Doubling and Incest / Repetition and Revenge: A Speculative Reading of Faulkner [Paperback]

John T. Irwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0801852315 | ISBN-13: 978-0801852312 | Edition: Revised & enlarged

When it was first published, Doubling and Incest/Repetition and Revenge proved to be a seminal work in the psychoanalytic study of Faulkner's fiction, especially of The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom! This softcover reissue of John Irwin's masterful exposition unwinds the mystery of unconscious desire and doubling that inform the novels.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Breathtaking.... Makes most other psychological studies of literature and books on Faulkner look as superficial as 'Cliff's Notes.'.

(Sheldon Brivic Journal of Modern Literature )

Without doubt John Irwin's slim and elegant yet unpretentiously delivered Doubling and Incest/Repetition and Revenge is the best Faulkner criticism we have to date, and probably the best we will have for some time to come.

(Richard King Salmagundi )

Readers will be tempted to devour this fascinating book at a single sitting.

(Doris L. Eder Studies in American Fiction )

John Irwin has created a critical work of art. His form is musical, his informing myths are Freudian and Romantic, and his theme is the artist's revenge against time.

(George H. Gilpin Faulkner Studies )

Truly prophetic.... [Irwin] has finally given us a definitive psychology of Faulknerian time.

(David M. Wyatt Virginia Quarterly Review )

The most exciting book of criticism on Faulkner to appear in many years.... Displays a subtler and more comprehensive understanding of the Oedipal pattern than is to be found in any previous psychoanalytic criticism of Faulkner's fiction.... Should have profound influence on Faulkner studies in the years to come.

(Karl F. Zender American Literary Scholarship )

One of the most complex, stimulating, and potentially controversial books in the whole range of Faulkner criticism.

(Joseph Blotner Michigan Quarterly Review )

About the Author

John T. Irwin is Decker Professor of the Humanities and chair of the Writing Seminars at the Johns Hopkins University. His books include The Mystery to a Solution, American Hieroglyphics, and The Heisenberg Variations, all available from Johns Hopkins.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; Revised & enlarged edition (March 14, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801852315
• ISBN-13: 978-0801852312
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,698,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deepest Faulkner, September 28, 2002

By 

Charles B. Glennon (Makawao, HI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doubling and Incest / Repetition and Revenge: A Speculative Reading of Faulkner (Paperback)

Irwin's book was recommended by a professor years ago, when I was reading Light in August. I bought it then but I found I needed to read Absalom! Absalom! and The Sound and the Fury closely before I could get anywhere with this book. Though Freud is pivotal in Irwin's review, his use of Freud is flexible, not dogmatic. Jungian snippets (the shadow nature of the unconscious)emerge from time to time as well. The book is essentially an investigation into Quentin Compson's struggles with incest and impotence that leads to his suicide, yet it also applies to the South's loss of the Civil War and general outrages resulting from human frustration.
Irwin's connections between S&F and Absalom are most helpful to my understanding of Faulkner's larger vision of generation and life. Irwin is a true scholar of Faulkner, well read in Freud, tragedy, and of course William Faulkner. I have not seen a better portrayal of the problem of revenge against time and Oedipal fury in any other book. Elements of Nietzsche are coupled with Freud-- Irwin is well aware of the connections between these two-- and the connections between fate and the psyche's imprisonment in endless repetitive frustrations are very well developed. I hate to use the cliche "a must read", so I'll say that Faulkner readers who need a little something extra -- not pedantic, nor too academic, but informative-- will want to read this one.

0 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars for literature reading, November 25, 1999

By 

derik (Taiwan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doubling and Incest / Repetition and Revenge: A Speculative Reading of Faulkner (Paperback)

repetition and revenge:a speculative reading of faulkne