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The Sound and the Fury: The Corrected Text with Faulkner's Appendix (Modern Library 100 Best Novels) Hardcover – September 5, 1992

by William Faulkner (Author), Marilynne Robinson (Foreword)

4.2 2,580 ratings

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Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time • One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years

From the Modern Library’s new set of beautifully repackaged hardcover classics by William Faulkner—also available are Snopes, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, Absalom, Absalom!, and Selected Short Stories

The Sound and the Fury, first published in 1929, is perhaps William Faulkner’s greatest book. It was immediately praised for its innovative narrative technique, and comparisons were made with Joyce and Dostoyevsky, but it did not receive popular acclaim until the late forties, shortly before Faulkner received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The novel reveals the story of the disintegration of the Compson family, doomed inhabitants of Faulkner’s mythical Yoknapatawpha County, through the interior monologues of the idiot Benjy and his brothers, Quentin and Jason. Featuring a new Foreword by Marilynne Robinson, this edition follows the text corrected in 1984 by Faulkner expert Noel Polk and corresponds as closely as possible to the author’s original intentions. Included also is the Appendix that Faulkner wrote for The Portable Faulkner in 1946, which he called the “key to the whole book.”

Print length

368 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Modern Library
Publication date

September 5, 1992
Dimensions

5.56 x 1.03 x 8.29 inches
ISBN-10

0679600175
ISBN-13

978-0679600176
Lexile measure

800L
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“I am in awe of Faulkner’s Benjy, James’s Maisie, Flaubert’s Emma, Melville’s Pip, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein—each of us can extend the list.... I am interested in what prompts and makes possible this process of entering what one is estranged from.” —Toni Morrison

“No man ever put more of his heart and soul into the written word than did William Faulkner. If you want to know all you can about that heart and soul, the fiction where he put it is still right there.” —Eudora Welty

From the Inside Flap

hed in 1929, Faulkner created his "heart's darling," the beautiful and tragic Caddy Compson, whose story Faulkner told through separate monologues by her three brothers--the idiot Benjy, the neurotic suicidal Quentin and the monstrous Jason.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

The novel reveals the story of the disintegration of the Compson family, doomed inhabitants of Faulkner's mythical Yoknapatawpha County, through the interior monologues of the idiot Benjy and his brothers, Quentin and Jason.

About the Author

WILLIAM FAULKNER was born in New Albany, Mississippi, on September 25, 1897. He published his first book, The Marble Faun (a collection of poems), in 1924, and his first novel, Soldier's Pay, in 1926. In 1949, having written such works as Absalom, Absalom!, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He also received the Pulitzer Prize for two other novels, A Fable (1954) and The Reivers (1962). From 1957 to 1958 he was Writer-in-Residence at the University of Virginia. He died on July 6, 1962, in Byhalia, Mississippi.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

April Seventh, 1928.

Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting. They were coming toward where the flag was and I went along the fence. Luster was hunting in the grass by the flower tree. They took the flag out, and they were hitting. Then they put the flag back and they went to the table, and he hit and the other hit. Then they went on, and I went along the fence. Luster came away from the flower tree and we went along the fence and they stopped and we stopped and I looked through the fence while Luster was hunting in the grass.

"Here, caddie." He hit. They went away across the pasture. I held to the fence and watched them going away.

"Listen at you, now." Luster said. "Aint you something, thirty three years old, going on that way. After I done went all the way to town to buy you that cake. Hush up that moaning. Aint you going to help me find that quarter so I can go to the show tonight."

They were hitting little, across the pasture. I went back along the fence to where the flag was. It flapped on the bright grass and the trees.

"Come on." Luster said. "We done looked there. They aint no more coming right now. Les go down to the branch and find that quarter before them niggers finds it."

It was red, flapping on the pasture. Then there was a bird slanting and tilting on it. Luster threw. The flag flapped on the bright grass and the trees. I held to the fence.

"Shut up that moaning." Luster said. "I cant make them come if they aint coming, can I. If you dont hush up, mammy aint going to have no birthday for you. If you dont hush, you know what I going to do. I going to eat that cake all up. Eat them candles, too. Eat all them thirty three candles. Come on, les go down to the branch. I got to find my quarter. Maybe we can find one of they balls. Here. Here they is. Way over yonder. See." He came to the fence and pointed his arm. "See them. They aint coming back here no more. Come on."

We went along the fence and came to the garden fence, where our shadows were. My shadow was higher than Luster's on the fence. We came to the broken place and went through it.

"Wait a minute." Luster said. "You snagged on that nail again. Cant you never crawl through here without snagging on that nail."

Caddy uncaught me and we crawled through. Uncle Maury said to not let anybody see us, so we better stoop over, Caddy said. Stoop over, Benjy. Like this, see. We stooped over and crossed the garden, where the flowers rasped and rattled against us. The ground was hard. We climbed the fence, where the pigs were grunting and snuffing. I expect they're sorry because one of them got killed today, Caddy said. The ground was hard, churned and knotted.

