Which Faulkner book should I read first?

S&F is a good start because it introduces you to a lot of characters and backgrounds that would be recurrent in many of Faulkner’s other novels. If you’re just looking for the easiest of his novels, I’d recommend Sanctuary or Light in August or Go Down, Moses.

Is Absalom Absalom related to The Sound and the Fury?

The intertextual relationship between The Sound and the Fury and Absalom is apparently obvious. Faulkner himself explicitly writes in a manuscript version of Absalom: “That was the summer before Quentin died” (qtd.

How long does it take to read Absalom Absalom?

6 hours and 45 minutes
The average reader will spend 6 hours and 45 minutes reading this book at 250 WPM (words per minute).

Why should you read The Sound and the Fury?

Rereading The Sound and the Fury magnified my appreciation of it tenfold. Now that I understood the basic plot, I could focus more on the characters, language, and structure of the novel. This experience encapsulates why I love to reread books, especially ones as complex and intense as those that Faulkner writes.

Should I read As I Lay Dying?

Relatively short length || At around 250 pages, As I Lay Dying is more manageable than some of Faulkner’s other texts. The pace moves quickly due to the short chapters and numerous narrators, meaning that it feels even shorter. If book length intimidates you, then this might be a good place to start with Faulkner.

Is Absalom Absalom a good book?

Yet the “Old South” images of “Absalom” are haunting. It is a great novel in its historic span, elliptical revelation, layer by layer, of Mississippi pioneer Thomas Sutpen’s doomed ambition. All that and its distinctively American essence make it The Great American Novel .

How hard is Absalom Absalom?

Absalom, Absalom is a book written in Faulkner’s deeply accented Southern venacular as multiple stream of consciousness narratives from very different characters. It is a very difficult read. Though, hardly as challenging as something like James Joyce’s Finnigan’s Wake.

Is Absalom Absalom a sequel?

Babbitt
Absalom, Absalom!/Followed by

What do the italics mean in The Sound and the Fury?

At various points in Benjy’s narration, Faulkner decided to use italics “to establish for the reader Benjy’s confusion; that unbroken-surfaced confusion of an idiot which is outwardly a dynamic and logical coherence,” he explained in a letter, adding: “I wish publishing was advanced enough to use coloured ink for such.

Is The Sound and the Fury a hard read?

The Sound and the Fury is considered a rather difficult read. It’s written in four parts that overlap, interweave, and jump around in time. The story is told by different narrators who are not entirely reliable.

Is Absalom Absalom a true story?

William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! is not a novel known for its tidy plot or linear story line. The story of Thomas Sutpen and his sons Henry Sutpen and Charles Bon is told from multiple points of view, as well as from several perspectives in time, which makes it incredibly complex and layered.