Customer Reviews

Selected Short Stories (Modern Library)

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Faulkner scares readers. Before I read, re-read and loved "Light in August," I had tried books like "Absalom, Absalom" and "The Sound and The Fury" countless times only to get bogged down in the convoluted grammar and personal symbolism as well as the dialogue. For some reason, when I was ready to really read and concentrate, it was certainly not easy, but it was a great, distinct pleasure....one that has stayed with me. Faulkner is, as novelist and essayist Ralph Ellison calls him, "...the greatest artist the South has produced."

This Modern Library compilation of some of Faulkner's short stories is a perfect place to start to read this author, or to keep returning for his keen insights into the heart and nature of the Southerners he created from the Southerners he knew. There are thirteen stories here and they include one of Faulkner's most famous, "A Rose For Emily" a tale of great love and, perhaps, necrophilia. My personal favorite, depressingly sad though it is, is "Dry September" which tells of the extreme violence not only of small town whites to blacks but of whites to whites. Every one of these superb stories is a gem, masterfully written. Most were intended for magazines and so are much more straight forward and "simple" than the novels.

My only complaint and it is with Modern Library, is that, except in two cases, we are not told when Faulkner wrote the stories nor when they were published. Even so, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Since reading "A Rose for Emily" as a boy, I have been hooked on Faulkner. I kept a worn out copy on hand to show to my teachers who accused me of using run-on sentences (some of his sentences took an entire page.) He is a true master and when I feel homesick, after being too long in some foreign country, I read a Faulkner story and remember the South where I grew up.

"The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past." --W. Faulkner

"Faulkner is the greatest artist the South has produced."
--Ralph Ellison

Just as most athletes excel in one particular event, so many writers find their greatest work in one genre , primarily. Faulkner is an impressive storyteller but the work he is most remembered for is his long- distance works, his novels, "The Sound and the Fury" " Light in August" "Absalom, Absalom" among others.
The stories here nonetheless provide a real sense of Faulkner as a writer. The unmistakeable Faulkner style with its complex and Latinate sentences , its cumulative enveloping rhythm, its penetration of the inner lives of its characters, in grotesque and often extreme relationships, including those in which there is often real violence, is here in these stories.
Among the stories in this collection are "A Rose for Emily" " Dry September" "That Evening Sun" "Lo" "Red Leaves".
Turnabout" .
I would say to truly know Faulkner at his best and fullest it is necessary to read the novels. But the stories too give the feeling and flavor of this great American master's work.

This is a great collection for someone who hasn't read much Faulkner. Everyone needs to have at least read "A Rose For Emily" and "Red Leaves."

This is a great set of classics that I intend to read again. It is from this prolific novelist that we have a countering view that the American good ol' days of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in the South, were actually not so desirable after all.

It is by reflecting upon this perspective that I found "A Rose for Emily", "Barn Burning" and "Dry September" to be the most memorable stories. These particular three had a sequence of developments that focused and reflected upon ugly truths that were hidden behind public veneers of "Southern niceties". In essence, the outcomes were essentially America's fictional and somewhat factual answer to the rampant pornography throughout England during what was regarded as the pristine Victorian Era.

Also, Faulkner had an uncanny way of depicting how societies with unwritten rules of proper mannerisms would be unraveled thanks to a bullying, uncouth citizen or family. His writing style was that of using actions and events that set the transition from what each person was like at the surface to what he or she was really like all along and how those around him or her would be affected in the aftermath.

If you are interested in stories about how a person, individually, might have either gotten along or contrasted with the norms and tones of an immediate culture, especially in rural America, Faulkner is the ideal author. And again, this is an excellent collection for those who want to start reading Faulkner. A slight word of warning: some of you might find it shocking that there were troubles and prejudices that set parts of America on edge, especially if most of your exposure to U.S. History has been largely sanitized.

As a recommendation, if you enjoy the stories but find some of the terms unfamiliar or the endings ambiguous, I suggest purchasing William Faulkner A to Z as a reading companion.

I have been reading Faulkner since I attended late High school. That was about the time I started experiencing life's disapointments, loneliness and heartache. Before that time I was just a school girl untouched by betrayal,and soul degradation. People should read Faulkner when their lives have been through turmoil-then one can understand his characters. The first story I read was a "A Rose for Miss Emily". It was one of the most shocking accounts of a woman who was desperately lonely and as a result, engages in necrophilia to stop the emptiness inside of her. But I suppose a dead man is better than no man and thru the years, laying with that dead body or whats left of it, I dont think Miss Emily knew the difference.

Sad and depressing as his stories are. Faulkner digs deep into the dark psyche of his characters. Lets face it, we all can relate to Faulkner's characters but we dont want to admitt that we do. Faulkner scares us but one thing I can say about Faulkner, he understands the human condition and he writes about it in an elegant prose. His writing reminds me of placing a beautiful piece of lace over a hideous and disturbed entity.

I will continue to read Faulkner only because his stories force me to look at myself a little more closley and as a result, I am better for it.

Faulkner is one of Americas best, if not our best, story writes ever. This short, but sweet, book contains some of his finest short stories. Well worth the cost for anyone who loves southern gothic stories. Classic American stories, in a very nicely made book.

Finally! Faulkner I can appreciate. I especially enjoyed "Turnabout" and "A Rose for Emily", but all were generally readable and covered a wide variety of areas and subject matter. I find his work an acquired taste (and I suppose I haven't acquired it yet) but this book was accessible and interesting.

The book arrived in just a few days and was in excellent condition. I was extremely pleased with the seller's promptness and book quality. Thank you!