Scan barcode
A review by louiza_read2live
Collected Stories of William Faulkner by William Faulkner
4.0
Final Thoughts on William Faulkner: Collected Stories
It is difficult for me to review William Faulkner as anything I say could be utterly wrong and non-sensical. Reading his collected stories was definitely a treat, albeit a challenging one. Having said that, here are some thoughts/ impressions that I got from my reading.
The first time I encountered William Faulkner was when I had to read the short story "Barn Burning" at the Jr. College (in 2004 if I remember well) in some of my first formal English classes. I needed a dictionary on every word, including for the word "Barn" on the title. I remember liking what I could understand, but I could not understand half of it.
Of course, I have been fluent in English for many years now so a while ago I decided to read As I lay Dying by William Faulkner, and I was not impressed. The book certainly has literary value, but I found the writing style dull and dry, so it was not enjoyable for me.
Then, one of my facebook book clubs (Classic Literature Book Club) was reading not too long ago another short story by Faulkner, A Rose for Emily, which I loved! Therefore, I got into reading the rest of his short stories, including rereading Barn Burning. I realized that unlike his longer work, As I Lay Dying, his short stories are wonderful! The language and style of Faulkner is definitely still difficult, and at times profoundly difficult as he uses various dialects a lot; nevertheless, it is worth it!
One of the things I loved is that the landscape in the narrative of Faulkner, particularly in Dry September, one might say that it becomes an alive participant in the stories of the locals. At times creepy/shocking, dark more often than not, thought provoking, and sometimes with a subtle humor reminiscent of Mark Twain, the stories of William Faulkner have proved a awesome reading company!
I feel that although there seems to be a connectedness in his stories, they also vary in themes and style although probably not much. What I found to be a common link in all of them is Faulkner's preoccupation with relationships, whether that is relationships within a family or relationships within the extended community, and almost always (or always) those relationships are dysfunctional in some way or other. Man versus Man and Man Versus Self is how I might describe the relational conflicts in his stories. I felt that even when the battles were physical, the focus was more on the inner psychological battle between the character and himself and between the character and others (society, community, family). Of course race, gossip, unjustified or harsh judgements towards others are common in his stories as well, and much more.
What was quite impressive to me, as I understood it at least, was that William Faulkner compresses effectively the troubles of humanity in just a few pages of one short story and without ever having to directly tell us what the trouble is, but instead he is letting us see it and understand it for ourselves as each story unfolds. In a way, his stories worked for me as a mirror of our ourselves, our communities, society as a whole– a mirror that reflects ourselves and our inner conflicts as well as the external conflicts of outside influences.
In reading William Faulkner, the reader might not always have a clear answer either and often we are just left to think, not necessarily expected to have all the answers. I think Faulkner puts us in touch with our imperfections and also with the fact that appearances are not always what they seem to be.
There are really so many more things to be said about each and every story, and there are layers of depth to unpack.
After I read As I Lay Dying, I never thought that I would like Faulkner, let alone love him. However, I am so impressed by his short stories and I have even shed a tear or two. I am definitely a Faulkner fan at least in regards to his short stories. I am still not sure that his particular writing style would be enjoyable to me in his longer works; nevertheless, I now look forward to put this to the test by reading one of his other novels, perhaps starting with Absalom, Absalom. Moreover, I am excited to begin Faulkner's biography, The Life of William Faulkner by Carl Rollyson.
(For a couple stories, I am embarrassed to say that I am still not sure what was happening. I will need to reread them at some point to understand even the plot).
Below are my first impressions from a couple stories (in not particular order), but also general thoughts I had from the other stories in general, even if the titles are not mentioned here, from when I started reading Faulkner.
Mule in the Yard.
I feel that Faulkner has a tendency to take events that we are supposed to feel sadness and gives them a funny twist in such a way that we don't even feel bad laughing.
Shingles for the Lord
The language made the story more real and more visually realistic for me, as the language matched the setting of the story, than if it was written in a more understandable or more modern dialect. I felt I was there and could picture them talk.
Moreover, now that I have started reading Faulkner's stories, I think that he has a tendency to leave open ended endings without a clear answer from him; yet, the answer it is clear to each reader without been forced by the author to directly be told what to think -- I love that! (This was updated as I have now finished the book to reflect my thought that the reader might not always have a clear answer either and often we are just left to think, not necessarily expected to have all the answers. I think Faulkner puts us in touch with our imperfections and also with the fact that appearances are not always what they seem to be).
