Forgetting Faulkner...and Then Remembering Again!

I have never read a Faulkner novel, but I lied when I said I had never read any Faulkner ever. I have read "A Rose for Emily" probably twice over the course of the last five or six years...and I believe, after further thought, that I have read "Barn Burning" as well (not by choice, however). "A Rose for Emily" alone was enough to convince me that he was a little bit of a strange writer. Also, I recall from "Barn Burning" that his narrative style was unique and a little hard to follow. That was a basically the only baggage I had about him until last semester, when I was privy to some slightly rambling discussions about the novels being read in preparation for the class (When Sigma Tau meetings went on tangents, as Sigma Tau meetings have a tendency to do). And, frankly, it sounds weird. Especially As I Lay Dying (something about lugging a dead body around the country?). I'm starting to think that, in addition to his fascination with the Old South, Faulkner also had a fascination with death. I have heard a lot about his complexity, his uniquely hard-to-understand style, and his long stream-of-consciousness narrative that skips around all over the place and apparently will do its very best to drive us all insane by May. I keep hearing parallels being drawn--Faulkner and Shakespeare/ Picasso/ Pound, Cubism, Faulkner vs. Mitchell (and GWTW), The Civil War vs. WWI vs. the Vietnam War--and I'm interested to see where some of those lead us. I'm hoping it doesn't lead me to an ultimate dislike of his work, since I tend to put Faulkner in the same general category as Hemmingway and Steinbeck, neither of whom I am particularly fond of. So, I guess I'm coming into the class expecting it to be weird, and difficult, and sometimes kind of awful, but I'm intrigued nonetheless.

Carrying Faulkner's Baggage

Question: What sort of Faulkner baggage do you carry, and why? What have you *heard* about Faulkner or his work (regardless of truth or falsity), what have you read of Faulkner, and what, in general, do you think about him?

Honestly, my only interaction with Faulkner and his work is a Rose for Emily. From that experience I can draw only interesting conclusions about what his other pieces might be. I definitely picked up on the fascination with Civil War veterans and the complexity about human nature in dealing with change from the old ways in the South.  I also understand his treatment of women in only a general sense of his characterization toward Emily. I am looking forward to acquainting myself with more of Faulkner’s work, however, confusing I have been lead to believe it is.   I am not one who enjoys stories of infidelity which I feel because of his personal life may ensue, but I am willing to deal with whatever may face me in his work. I certainly hope Mr. Andrews is correct about his drunken state not affecting his writing because I do not feel that art can be created from addiction use. I wrote an essay on the effects of opium on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a British author, in Dr. Bond's class last semester and although Kubla Khan was an interesting piece of literature I did not believe that it yielded as much academic merit for being a drug induced dream. The writing that followed, however, is arguably well done despite the author’s vice. The comparison of Faulkner to Modernism as Shakespeare is to the Renaissance is interesting and makes me increasingly drawn to what art was developed through Modernism. As I'm taking up an Arts Administration Minor I am researching more into pieces of artwork as well as literature and performing art that I am drawn to and the reasons behind that fascination  I believe that any search for the meaning of life yields great creative potential and in rejecting tradition also gives freedom to exploring new aspects of any artistic enterprise. Although Faulkner can only be implicated to follow in a Modernism fashion I believe that any creative outlet at the time in some way or another affects all artists in every field. I believe that this class will be an opportunity to learn new things about an author with whom I am not familiar as well as a movement in art that interests me so I am looking forward to immersing myself in Faulkner's literature.

Faulkner Baggage

The only baggage I have from Faulkner is from what I have read in my early college English classes. From my little reading experience of Faulkner, I personally liked his work.  I have only read Faulkner's short stories-- "Barn Burning", "A Rose for Emily" and "Odor of Verbena".  Although his writing seems very confusing and difficult, there always seems to be an underlying message and meaning.  A lot of people may not like "A Rose for Emily" but I did, and I thought Faulkner's story was so strange and left the reader to take hold of their own imagination. I also remember that William Faulkner contributed to Modernism, although I am not completely sure what Modernism means.  In general I think of Faulkner as dark and confusing, yet brilliant writer.

Professor Baggage

As any of you who've taken my Theories of Comp class know, designing a writing prompt is tricky business. I said "baggage," and as I've seen some of the other posts appearing in the last two days, it's been a good starter term for you. I hesitate--despite my own sometimes cynical nature--to start us off with a slightly negative connotation, and I may have done so, but what's done is done. I like a class where we can be honest in evaluating the authors while still appreciating the poetic and rhetoric of their work. Hero worship has its place (Steinbeck FTW--Faulkner FTW too, for that matter), but it's okay if it's not a fifteen week love-fest, too. So in my opening prompt, I encouraged a bit of negativity--that may not be fair to Faulkner on the first day, but what's done is done. He's difficult. But he's GOOD difficult.

