First off, I have to admit that I didn't enjoy reading this book. If you couldn't glean that from a few of my previous posts, I want to lay it all out there. I don't like "The Sound and The Fury." That having been said, I don't think one is necessarily supposed to like this novel. This story at its root is about the decay of a once affluent southern family. The majority the of the main characters are generally unlikeable and pitiful. The text is next to impossible for a casual reader to get through without some kind of guidance, especially the first couple of sections. I equate my feelings about "The Sound and the Fury" with the feelings I had leaving the theater after seeing "Saving Private Ryan" for the first time. Saving Private Ryan is not a movie you are supposed to like. I don't like seeing the deaths of hundreds of soldiers depicted onscreen. I don't like seeing the destruction of French towns. I don't like seeing the main characters dying one by one as they attempt to achieve a somewhat silly, but noble, goal. Does that mean the film was bad? No, of course not. "Saving Private Ryan" was a extremely well done war film, that can allow viewers who weren't there on the battlefields of France during the Second World War to experience a tiny piece of the terror and loss and brotherhood that soldiers experience. And based on the sobbing older gentlemen I saw leaving the theater, it can apparently allow veterans who were there to revisit a defining experience in their lives. It was a powerful film. Not a likable one, but a powerful and well crafted one. I feel similarly about "The Sound and the Fury." It is powerful. It is beautifully crafted. It is a classic. And I hated every minute of it.
....well, ok, maybe not every minute. I hated 3/4 of my minutes with Faulkner. And I suppose hate is a little too strong of a word. I really didn't hate this novel. There were times I stopped to marvel at the style Faulkner uses to convey the points of view of his subjects. "The Sound and the Fury" is broken up into 4 long chapters, or sections, and is set on a different date and comes from a different character's point of view. It details a few days in the lives of the members of the Compson family. An affluent clan whose wealth and power and reputation is in decline. The first two sections were incredibly difficult reading. The very first is from the perspective of a boy, Benjy, who is mentally handicapped. He is the youngest of the four Compson children There is little language that indicates the chronology of the events that Benjy experiences. The style of writing is purely stream of consciousness. There were pages at a time when I realized I couldn't remember what was actually happening, I just got lost in the cadence of the prose. I won't attempt to discuss the events that take place in this section, because I don't think I can. Go give it a try yourselves! The following section is, like the first, difficult reading. It comes from the perspective of Quentin, a Harvard student and oldest of the Compson children. He is obsessed with his sister Caddy, who has been victim of sexual scandals starting at a young age. As the section progresses, chronology gets more jumbled, and consistent punctuation, grammar and spelling goes out the window. Apparently this indicates Quentin's slow mental deterioration as he is unable to come to grips with the fate of his sister, his family, and the degradation of the American south since the end of the civil war. (Thank you Internet for explaining this to me).
It is at this point in the novel I considered giving up reading altogether and instead focusing on cable reality shows, but persisted. I don't think a book has ever made me feel, outside of maybe my Federal Tax Law casebook in law school, so incredibly stupid than the first two sections of "The Sound and the Fury." I felt like I just wasn't getting it. This is one novel that I wish that I had read within the context of a literature class.
Thankfully the last two sections were less of a chore to get through. The third section follows Jason, the third child and the means of financial support for the family. This section is linear and much easier to read. Jason's role has left him as a despicable character, whose sole focus lies on money. The last section is the only that is not set from a first person narrator, and the only one not focused on person outside of the family. It follows Dilsey, who is a black servant to the Compsons. Her section was the easiest to read, and the most enjoyable for me. Her character is likable. The simplicity of the prose in her section mirrors the simplicity of her life, compared to the Compson children, which revolves around her faith and her loyalty to the Compsons, despite their sometimes harsh treatment of Dilsey and her family.
I don't care to try and explain more of the plot of the novel, nor will I try to dissect the style Faulkner uses in his various sections. It would take it's own book to be done properly. Generations of brighter minds than I have already done so far better than I ever could. I can only relate my experience while reading "The Sound and the Fury." Again, I didn't necessarily enjoy this book, but I did marvel at the style and complexity of Faulkner's achievement. How someone could weave the threads of this work together, long before being able to easily save and edit on a computer, I will never know! This work could be Exhibit A for an example of how fine the line between genius and insanity can feel.
Now it is my time to say Goodbye to the "The Sound and the Fury" I am proud to have read you, and I am happy to be moving on!
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