Keep your hands in your pockets, Caddy said. Or they'll get froze. You dont want your hands froze on Christmas, do you.

"It's too cold out there." Versh said. "You dont want to go out doors."

"What is it now." Mother said.

"He want to go out doors." Versh said.

"Let him go." Uncle Maury said.

"It's too cold." Mother said. "He'd better stay in. Benjamin. Stop that, now."

"It wont hurt him." Uncle Maury said.

"You, Benjamin." Mother said. "If you dont be good, you'll have to go to the kitchen."

"Mammy say keep him out the kitchen today." Versh said. "She say she got all that cooking to get done."

"Let him go, Caroline." Uncle Maury said. "You'll worry yourself sick over him."

"I know it." Mother said. "It's a judgment on me. I sometimes wonder."

"I know, I know." Uncle Maury said. "You must keep your strength up. I'll make you a toddy."

"It just upsets me that much more." Mother said. "Dont you know it does."

"You'll feel better." Uncle Maury said. "Wrap him up good, boy, and take him out for a while."

Uncle Maury went away. Versh went away.

"Please hush." Mother said. "We're trying to get you out as fast as we can. I dont want you to get sick."

Versh put my overshoes and overcoat on and we took my cap and went out. Uncle Maury was putting the bottle away in the sideboard in the diningroom.

"Keep him out about half an hour, boy." Uncle Maury said. "Keep him in the yard, now."

"Yes, sir." Versh said. "We dont never let him get off the place."

We went out doors. The sun was cold and bright.

"Where you heading for." Versh said. "You dont think you going to town, does you." We went through the rattling leaves. The gate was cold. "You better keep them hands in your pockets." Versh said. "You get them froze onto that gate, then what you do. Whyn't you wait for them in the house." He put my hands into my pockets. I could hear him rattling in the leaves. I could smell the cold. The gate was cold.

"Here some hickeynuts. Whooey. Git up that tree. Look here at this squirl, Benjy."

I couldn't feel the gate at all, but I could smell the bright cold.

"You better put them hands back in your pockets."

Caddy was walking. Then she was running, her book-satchel swinging and jouncing behind her.

"Hello, Benjy." Caddy said. She opened the gate and came in and stooped down. Caddy smelled like leaves. "Did you come to meet me." she said. "Did you come to meet Caddy. What did you let him get his hands so cold for, Versh."

"I told him to keep them in his pockets." Versh said. "Holding on to that ahun gate."

"Did you come to meet Caddy," she said, rubbing my hands. "What is it. What are you trying to tell Caddy." Caddy smelled like trees and like when she says we were asleep.

What are you moaning about, Luster said. You can watch them again when we get to the branch. Here. Here's you a jimson weed. He gave me the flower. We went through the fence, into the lot.

"What is it." Caddy said. "What are you trying to tell Caddy. Did they send him out, Versh."

"Couldn't keep him in." Versh said. "He kept on until they let him go and he come right straight down here, looking through the gate."

"What is it." Caddy said. "Did you think it would be Christmas when I came home from school. Is that what you thought. Christmas is the day after tomorrow. Santy Claus, Benjy. Santy Claus. Come on, let's run to the house and get warm." She took my hand and we ran through the bright rustling leaves. We ran up the steps and out of the bright cold, into the dark cold. Uncle Maury was putting the bottle back in the sideboard. He called Caddy. Caddy said,

"Take him in to the fire, Versh. Go with Versh." she said. "I'll come in a minute."

We went to the fire. Mother said,

"Is he cold, Versh."

"Nome." Versh said.

"Take his overcoat and overshoes off." Mother said. "How many times do I have to tell you not to bring him into the house with his overshoes on."

"Yessum." Versh said. "Hold still, now." He took my overshoes off and unbuttoned my coat. Caddy said,

"Wait, Versh. Cant he go out again, Mother. I want him to go with me."

"You'd better leave him here." Uncle Maury said. "He's been out enough today."

"I think you'd both better stay in." Mother said. "It's getting colder, Dilsey says."

"Oh, Mother." Caddy said.

"Nonsense." Uncle Maury said. "She's been in school all day. She needs the fresh air. Run along, Candace."

"Let him go, Mother." Caddy said. "Please. You know he'll cry."

"Then why did you mention it before him." Mother said. "Why did you come in here. To give him some excuse to worry me again. You've been out enough today. I think you'd better sit down here and play with him."

"Let them go, Caroline." Uncle Maury said. "A little cold wont hurt them. Remember, you've got to keep your strength up."

"I know." Mother said. "Nobody knows how I dread Christmas. Nobody knows. I am not one of those women who can stand things. I wish for Jason's and the children's sakes I was stronger."