So, I can't approach Faulkner clean like many of you are this semester; thus, I can't really write about baggage in the same way. I would, however, like to reflect a little, and talk about my experiences with Faulkner as an undergrad (that was here at McMurry, by the way, for those of you who don't know) and a little later.

If I read WF in high school, I certainly don't remember it. Dosoyevsky, Dante, and Dickens, I remember. But not Faulkner. It wasn't until 1320, Comp & Lit, that I would really encoutner Faulkner. This would be, of course, "A Rose for Emily"--one of the most popularly anthologized short stories in WF's catalog. I vividly remember thinking the story was a little confusing, but cool; rich in ambiguity, which I appreciated especially because we could pick at our instructor's assertions about the story. One of my fellow students, I remember, was CONVINCED that Homer Barron was homosexual--the phrase "Homer himself had remarked – he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks' Club – that he was not a marrying man" is rich with small-town gossipy significance, and a small cohort of us were quite happy to bring that in and raise our instructor's hackles with our certainty in the matter. Of course we were wrong--in that his sexuality is indeterminate and in the end unimportant, not in that he's clearly heterosexual in the story. He's not. He could be, but he's not. But that's not the point. What this episode introduces (without meaning to) is a larger issue of narrative point of view. This kind of ambiguity is something Faulkner does with his narrators--they're not perfectly trustworthy, they're not perfectly reliable. They're just people. (More or less messed up in the head, sure; but still just people.)

I'm sure, in sophomore surveys and that sort of thing, that "Barn Burning" came up--I don't remember, but then, I was interested in other things in my sophomore year of college, and hadn't quite decided to be an English geek yet. Later, however, I took a Modern Novels course, and another important moment would intrude--sort of. Dr. E. had us read As I Lay Dying--and though I was much more impressed by Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle and Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio at the time, this initial reading of AILD would introduce me to his experimental novels, his technique, his idea of the world--important for when I'd study for my comprehensive exams as a Master's student later. Reading The Sound and the Fury entirely self-directed as a graduate student was something I wouldn't have been ready for if I hadn't been through AILD first. It's also helped inspire a deep interest and appreciation in high modernism in poetry, as well. Go read The Waste Land, and you'll understand. AILD was, you might say, a gateway drug.

Having taught AILD and sundry other Faulkner materials a few times by this point, and even though my scholarly specialization lies outside of mid-20th century literature these days, I'm excited to be teaching a fully-fledged Faulkner course. Not without trepidation, sure, but plenty of excitement otherwise. I mean, I *did* name my firstborn after one of the characters in As I Lay Dying, and made a strong (but ultimately failed) case for the third child being named out of The Sound and the Fury.

So, yeah. I've got bags to carry. But I'm carrying them happily. You can put lots of books in a good-sized bag.

No Baggage to Carry

I carry absolutely no William Faulkner baggage, with the exception of the slide show and the interesting comic at the end of the syllabus. Now, I am slightly terrified as I was hoping for some good reads. Apparently from what I am learning, I will be downloading a dictionary app to my phone. As far as his drinking, I can actually understand it if he started drinking while he was writing. I too, write a bit more or feel more inspired by the spirits at times. Since I have no prior experience with his works, I read thirty pages of Faulkner's book, The Sound and the Fury. This is what I have learned thus far; Faulkner is very abrupt in his transitions (this is an extreme understatement), also, his characters are not well-defined at the beginning of his story (you have to read the text and glean clues from it who the characters are). I am still confused as to who Luster is, I have Caddie as sister and some of the others figured out, but it has taken a good many pages to learn this information. If you read it and keep up with his transitions and Rain Man point of view, I think it is not so bad so far. Oh, and my first strange word was "ahun". On page 6, he mentions an "ahun gate". I looked it up and still don't know, I am assuming he means iron. He does leave mystery in his text as I am still waiting to find out about a few things, he hasn't gotten around to explaining at all. I am starting to wonder if this is going to become a pattern throughout the text. I am slightly intrigued and am excited to be here and looking forward to the course!

