Who's Read Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying"?
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le hammer
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Can any of you recommend a novel that 's really, I mean really as "good" as this book?
For me, Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is almost equal to Faulkner at his best, and Kesey in fact reveres Faulkner in a 1992 "Paris Review" interview. When asked, "What authors and works do you consider strong embodiments of class and style?", Kesey explains, "Hemingway, because he built his work very rigidly and structured it with a lot of muscle. But Faulkner is so much better."
In this interview, Kesey speaks about writers being "out on the cliffs", and this I believe is what I see in "AILD" that marks it as a "better" book. I'm not looking merely for a book that does conventional stuff even though it does it exceptionally well; I'm looking more for stuff that reaches, work that tries to peer around that next corner, like the way Faulkner mostly abandons omniscient narrators, at least in his big-time stuff.
O'Connor's "Wise Blood" and Woolfe's "To the Lighthouse" come to mind too as books that truly reach.
Of course, I don't mean to suggest that Faulkner is without influence. Faulkner may have been influenced a great deal by Joyce, so maybe it's about time for me to read "Ulysses", but I want to run this topic through the Zone for sure.
This request was going to be my last thread at the old place, but the way things turned out, I think it's just fine as my first new thread in this place!
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Is forgiveness possible?
I would put Beckett's Trilogy
I would put Beckett's Trilogy of Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnameable alongside As I Lay Dying.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Is forgiveness possible?
BTW - have you seen Franco's
BTW - have you seen Franco's film version of AILD? People who love the novel are very split on what they think of the film. Personally - no film could ever capture the novel completely for me (seriously, how could it?) - but I was impressed with the film nonetheless.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: eastcoastneil
^Film was great IMHO
^Film was great IMHO
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ausonius
IMO Faulkner has the best
IMO Faulkner has the best mastery of the English language of any American author. You can read a paragraph of his over and over and it's like you're experiencing some indescribably delicious taste.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
IMO Sometimes A Great Notion
IMO Sometimes A Great Notion far outshines OFOTCN.. Much more Faulkneresque, and Kesey's greatest literary accomplishment.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Is forgiveness possible?
Two more novels I thought I
Two more novels I thought I might at least bring to the discussion are 100 Years of Solitude and The Crying of Lot 49.
Also want to add that I agree wholeheartedly with both Thom's apt description of reading Faulkner and Surf's thought on Sometimes a Great Notion.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Is forgiveness possible?
imho - this thread is what I
imho - this thread is what I have been waiting for! Thank you.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: thinthread
i love this type of thread
i love this type of thread also. now i have some more reading material. i find faulkner to be a bit verbose and hard to digest, but pynchon is more palatable for me.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: aiq
On Faulkner, You Can't Go
On Faulkner, You Can't Go Home Again takes a cold hard look at the "hometown" mythology.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: MarkD
Light of the World (2013) by
Light of the World (2013) by James Lee Burke. Best book I have read in a very long time. I have read the 20 or so leading up to it though. That may have an influence. If you have not read JLB, then do yourself a favor. I think he is the greatest american writer alive today.
I found sometimes a great notion boring and unreadable. Thought OFOTCN one of the best books I ever read. Tastes differ.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Froggy
Sometimes A Great Notion was
Sometimes A Great Notion was difficult to get into, but I found it well worth the effort, and it's a favorite. Re Faulkner, I loved The Sound and the Fury, and found it at times mesmerizing.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
I'm a fan of The Sound and
I'm a fan of The Sound and the Fury as well, although I haven't read it in years.
I usually re-read Notion every five years or so.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: le hammer
I meant to link that Kesey
I meant to link that Kesey interview: http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1830/ken-kesey-the-art-of-ficti...
>>>> BTW - have you seen Franco's film version of AILD? <<<<
Yes, seeing the movie eventually resulted in me deciding to read AILD for the first time since I was 19. I'm not sure how the movie would look/feel to a person who's never read the book, but I thought the movie was pretty damn good. I liked the sparse use of split-screen too, which prior to seeing the movie, I figured had the potential to come off as gimmicky.
>>>> IMO Sometimes A Great Notion far outshines OFOTCN. Much more Faulkneresque, and Kesey's greatest literary accomplishment. <<<<
That's great news indeed! I've got a copy sitting just a few feet away from me right now. I bought it at a record store named Terrapin Station.
>>>> I loved The Sound and the Fury, and found it at times mesmerizing. <<<<
I'm reading it now for, I believe, about the fifth time in my life. First time in at least a dozen years.
So Beckett you say...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
Despite my love for Kesey and
Despite my love for Kesey and Notion, it must be said here that Kesey, great as he is/was, could not write a three-dimensional female character to save his life. A problem he shares with a number of well-known authors.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: le hammer
^^^^I've only read "Cuckoo's
^^^^I've only read "Cuckoo's Nest", Surf, but I certainly don't recall any characters from this novel who anybody could use to challenge your claim.
Pedal, have you posted about Burroughs before?
I remember seeing an excerpt from Burroughs on the Zone, not way long ago, that I wanted to look at again. I'm wanting to say the excerpt had something to do with god, but I never could find the post.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sully72
I've read AILD six or seven
I've read AILD six or seven times as I taught it for a number of years.
Beloved by Toni Morrison is another one that rewards repeat readings.
I read Infinite Jest last year. Good in it's own way, a challenge to get through for sure.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Always Be
I agree with Surfdead on that
I agree with Surfdead on that many authors do not get the woman characters.Just like in real life I guess.
If you are looking for a good read- "Shantaram" by Gregory Roberts.It's a well written HUGE book taking you from Australia and all over India.Not like Faukner....but characters are developed superbly.
Just finished reading " A Man named Ove" kind of weird in a good way.It was translated from Swedish.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alias
As far as American sagas go,
As far as American sagas go, I really like Peter Mathiessens Killing Mr. Watson. I also like William Kennedy's Allbany Cycle, especially Legs, Ironweed, and Billy Phelan's Greatest game. I love Flannery O'C, but I prefer reading her short stories, one gut shot after another.
As far as someone staking out their own ground, I really like Paul Auster's first book, The New York Trilogy, especially the first story, City of Glass. The Music of Chance is also good if you want something more traditional. In some way shares something with Flannery although totally different setting etc. In other words, can get a little dark (great movie made about this). I went on a big roll with him, but fell off after a while. His last book and great moments but lacked the purpose of his earlier works.
I used to be very taken with Italo Calvino. The Baron In The Trees and If On a Winter's Night a Traveler. He's a real craftsman.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alias
Also, I should add, as far as
Also, I should add, as far as GREAT and well-written american books, Edward Abbey's later book The Fool's Progress, came out about a year before his death. It is epic. Semi-autobiographical fiction about a sick old wanderer considering his life as he road trips home to Appalachian Pennsylvania one last time. Not about monkeywrenching, and even has long sections about (gasp) city life. There are love stories, and tales of grandeur, victory, and of despair. An extremely well written and touching great american novel. It makes you realize that he was a writer before he was a firebrand.