"You must do the best you can and not let them worry you." Uncle Maury said. "Run along, you two. But dont stay out long, now. Your mother will worry."

"Yes, sir." Caddy said. "Come on, Benjy. We're going out doors again." She buttoned my coat and we went toward the door.

"Are you going to take that baby out without his overshoes." Mother said. "Do you want to make him sick, with the house full of company."

"I forgot." Caddy said. "I thought he had them on."

We went back. "You must think." Mother said. Hold still now Versh said. He put my overshoes on. "Someday I'll be gone, and you'll have to think for him." Now stomp Versh said. "Come here and kiss Mother, Benjamin."

Caddy took me to Mother's chair and Mother took my face in her hands and then she held me against her.

"My poor baby." she said. She let me go. "You and Versh take good care of him, honey."

"Yessum." Caddy said. We went out. Caddy said,

"You needn't go, Versh. I'll keep him for a while."

"All right." Versh said. "I aint going out in that cold for no fun." He went on and we stopped in the hall and Caddy knelt and put her arms around me and her cold bright face against mine. She smelled like trees.

"You're not a poor baby. Are you. Are you. You've got your Caddy. Haven't you got your Caddy."

Cant you shut up that moaning and slobbering, Luster said. Aint you shamed of yourself, making all this racket. We passed the carriage house, where the carriage was. It had a new wheel.

"Git in, now, and set still until your maw come." Dilsey said. She shoved me into the carriage. T. P. held the reins. "Clare I dont see how come Jason wont get a new surrey." Dilsey said. "This thing going to fall to pieces under you all some day. Look at them wheels."

Mother came out, pulling her veil down. She had some flowers.

"Where's Roskus." she said.

"Roskus cant lift his arms, today." Dilsey said. "T. P. can drive all right."

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Modern Library (September 5, 1992)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0679600175
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0679600176
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 800L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.56 x 1.03 x 8.29 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #109,756 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,793 in Family Saga Fiction
- #3,482 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #7,431 in Literary Fiction (Books)

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William Faulkner
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Born in 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi, William Faulkner was the son of a family proud of their prominent role in the history of the south. He grew up in Oxford, Mississippi, and left high school at fifteen to work in his grandfather's bank.
Rejected by the US military in 1915, he joined the Canadian flyers with the RAF, but was still in training when the war ended. Returning home, he studied at the University of Mississippi and visited Europe briefly in 1925.
His first poem was published in The New Republic in 1919. His first book of verse and early novels followed, but his major work began with the publication of The Sound and the Fury in 1929. As I Lay Dying (1930), Sanctuary (1931), Light in August (1932), Absalom, Absalom! (1936) and The Wild Palms (1939) are the key works of his great creative period leading up to Intruder in the Dust (1948). During the 1930s, he worked in Hollywood on film scripts, notably The Blue Lamp, co-written with Raymond Chandler.
William Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 and the Pulitzer Prize for The Reivers just before his death in July 1962.
Photo by Carl Van Vechten [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
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Noel Polk
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Elsa Dixler
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Kenneth L. Privratsky
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Customers find the book masterful, brilliant, and a great classic. Opinions are mixed on readability, story quality, and character development. Some find the story fascinating and poignant, while others say it's depressing and hard to follow at times.

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84 customers mention "Value for money"73 positive11 negative

Customers find the book masterful, brilliant, and a must-read for anyone serious about great literature. They say it's profound, rewarding, and worth the challenge.

"...It's truly a masterpiece." Read more

"...but I think if you put in the effort that you will find it to be very rewarding...." Read more

"...I gave it four stars because it is an excellent book, just prepare yourself before hand on the writing style which is very unique." Read more

"This is among the greatest, most mentally challenging, emotionally arresting novel I have ever read...." Read more

10 customers mention "Pacing"7 positive3 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book striking, complex, and challenging. They also say the insights are striking and told in multiple points of view.

"...reader will still not know what is going on, but there are many interesting subtle clues about what might be going on that a very alert reader might..." Read more

"...Yet, the insights are striking. What we need now are brilliant pieces in literature that shed the same sort of light on modern times...." Read more

"...It lacks the wholeness that makes Gatsby so wonderful...." Read more

"...Thickly written, multiple points of view, at times hard to follow." Read more

125 customers mention "Readability"38 positive87 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the readability of the book. Some mention it's well-written, remarkable for its style and language, and the author constructs each section masterfully. However, others say it's not an easy read, the sentences are disjunctive, and hard to figure out.