Esther Millette

Baggage

While I don't believe I carry a lot of baggage about William Faulkner, I also feel like I carry a lot baggage about him, just because of what I have heard about him from various sources. I have read "A Rose for Emily" and "Barn Burning" by Faulkner, and yes they were difficult because of Faulkner's use of diction, and his stream of consciousness. Many times I find that the stories are not chronological, and they tend to follow a flow of speech. I have heard from other people, who are more familiar with his work, that they always have a dictionary on hand while reading due to the high vocabulary content.
           

With Faulkner being a drunk, most of his work seems to prove his literary critics wrong, or attempt to achieve some sort of revenge. He is very narcissistic.

I’m nervous, yet excited about this course for the simple fact I have not read a lot of his works, and I’m hoping that I like Faulkner as much as I like Steinbeck. Faulkner seems like a man who was possibly misunderstood, and there is a lot more too him.

Faulkner vs Jesus/Oprah vs Relationships?

   The only Faulkner baggage I can think of is that sometimes I do not get along with other people? He seemed, to me, severely antagonistic towards most of society who he deemed inferior which is not my opinion, but there are certain times or situations when I find myself extremely disliking someone for whatever reason. But I would assume not getting along with everyone is baggage that most people carry, except for, of course, Jesus and Oprah.
   Though one cannot say that it is exactly 'baggage', I like to use a vocabulary that is less conversational and filled with colloquialisms like Faulkner's writing does, which some people have told me is pompous or boastful (though they certainly did not use those words). So that could also be 'baggage' that I and William Faulkner share. Sigh, no one understands us. Except, English majors of course (those judgmental math/science majors; history majors are all right, sometimes).
    Most of the opinions I have heard regarding Faulkner seem to be that he was a literary genius and a narcissistic drunk. So, of course, he is a famed writer and his stories are revered amongst literary critics and readers alike. Honestly, from the few stories that I have read from him, he seems to be very troubled but extremely good with plot interest.
    In his story "A Rose for Emily," the man/woman relationship is angst-ridden and uneasy. And in "Barn Burning," the central father/son relationship is stilted and riddled with conflicting moralities. But in both stories there is a suspense and storytelling that makes the short stories compelling for the reader.  Though he has issues and I have not read very much of him, I hope to be able to look past all of that learn to love his works this semester.

Post Assignment 1: Baggage

I've read a couple of Faulkner's short stories in high school (although it's been the better part of decade since I've been in high school), as well as "A Rose for Emily" and "Barn Burning" in college. What I've been able to glean from this limited experience is Faulkner tends to write from a  particular stream of consciousness or perspective; meaning his prose doesn't follow chronologically, but rather follows the mind itself--if the speaker happens to be a child or mentally disabled, God help the reader.

Personally, I find Faulkner to be like Granddad's Scotch. The older generations swear by it, particularly as I ascend the social ladder; but every time I try it, I just wind up with a bad taste in my mouth and a headache the next day. They tell me it's an "acquired taste" while they grimace and grunt trying to swallow it; pretending that their insides aren't burning and that they actually enjoy the taste of a fetid oak barrel.

I am interested to see if we can cut through Faulkner's complicated prose and find some nugget of universal truth that we can take with us. But like with the scotch, I'd be satisfied if we can simply make it to the end without someone throwing up or pissing on the furniture.

Entry One: Baggage

I started off thinking that I hadn’t read any of his work until I saw “A Rose for Emily” (which was also the only short story I actually remember reading from high school… so I guess I enjoyed it at the time) listed in the Syllabus. I’ve never even heard of Faulkner beyond the short story I read in high school, brief mentions of him in Andrews’ preparation of this course, and Mad Men. Frankly, I’ve heard Hemmingway’s name tossed around more often than Faulkner’s.  The brief overview of him and his life we received gave me the impression that he was kind of an asshole—but one I would like. 

I was dreading this course when Andrews sent out the email with the link to the assignments, but now that class has actually started, and I know more about Faulkner, I’m stoked to dive into his works. 

That being said, I think that his obsession and incorporation of his home in his writings is really interesting.

Faulkner Baggage

The only Faulkner "baggage" that I carry is that I keep hearing negative things about him from Kathryn. This is especially true when she and Mr. Andrews would get into arguments during Sigma Tau Delta meetings. Personally I have neutral feelings towards the man. We had started reading As I Lay Dying back in high school and while I had no major problems with the book my fellow classmates felt differently. After getting through about two sections they convinced my teacher that we should read anything else instead, even Shakespeare wasn't as intimidating as Faulkner. The only other thing I have heard about Faulkner is that he is  one of the top writers. I'm more of a Shakespeare and Marlowe person so I'm looking forward to expanding my horizons at least a bit.