William Faulkner’s Intruder in the Dust was the book chosen for our reading group’s February novel. We all agreed it was a difficult style to read. He used little punctuation. The pronoun ‘he’ in his long sentences could mean Chick or Lucas or his uncle or any male in the scene. Within the long, long paragraphs, we often couldn’t figure out which ‘he’ talked or took action.
However, we all liked the richness of the setting, and three out of five us appreciated the novel inspite of the writing style.
What Faulkner novels have you read? What do you think of his writing?
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timetowritenow
For over twenty-five years, I've taught elementary grades, high school, and county special education classes. Now I am a field supervisor for teachers working toward their teaching credentials. I also teach writing classes in Dublin and Pleasanton, California.
I have won 5 awards in short story contests, My stories are published in The California Writers Club Literary Review, and several anthologies including four times in Las Positas College collections.
I have several book projects, but the two that have my immediate attention are HADA'S FOG, which is women's fiction, LILLI, a YA novel, and NORMAN IN THE PICTURE, a paranormal mystery. I have published an anthology WRITTEN ACROSS THE GENRES that includes writings from members of my writing classes and other writers. It's available on Amazon and Kindle.
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William Faulkner’s Intruder in the Dust was the book chosen for our reading group’s February novel. We all agreed it was a difficult style to read. He used little punctuation. The pronoun ‘he’ in his long sentences could mean Chick or Lucas or his uncle or any male in the scene. Within the long, long paragraphs, we often couldn’t figure out which ‘he’ talked or took action.
I read The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying. It does take some getting used to but I liked them. It has been close to 50 years since I read them but I can still remember bits of As I Lay Dying. As I recall, he was capturing the way people in the region talked.
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I agree, Gary. Certainly takes some getting used to, but I liked the one book of his I read. Thanks for commenting.
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He still inspires comment, even in the modern blog. That’s all I’m saying… 😉
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LOL, Elaine.
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I have a complete set of Faulkner books purchased from a used book site, beautiful vintage looking things, but have yet to read more than 20 pages. I tried to persevere, to be captured by his brilliance, but got bogged down, so decided to save them for savoring in my old age. Well, huh, old age is here so I guess it’s time. Reading and understanding Faulkner seems a perfect antidote to dementia! Thanks for the reminder.
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A vintage complete set of Faulkner books, outstanding, Lady Winfred. After the first couple chapters of Intruder in the Dust, we all agreed to just read without trying to figure out anything. Then it became a fast read and we “got” the messages of the story.
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It’s been a while since I read any Faulkner, and I plan to re-read some, but he was my hero for a long time. Never had any trouble with he’s, and it was never hard to read. It was just intuitive. Though I have no idea, I think of him as a pantser. James Joyce also wrote in very long sentences, and hiis punctuation is wonderful. Don’t know why I was told that it’s discouraged now.
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I thought he might be a pantzer too and wondered if he ever revised his writing. Maybe what we read is a first draft. I agree with you, it is almost an intuitive read.
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