The Sound and the Fury (Norton Critical Editions) [Paperback]

William Faulkner (Author), David Minter (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393964817 | ISBN-13: 978-0393964813 | Publication Date: December 17, 1993 | Edition: 2nd

The text of this Norton Critical Edition is that of the corrected edition scrupulously prepared by Noel Polk, whose textual note precedes the text. David Minter’s annotations are designed to assist the reader with obscure words and allusions.

"Backgrounds" begins with the appendix Faulkner wrote in 1945 and sometimes referred to as another telling of The Sound and the Fury and includes a selection of Faulkner’s letters, excerpts from two Faulkner interviews, a memoir by Faulknerís friend Ben Wasson, and both versions of Faulkner's 1933 introduction to the novel. "Cultural and Historical Contexts" presents four different perspectives on the place of the American South in history. Taken together, these works—by C. Vann Woodward, Richard H. King, Carolyn Porter, and Robert Penn Warren—provide the reader with valuable contexts for understanding the novel. "Criticism" includes seventeen essays on The Sound and the Fury that collectively trace changes in the way we have viewed this novel over the last four decades. The critics are Jean-Paul Sartre, Irving Howe, Ralph Ellison, Olga W. Vickery, Cleanth Brooks, Michael Millgate, John T. Irwin, Myra Jehlen, Donald M. Kartiganer, David Minter, Warwick Wadlington, John T. Matthews, Thadious M. Davis, Wesley Morris and Barbara Alverson Morris, Minrose C. Gwin, André Bleikasten, and Philip M. Weinstein. A revised Selected Bibliography is also included.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Faulkner (1897–1962) is the Nobel Prize–winning author of The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying, among other works.

David Minter is Libby Shearn Moody Professor of English at Rice University. He is co-editor of The Harper American Literature and The Columbia Literary History of the United States. He is author of Heirs of Changing Promise: A Cultural History of the American Novel, 1890–1940; William Faulkner: His Life and Work; and The Interpreted Design.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 2nd edition (December 17, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393964817
• ISBN-13: 978-0393964813
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,614 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Collections & Readers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Famous for more than just one reason, August 30, 2003

By 

Faulknernut "Faulknernut" (atlanta, georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sound and the Fury (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

In case you are one of the unlucky few that has not read THE SOUND AND THE FURY, let me tell you that you are missing one of literature's most prized works. As an English major, I have come across many "famous" novels that left me wondering what the author had to do (wink, wink) to get his/her novel well known. However, this novel is definitely not one of those.

In short, Faulkner's novel is about the Compson family, composed of a mentally disabled son (Benjy) , a sexual daughter (Caddy) and granddaughter (Quentin), a suicidal son (Quentin-yes, 2 Quentins!), an uncaring and greedy son (Jason) , a drunken father, a nutty mother, and a caring servant (Dilsey) and her family. The book itself is divided into four sections-one written by Benjy, one written by Quentin (the son), one by Jason, and one by Dilsey. Faulkner incorporates a HUGE amount of symbolism in this novel (something I love). However, what makes this novel famous are Faulkner's writing techniques. The first section by Benjy is pretty darn confusing, for Benjy is mentally retarded. Benjy's thoughts cover many time lengths and flash back and forth between times without any notice or any indication. The reader must figure out when something occurs. Often, only one paragraph may take place in time A, then it will switch to time B for a page, time C for a sentence, time B for 3 pages, and so on. Mostly what triggers these time changes are words. For example, Benjy is outside and hears a golfer call to his caddie (this occurs in time A). The word "caddie" triggers a thought about Caddy, his sister, and he thinks about a time in time G when somebody called out "Caddy" and so on. It sounds pretty confusing; that's because it is. Quentin's section is composed of stream-of-consciousness, something Faulkner is famous for using. Here, you are given Quentin's thoughts only. It's pretty intense to read. The last two sections are written more normally.

This book is pretty hard, I will admit. I wouldn't read it as my first Faulkner. I'd try AS I LAY DYING or SANCTUARY. I suggest getting a buddy to read it, too, so you can sort things out together or (if you must....) pick up the Cliffs Notes on it. However, don't not read this novel just because it's tough. I assure you that this book is filled with so much character depth and fascinating storyline that you won't be sorry. : )

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Book is better than the Novel, August 23, 1998

By 

Landsend Larry (East Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sound and the Fury (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

I wanted to read the novel for two reasons: first, it was ranked No.6 in the "100 Best Books" list recently published by Random House; and second because, like Faulkner who was raised in Mississippi in the first quarter of this century, I was raised there in the second quarter, and was anxious to know how Faulkner treated with the condition of the rural South, specifically Mississippi and its people.

I found the book rewarding. The troubles of Faulkner's central characters could have applied to people anywhere , which lends to the novel the universality of a true literary work. And his treatment of the black heroine Dilsey, who remained faithful both to her own beliefs and to her decadent white employers should conjure up real nostalgia for many natives of the Old South.

Faulkner's text of The Sound and the Fury occupies less than half the pages in the book. The remainder includes Backgrounds, Appendices, Cultural and Historical Contexts, and Criticism of both Faulkner and the novel. The novel as it was originally published in 1929, without benefit of these addendum, would no doubt have lost most readers because of the disjointed and incoherent technique Faulkner used in writing the first two of the four sections of the novel.

Faulkner's Appendix, published sixteen years after the original novel, and included in this edition, sheds a great deal of light on an otherwise dark text, and if read first would enable a reader to understand at least something the first time around. Faulkner himself noted that "I should have done this(the Appendix) when I wrote the book", and recommended that it appear first in the 1946 edition. I hope it did.

Without the explanatory addendum in this edition, I wouldn't have known what Faulkner was talking about most of the time. Thanks to editor David Minter for making Faulkner's work more understandable; but I disagree with Minter when he suggests that "...the place to begin is with the novel itself..."; I recommend beginning with Faulkner's Appendix. That way you may not have to read the novel two or three times to grasp some of its meaning.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars complex, difficult-- but life-changing, March 15, 2002

By 

Kimberly Wells (Shreveport, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sound and the Fury (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

This book is confusing and difficult to read at first. You have to ride it like you would a "rapid river"-- just hang on, get what you can, and go back a second or third time. It might be helpful to read the background information AFTER you've read the story at least once.

Now, does this sound like too much work? Well, it isn't. Once you've done the reading, you'll realize that there is real genius at work in this text. The prose is strongly crafted, and the story that Faulkner relates is one that cannot be forgotten. You will want to read the rest of the Compton's stories-- Absalom! Absalom! is one, and you'll never think of those big gorgeous moss covered southern mansions the same way again.