Collected Stories

William Faulkner

Dec 2007 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Various

About this audiobook

“I’m a failed poet. Maybe every novelist wants to write poetry first, finds he can’t and then tries the short story which is the most demanding form after poetry. And failing that, only then does he take up novel writing.” —William Faulkner
 
Winner of the National Book Award

Forty-two stories make up this magisterial collection by the writer who stands at the pinnacle of modern American fiction. Compressing an epic expanse of vision into hard and wounding narratives, Faulkner’s stories evoke the intimate textures of place, the deep strata of history and legend, and all the fear, brutality, and tenderness of the human condition. These tales are set not only in Yoknapatawpha County, but in Beverly Hills and in France during World War I. They are populated by such characters as the Faulknerian archetypes Flem Snopes and Quentin Compson, as well as by ordinary men and women who emerge so sharply and indelibly in these pages that they dwarf the protagonists of most novels.

Ratings and reviews

FAULKNER IS A LEGEND THE SOUTH IS CAPTURED LIKE A VIGNETTÉ FROZEN TIME FRAME IN ITS MUDDLED RISE FROM PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON'S FAILED RECONSTRUCTION. THE POETRY ALMOST SEDUCES US WITH FAILKNER'S EASY SOUTHERN LILTS AND COMFORTABLE LIFE, BUT THE STARK REALITIES: REMAIN. 1. THE SOUTH IS A CLASS BASED SOCIETY OF HORRIFIC INEQUITIES AS WE SEE TODAY ITS PROVISIONAL RE-UNITED MEMBERSHIP IN THE UNION BEING LAMBASTED AND DENUDED OF ALL POSSIBLE TRIMMINGS AND CONCESSIONS TO NORMALCY. IT HAS TOTALLY DONE A TOTAL BACKFLIP ABOUT-FACE STANCE ON ANY CONCESSIONS TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IT MAY HAVE SUPERFICIALLY BEEN FORCED TO DO BY THE INHERITORS OF ABE LINCOLN'S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, LIKE FREDERICK DOUGLAS OR THE QUOTE: 'LIBERAL NORTH.' SLAVERY IS NOT A MODERN VIABLE OPTION. ANYMORE. <<<<<<<<<< PART I>>>>>>>>> PART II NEXT