One week after what we had scheduled, here we are to discuss the last and final chapter of Faulkner's "Sound and fury"... did you already finish it? What did the last part add to the story? Globally, what do you think of the book? Would you read another Faulkner? Which chapter did you like best and why? Who is the main character of the book? Take your time...
I cannot believe that, when I finally finished the book, I found myself waiting for more!
ReplyDeleteThe fourth chapter, with the omniscient narrator, is great to learn more about the characters without the bias of the first three chapters. I was expecting the final chapter to make everything fit and clearer, but it does not. On the contrary, I have realized that it is the addition of the four chapters that really bring together and put light into the whole story. Even if the first and second chapters were so hard to read, and even if I had the impression that I had understood nothing of them.
In fact, if something provides clear information is the Appendix - and, of course, the Wikipedia explanation which, once I have finished the book, I have read in my search for "more".
In conclusion, I have liked the book despite how difficult its reading has been and how much concentration it has required me. I ended up liking the so called stream-of-consciousness narrative technique, and what I liked the most is how I got to know and feel the characters. How their stories made me heart-breaked at times, angry at others, sad… Now that I come to think about it, I cannot recall happy feelings when following the Compson' story…
So Jorge, no bad feelings, it was a great suggestion :-)
Would I read Faulkner again? Yes, sure. Now? Nope. I look forward to the next reading together but, honestly, for the summer I am hoping it will be an easy, entertaining, and maybe even funny, book.
Hi cookies,
ReplyDeleteI have struggled with my book proposal. I have struggled so much that I could only finish the book yesterday.
I have to say that I have enjoyed the first chapter. Benjamin was for me probably the easiest to follow. Once I realized that he was mentally "diminished" I also realized that I had to read the book in a different way. So I did, and I understood most of the key points of the chapter. Like in a surrealist movie, just follow, try to find the flow in general feelings, observe, feel, touch, even smell, hear the sound in keywords in order to understand what is going on. A challenge, an interesting challenge.
Jason was before all, I guess, above all. Confused, selfish, straightforward in his evil. A thief that was stolen. A nobody in charge of a family, the recipe to loose, all.
Different story was the second chapter. Quentin, the male Quentin, was very difficult to digest. Harvard people are somehow difficult to follow, aren't they? :) Incest in his mind, why? Guilt, fear. Stupid Compsons.
The last chapter is the one that gives some light on the scene, but not enough to enlighten so much darkness. Doomed Compsons, weak minded, sick. Only Dilsey seems to be sane in this hard book.
Bravo Mr. Faulkner, very interesting book, you probably deserve a Nobel prize, maybe two. Like a Compson, I feel diminished in my mind for not being able to fully understand the whole of your book, guilty for being the one who proposed it, always confused... I will read Faulkner again, I will read this book again, but not today, not this year, I don't know when. Maybe sometime in the future, walking around Cambridge and crossing a bridge over the Charles I will read the Compson family name and I will have the strength to jump in the book again.
I survived! I am glad I finished it and like Macarena, I was waiting for some clarification after hardly understanding the first half of the book. But it was too dark to lighten up the whole book in just one chapter. I am grateful for Wikipedia and all the reviews available online; without them this would have been a complete nightmare and a very frustrating experience.
ReplyDeleteOverall, it is a devastating book. I don’t recall any happy moments and it depicts the worst of human nature: incest, suicide, racism …
I am unable of writing down my feelings and impressions about the book in a way that makes any sense. If I put them down, I am afraid it will be as difficult to understand as the book.
Jorge, don’t feel bad about it; I actually want to thank you for this great suggestion. It was very interesting indeed. I see unlikely that I would ever choose this book (my ignorance) and more unlikely that if I had started it on my own, I would have finished it. I am glad I made the effort and I thank you guys for keeping up the flame! That’s why I love this book club.
Will I read Faulkner again? I think so. I would like to see if all his books are so complicated. But like my cookies colleagues, I need a break and Rocio’s suggestion look like a great summer read.
Read you soon!
So I finished the book a few weeks ago, but I didn't want to write my post immediately so I wouldn't influence your reading!!!
ReplyDeleteI liked the book, yes! is it weird? Yes! Would I read another Faulkner? Actually I had read "Mosquitos" a few (15?) years ago, and I had that strange feeling that I was missing something... maybe it was reading another Faulkner...
What about the character? I agree with many of the critics that the main character is Caddy, even though she never speaks directly in the book, but she is the favorite, the hated, the mother, the only daughter, the sexual object, the lost one... how many things we can see about someone from what others are saying?
Anyway, to agree with Jorge, yes, I see a clear Nobel prize here... not that I'm going to win the lottery with this comment, but I agree that it is a well-written, original and very intensive book, very much the Nobel style (it's never the page turners for this prize!)...
So that is all for now... good reading of Mrs.Munro!