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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Gateway to Faulkner, July 5, 2000
This book, in my opinion, is the best introduction to Faulkner possible where the reader has a chance to become accustomed to the sentence structure (to some extent: the longest sentence in The Unvanquished doesn't seem to run for even a page, making this quite simplistic by Faulknerian standards) without having to worry about an overly confused plot. Although there are parts where the reader will have to back up and read a passage over, it is far more straightforward than others of Faulkner's works.This story chronicles the growth of Bayard Sartoris from the child who thinks war is a game (even though it isn't all that far from him) and can't imagine the consequences when he plays his games a little too close to the Yankees (Ambuscade) into a man who, when faced with the tragedy of his father's demise, must make this decision: who lives by the sword shall die by it--is it time to change the Southern tradition of bloodshed? It is also the story of the South as it undergoes its most severe upheaval in its history: the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the effect on its people. In my opinion, the best way to get acquainted with Faulkner is to begin with The Unvanquished. Once you're done with that, I suggest Intruder in the Dust. Be warned, though, that the latter isn't nearly as simple as The Unvanquished and there is a sentence that (if I recall correctly) runs for five or six pages (or more, but I'm not entirely sure). The good thing, at least, is that you can get used to the confusing syntax while the plot is still reasonably clear: what is clearer than a murder mystery and story of racial injustice (which, as the reader will gather from The Unvanquished, is one of the themes with which Faulkner is concerned in almost all his works)? Once you are used to seeing things from a somewhat blurred perspective (and to dealing with that syntax and stream-of-consciousness technique), I suggest moving on to Go Down, Moses (but you REALLY need to look at a McCaslin genealogy first, and to do this you should go to William Faulkner On the Web), and the stories in this book range from fairly simple to truly confusing (The Bear: it is in this story where you will be very glad you read Intruder In the Dust first!). And finally, you're ready for The Sound and the Fury (all of this, of course, is my own opinion about Faulkner; the reader may tackle these books in any order which he or she chooses: BUT DEFINITELY START WITH THE UNVANQUISHED!)
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Faulkner's Fascinating and Courageous Characters, February 28, 2005
If you haven't read any of Faulkner's works, this is a good place to begin. The Sartoris family lives through Faulkner's books. The plot centers on the familiy's personal experiences in the South during the Civil War. History comes alive on the pages of The Unvanquished, and the reader gains a better understanding of the Confederate viewpoint by witnessing the southern struggle to survive the destruction of their homes, families, and way of life. I heartily recommend this book.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sartoris Redux, May 15, 2006
Although published in 1938, the initial appearance of this novel can be traced to September 1934. Pressed for cash, Faullkner sent off the first of a series of short stories, dealing with the adolescent adventures of two boys during the Civil War, to the Saturday Evening Post and Scribners Magazine. The idea of collecting these stories into a "novel" was first proposed to his publisher in late 1936 although it is obvious that Faulklner was interested in a quick sale rather than in the creation of another serious work of literature. He did not put a lot of work into the revision and editing of these stories for the novel and consequently the "chapters" of the novel are pretty much identical to the stories that appeared in the two magazines from 1934-36. Interestingly, he was not able to sale the most powerful of the stories, An Odor of Verbena, to the magazines and thus this "chapter" represents the only unique part of the novel. (For those readers who are interested in the original form of the stories that make up this novel, they can be found in The Uncollected Stories of William Faulkner).
Faulkner had already written of the Sartoris family in an earlier novel, Flags in the Dust, but he set that novel during the era of post-World War I disillusionment and in it dealt with the descendants of Bayard - one of the two boys of The Unvanquised - and the condition of the South some sixty years after the Civil War. It is by far the superior work. Perhaps because The Unvanquished was serialized over a period of two years and went through scant editing for re-publication, it is much too episodic and fairly soaks in sentimentality, incongruity, and disbelief - all key ingredients for stories published in the mass circulated periodicals of the day such as the Saturday Evening Post. If the Yankees of the novel were as stupid as Ringo and Granny Rosa made them out to be, we (I guess my Southern upbringing is showing through) would have been marching on the White House in the summer of 1862.
But with even the weakest Faulkner novel there are places in which his brilliance shows through. The description of the flow of recently freed slaves - having no concept of what freedom represented - following the retreating Union army is mesmerizing and the characterization of Ringo and Granny Rosa is among his best. Ringo is elevated from the stereotyped pickaninny, whose sole purpose was to serve and entertain his masters, to an intelligent and cunning boy who is not only the intellectual superior of his white playmate and master, Bayard, but is equal to Granny Rosa in her business dealings with the Yankees. The scene in the church where Ringo is forced to sit in the balcony with his fellow slaves although holding the ledger that could save or destroy the lives of his white "superiors" is brilliant and the irony is not lost even on the most casual reader. By the end of last story, "An Odor of Verbena," it appears that Bayard has made a significant movement away from the nebulous but clinging heritage of the South with all its manifestations of honor and codes of chivalry, to a more aware state of mind. However, to readers of Flags in the Dust, set in the 1920s, this same Bayard is shown as an old man unable to sever himself from the traditions of the Old South, and still rides to town in a horse drawn carriage driven by his family's old slave, Simon.
Many reviewers have suggested that this novel is the place to begin for readers new to Faulkner. It is most decidedly not. Start with Light in August, Sanctuary, or even Flags in the Dust - all three very approachable and far superior to The Unvanquished.
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