I have been reading lately. I have been reading a lot, lately….
The Sound and the Fury. Written by William Faulkner. First published in 1929. Free to read online. Free and available at most public libraries. Inexpensive at book sales. Available in used book stores…
I have not actually finished this novel. It is a very difficult work to read. I think I could just skim through it and I would know a few names, a few characters. I can’t do that to this book.
There are no chapters. There is simply an awareness of others and the unspoken thoughts of one. It took me a long time to realize this even though the difference between the two modes of communication are visibly apparent (unspoken thought is in italics). Neither the past nor the future seems to hold any relevance as the present unravels with painful awareness.
The book begins with the unspoken thoughts of a pre-verbal child. A slow child. A child not like the others. Faulkner gave me the opportunity to listen in to this child’s impressions of the world. To the unspoken needs and desires of one.
About halfway through the book, possibly this is about halfway through a young man’s life, a watch crystal is purposefully broken and the hands are removed. Time is still running but the ability to count the seconds into minutes, the minutes into hours…. using that watch, has been stilled. Does time have meaning if you can no longer measure it?
This book has grown difficult again. I am putting it down, again. I have not read any of the hundreds of discussions on this book. I would like to wait until I finish it and come to my own conclusions. For this reason, Faulker and his boys will have to wait on me. Time, for the written word may be almost endless. These words will wait for me….
I found this book, and many more, in a library book sale. I had purchased other books the day before and was given a paper bag with $5 written on it. If I came back the next day I could fill my paper bag with paperbacks. As many as the bag would hold. They would all be mine for that $5. I did. I have found some wonderful books this way.
Library book sales are often run by groups called “Friends of the Library” or a similar name. Your local library may hold these sales several times a year. There are many charitable organizations that also hold book drives and book sales. These are fun events and great places to begin building a library of real books or, adding to your existing collection, with real friends….
TheMorningTomatoReport 