I also enjoyed that with Faulkner I didn't always know where the story was going. For instance, In Shingles for the Lord, I thought that it would end with Pa getting on top and Homer and the other character (forgot name now) will be left shocked of Pa's cleverness and feeling cheated having to work for nothing. That is not what happened at all! I had to reread to get what was going on. I almost didn't want to believe it. Same with Barn Burning. He doesn't tell us what happens. He let us use our senses, in the case of Barn Burning our sense of hearing, and assume what happened; just like in real life we could assume an event by the sound we heard even though we might not have been there to see every detail. In the case of Shingles for the Lord, we also see it. Our sense of vision or hearing, depending on the story, are been utilized to picture the details.
8/30/20 (Struggling with Faulkner).
I finished a few days ago the story, A Bear Hunt, and from the stories I have read so far it was the most difficult stories in terms of language. You can laugh because I laughed at myself afterwards, but I was nearly in the middle of the story when I finally realized that "Hit" meant "It." I kept reading even though I could not understand trying to figure out what it was going on. At first, I thought "Hit" meant the verb "hit" and since I thought it had to do with some kind of a fight I was trying to figure out who hit who and how does it fit grammatically to make sense. Then, I thought "Hit" was a nickname of someone I couldn't figure out who. Finally, all of a sudden it hit me! (no pun intended). "Hit" meant the pronoun "It." I had to go back and reread now finally the story making sense. I did enjoy the story despite the difficulty of the language. Once I get it, it is like a light goes on as when I'm learning a new language (which essentially it is a new language) and all of a sudden the grammar clicks and starts making sense and connect the dots to understand the translation of the story.
What I really enjoy is the subtle humor of an author, and Faulkner I feel that he does this very well. He gets us in a serious story of abuses and prejudices, he gets us sober and thinking, and at the same time, he got me off guard and I laughed so hard when Rattliff told Lucious Provine who was clearly distraught that at least he got rid of his hiccups. Even though Lucious is not the best person, to be fair, Rattliff deserved every punch Lucious gave him that day. This story reminded me something of Mark Twain style although I could be way off in saying that. (Updated: Thanks to the moderator of Faulkner's book club, I know that this was not way off as she responded to my comment affirming my thought by posting a book that compares Twain to Faulkner. I hope to read this book one day too although for all the books I want to read/study, I would have to live another century to even put a dent in it).
I highly recommend William Faulkner: Collected Stories, but do not expect an easy reading. This is a studious, but marvelous read.
It is difficult for me to review William Faulkner as anything I say could be utterly wrong and non-sensical. Reading his collected stories was definitely a treat, albeit a challenging one. Having said that, here are some thoughts/ impressions that I got from my reading.
The first time I encountered William Faulkner was when I had to read the short story "Barn Burning" at the Jr. College (in 2004 if I remember well) in some of my first formal English classes. I needed a dictionary on every word, including for the word "Barn" on the title. I remember liking what I could understand, but I could not understand half of it.
Of course, I have been fluent in English for many years now so a while ago I decided to read As I lay Dying by William Faulkner, and I was not impressed. The book certainly has literary value, but I found the writing style dull and dry, so it was not enjoyable for me.
Then, one of my facebook book clubs (Classic Literature Book Club) was reading not too long ago another short story by Faulkner, A Rose for Emily, which I loved! Therefore, I got into reading the rest of his short stories, including rereading Barn Burning. I realized that unlike his longer work, As I Lay Dying, his short stories are wonderful! The language and style of Faulkner is definitely still difficult, and at times profoundly difficult as he uses various dialects a lot; nevertheless, it is worth it!
One of the things I loved is that the landscape in the narrative of Faulkner, particularly in Dry September, one might say that it becomes an alive participant in the stories of the locals. At times creepy/shocking, dark more often than not, thought provoking, and sometimes with a subtle humor reminiscent of Mark Twain, the stories of William Faulkner have proved a awesome reading company!
I feel that although there seems to be a connectedness in his stories, they also vary in themes and style although probably not much. What I found to be a common link in all of them is Faulkner's preoccupation with relationships, whether that is relationships within a family or relationships within the extended community, and almost always (or always) those relationships are dysfunctional in some way or other. Man versus Man and Man Versus Self is how I might describe the relational conflicts in his stories. I felt that even when the battles were physical, the focus was more on the inner psychological battle between the character and himself and between the character and others (society, community, family). Of course race, gossip, unjustified or harsh judgements towards others are common in his stories as well, and much more.
