This is my first time reading anything by Faulkner, and unsure where to start I chose this based on a few comments in other books.
My initial impression was confusion. The book introduces a lot of characters early on, peeking into their minds as they describe things from their perspective in a stream of consciousness style. I’ve read more modern books written in a similar way and it made me wonder if this was the first book to be written in this style.
Characters appear and disappear suddenly, speak from dead, kids speak like kids do, and the initial bout of confusion turned me off. Fortunately as I read things cleared up a bit, but there is a lot to unpack here after reading.
This book did an excellent job of showing the reader what life was like back then for poor people living in America, and it was tragic and poignant. It was less dated than I had expected given that it was originally published in 1930.
So in the end I liked the book for the skill of writing rather than the storytelling style, and for the ending which was absolutely perfect. Will I read more by Faulkner? Still not sure about that but we’ll see!
Next I am reading Billy Summers by Stephen King.
