A Fable [Hardcover]

William Faulkner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 1954

An allegorical story of World War I set in the trenches in France and dealing ostensibly with a mutiny in a French regiment.


From the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

An allegorical story of World War I set in the trenches in France and dealing ostensibly with a mutiny in a French regiment.


From the Paperback edition.

About the Author

William Faulkner (1897-1962) was an American novelist and short-story writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1949. He is recognized as one of the greatest American writers. His masterpieces include The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Sanctuary, Light in August, The Hamlet, and The Reivers. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House (August 12, 1954)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039442400X
• ISBN-13: 978-0394424002
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,051,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the patient, a treasure, June 3, 2001

By 

Michael Zalanka - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fable (Paperback)

I must agree that, at times, the experience of reading _A Fable_ is much like feeling one's way through a very dark tunnel. However, there is indeed a light at the end of that tunnel; as with many of Faulkner's works, the individual stories that make up the novel dont come together until the last hundred or so pages. It takes a very patient reader to glean the important details from the beginning and middle of the novel, and to remember those details when they emerge again later in the book. One must also be fairly well-acquainted with Christ's passion in order for a true understanding of the correlation to reveal itself (which, in many places, it didn't for me). Contrary to the book's selling-points, Faulkner is not merely retyping the Christ story in _A Fable_. He's updating a myth (or "fable," if you will), and using his narration to describe humanity's condition in mid-century (cf. many paragraphs w/ 1950 Nobel Prize speech). This is a long, tedious, and fanatically detailled narrative, but a great novel that pays off with a terrific closing 50 pages for the patient reader. Both the new and the acquainted should be prepared for Faulkner at his most brilliant and difficult.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A forgotten classic of Faulkner, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Fable (Paperback)

It seems every modernist attempted to write a great work concerning the great war (except fitzgerald, who didnt get to go himself). Faulkner's attempt may be second only to Hemingway's "A Farwell to Arms." "A Fable" is classic, which won the pulitzer prize,has long been overlooked simply because it represents a change from Faulkner'susual subject matter. In reality though, it may be his second greatest work behind "the sound and the fury." THis work is a brillian anti-war novel that looks at wars affects both on soldiers and civilians, and even on religion. A must read for any fan of Faulkner or modernism.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is much better than the reviews suggest., December 25, 2006

By 

R. Bowron (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Fable (Hardcover)

I am not entirely sure why this book recieved some of the lousy reviews it did. This book is brilliant, it requires more from the reader than passive reading, so if you are looking for a story you don't have to think about look elsewhere. Anyone familiar with post-Great War literature will find this book to be par for the course. Dos Passos's "Three Soldiers", comes easily to mind. Don't pay attention to the other reviews, this book won awards for a good reason. If you read the book and find yourself frustrated go back and reread sections. Literature is not always meant to be read in a passive state. This book requires active reading and should not be taken lightly. This book does carry a message about the horrors of war, but also our own individual responsibilty in allowing those horrors to go forward.