey, their black servant."
.......Well, the first thing I thought of when I read the back cover of this book was the movie "Girl, Interrupted" because it also contains the same eccentric memorable characters in the same capacity. Caddy would be Lisa, Benjy would be Polly, Quentin would be Daisy, Jason would be Susanna, and Dilsey would be Nurse Valerie. The context of The Sound and the Fury is probably completely different, but I just wanted to share my initial impression based upon the back cover.
Anyway back to Google. Google told me that The Sound and the Fury was written by William Faulkner. Well, you might be able to figure out my next questions. Who is William Faulkner? and What is The Sound and the Fury all about anyway?
William Cuthbert Faulkner (September 25, 1897 — July 6, 1962)
Born in Mississippi and died in Ole' Miss. On a scale of influential writers, Faulkner would be at Mark Twain's level. Faulkner wrote novels, short stories, poetry, and even the occasional play. He was published as early as 1919 but was most active during the 1920s and 1930s. Faulkner kept a low profile until he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Well, there goes his privacy.
He spent almost his entire life in Mississippi and that influence of Southern culture is said to be reflected greatly in his works of literature. Faulkner published 13 novels and a multitude of short stories. Other iconic novels by Faulkner include As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and Absalom! Absalom! Faulkner wrote with the style of the Romantic era with Gothic tones mixed in. Also, Faulkner was a huge fan of the "stream of consciousness" method in his writing.
Fantastic, another James Joyce-esque novel. *insert sarcasm here, please* I'm not really excited about that whole idea because I was not a fan of "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man". However, the idea behind the story in The Sound and the Fury is what is keeping me interested.
Onto my second question.
The Sound and the Fury (1929)
The novel centers around the Compson family and is set in the fictional Yoknapatawhpha County. The plot deals with the family's struggle to come to terms with the separation of their family and a loss of their high reputation. Also, the plot is told from four different perspectives. (This is the part that is keeping me interested.) The first is from Benji, the second from Quentin, the third from Jason, and the last section has a third person omniscient perspective (<--- midterm vocab, yeah!). The last section also apparently primarly focuses on the servant named Dilsey.
My thoughts? Although I am not looking forward to some more "stream of consciousness", I am hoping that William Faulkner will change my perspective on it. I mean, he did win a Nobel Prize after all. I love stories told from different perspectives, they are really interesting to me and always bring to light something new that another person's perspective never would have picked up on. This makes me wonder how the book will be set up thematically. Will all the perspectives have continuous themes, or will the themes be more specialized towards the perspective in which we are reading? We shall see!
No comments:
Post a Comment