What was quite impressive to me, as I understood it at least, was that William Faulkner compresses effectively the troubles of humanity in just a few pages of one short story and without ever having to directly tell us what the trouble is, but instead he is letting us see it and understand it for ourselves as each story unfolds. In a way, his stories worked for me as a mirror of our ourselves, our communities, society as a whole– a mirror that reflects ourselves and our inner conflicts as well as the external conflicts of outside influences.
In reading William Faulkner, the reader might not always have a clear answer either and often we are just left to think, not necessarily expected to have all the answers. I think Faulkner puts us in touch with our imperfections and also with the fact that appearances are not always what they seem to be.
There are really so many more things to be said about each and every story, and there are layers of depth to unpack.
After I read As I Lay Dying, I never thought that I would like Faulkner, let alone love him. However, I am so impressed by his short stories and I have even shed a tear or two. I am definitely a Faulkner fan at least in regards to his short stories. I am still not sure that his particular writing style would be enjoyable to me in his longer works; nevertheless, I now look forward to put this to the test by reading one of his other novels, perhaps starting with Absalom, Absalom. Moreover, I am excited to begin Faulkner's biography, The Life of William Faulkner by Carl Rollyson.
(For a couple stories, I am embarrassed to say that I am still not sure what was happening. I will need to reread them at some point to understand even the plot).
Below are my first impressions from a couple stories (in not particular order), but also general thoughts I had from the other stories in general, even if the titles are not mentioned here, from when I started reading Faulkner.
Mule in the Yard.
I feel that Faulkner has a tendency to take events that we are supposed to feel sadness and gives them a funny twist in such a way that we don't even feel bad laughing.
Shingles for the Lord
The language made the story more real and more visually realistic for me, as the language matched the setting of the story, than if it was written in a more understandable or more modern dialect. I felt I was there and could picture them talk.
Moreover, now that I have started reading Faulkner's stories, I think that he has a tendency to leave open ended endings without a clear answer from him; yet, the answer it is clear to each reader without been forced by the author to directly be told what to think -- I love that! (This was updated as I have now finished the book to reflect my thought that the reader might not always have a clear answer either and often we are just left to think, not necessarily expected to have all the answers. I think Faulkner puts us in touch with our imperfections and also with the fact that appearances are not always what they seem to be).
I also enjoyed that with Faulkner I didn't always know where the story was going. For instance, In Shingles for the Lord, I thought that it would end with Pa getting on top and Homer and the other character (forgot name now) will be left shocked of Pa's cleverness and feeling cheated having to work for nothing. That is not what happened at all! I had to reread to get what was going on. I almost didn't want to believe it. Same with Barn Burning. He doesn't tell us what happens. He let us use our senses, in the case of Barn Burning our sense of hearing, and assume what happened; just like in real life we could assume an event by the sound we heard even though we might not have been there to see every detail. In the case of Shingles for the Lord, we also see it. Our sense of vision or hearing, depending on the story, are been utilized to picture the details.
8/30/20 (Struggling with Faulkner).
I finished a few days ago the story, A Bear Hunt, and from the stories I have read so far it was the most difficult stories in terms of language. You can laugh because I laughed at myself afterwards, but I was nearly in the middle of the story when I finally realized that "Hit" meant "It." I kept reading even though I could not understand trying to figure out what it was going on. At first, I thought "Hit" meant the verb "hit" and since I thought it had to do with some kind of a fight I was trying to figure out who hit who and how does it fit grammatically to make sense. Then, I thought "Hit" was a nickname of someone I couldn't figure out who. Finally, all of a sudden it hit me! (no pun intended). "Hit" meant the pronoun "It." I had to go back and reread now finally the story making sense. I did enjoy the story despite the difficulty of the language. Once I get it, it is like a light goes on as when I'm learning a new language (which essentially it is a new language) and all of a sudden the grammar clicks and starts making sense and connect the dots to understand the translation of the story.
What I really enjoy is the subtle humor of an author, and Faulkner I feel that he does this very well. He gets us in a serious story of abuses and prejudices, he gets us sober and thinking, and at the same time, he got me off guard and I laughed so hard when Rattliff told Lucious Provine who was clearly distraught that at least he got rid of his hiccups. Even though Lucious is not the best person, to be fair, Rattliff deserved every punch Lucious gave him that day. This story reminded me something of Mark Twain style although I could be way off in saying that. (Updated: Thanks to the moderator of Faulkner's book club, I know that this was not way off as she responded to my comment affirming my thought by posting a book that compares Twain to Faulkner. I hope to read this book one day too although for all the books I want to read/study, I would have to live another century to even put a dent in it).
I highly recommend William Faulkner: Collected Stories, but do not expect an easy reading. This is a studious, but marvelous read.