"...I realize that this novel is not necessarily easy to read with the stream of consciousness style, but I think if you put in the effort that you will..." Read more

"...But his writing, when he's writing linear passages...the language is beautiful, sensual and heartbreaking...." Read more

"...excellent book, just prepare yourself before hand on the writing style which is very unique." Read more

"...Perhaps this is the way the mind works, but it is tiresome to struggle through...." Read more

40 customers mention "Story quality"23 positive17 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the story quality. Some find it fascinating and brilliant, while others say it's depressing and hard to follow at times.

"...Gratefully, there was enough linear narration that I grasped what was going on, and when reading it I employed an old high school trick: when I..." Read more

"...Benjy's narrative is difficult to be sure, but when the book is said and done, his is arugably the most memorable..." Read more

"...to read it multiple times to fully understand it, but it was so extremely lyrical as if it were poetry...." Read more

"...members of the Compson family—the good and faithful servant, compassionate, not sentimental, a woman who preserves her dignity despite the vicious..." Read more

14 customers mention "Character development"6 positive8 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the character development in the book. Some mention it's compelling, while others say it makes the characters pointless and hard to figure out.

"...were disjunctive, the thoughts scrambled, the characters were dropping in then disappearing, it seemed to change time frames without any..." Read more

"...is that events and characters are presented with almost absolute objectivity...." Read more

"...the ability to actually pull it off, instead just making the characters almost pointlessly odd and hard to figure out...." Read more

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Leah Kane

"Genius" is an over-used term...but not as applied to Faulkner. Amazing.

Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2010

Verified Purchase

The Sound and the Fury has been sitting on my bookshelf for some months now. I've always wanted to dip my toe into the pool of Faulkner, but have been intimidated by the unilateral criticisms that he's difficult to follow...that's an understatement; he's incredibly challenging. But his writing, when he's writing linear passages...the language is beautiful, sensual and heartbreaking. And even when he's throwing irregular timeframes around...the payoff is worth the initial confusion.

I agree with other reviewers that it helps to equip yourself with a 'cast of characters' for Sound and the Fury. I read every page of Benjy's section THREE TIMES (which, I've never done before) in order to grip fully what was happening. I also referred to Sparknotes (highly recommend) in-between re-readings for some insight into what I might've missed. Once you have the 'key' to unlocking the working of Benjy's mind, it is so much easier to follow.

The genius of the Benjy chapter, and why I believe Faulkner chose to lead with it (risking alienating many readers...which only makes him more of a literary giant in my book) is that events and characters are presented with almost absolute objectivity. Seeds are planted and cultivated in later chapters, but the foundation of the story is fairly well cemented. But also, because Benjy's general understanding of everything is so limited, there are plenty of surprises to come when other narrators allude to the same events and people. This detached glimpse into the life of the family over these decades makes it possible to feel more deeply about them later on.

The second chapter (Quentin) is the more confusing of the two, I believe, because of the heavy use of stream-of-consciousness. I'm not a fan of that device, with any writer. Gratefully, there was enough linear narration that I grasped what was going on, and when reading it I employed an old high school trick: when I come across passages in Shakespeare that I'm not understanding, I read through them quickly, refusing to dwell on the words, and usually come away with an understanding at least of the action. If that sounds pedestrian, well, maybe it is, but it works! (And liberates me to appreciate other passages of lyrical beauty which I CAN understand, not to mention the work as a whole).

The final two chapters are far more approachable, and I found Jason's character to be deliciously villainous and tragic.

What touched me most about Faulkner is his talent for understanding the workings of the human psyche. How on earth he was able to craft a fully credible, sympathetic character in Benjy (as opposed to a one-dimensional idiot) I'll never understand. His treatment of the black characters in the book, based on their speech patterns alone and heavy use of the "N" word could easily have thrown their characters into Uncle Tom territory. Instead, he treats them with respect, allowing some to be dignified and noble (Dilsey) and others simple and flawed (Luster), just as he does with the white characters (the juxtaposition between Caddy's empathy and her mother's narcissism...amazing).

There are some who believe a book should stand alone on its merits without the need for companion materials in order to understand it. For me, if having some "help" with a book empowers me to squeeze out the most juice, to come away from it with a richer understanding of its themes and appreciation for its complexity and beauty, I am all for it.

I probably won't be jumping headlong into "The Bear" anytime soon, because this was an intellectually exhausting read! But someday I'll return to Faulkner, because he's written what is now one of my favorite books of all time. It's truly a masterpiece.

14 people found this helpful

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James B. Murphy

Faulkner: The Epitome of Southern Gothic

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2024

Verified Purchase

I first read this novel over 50 years ago when I was in college, and I became an immediate fan of William Faulkner. And
yes, I had to read it multiple times to fully understand it, but it was so extremely lyrical as if it were poetry. And I have read every single book by Faulkner including his novels and his short stories.
I realize that this novel is not necessarily easy to read with the stream of consciousness style, but I think if you put in the effort that you will find it to be very rewarding.
This novel and the novel by Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn are my two favorite works of American literature.

3 people found this helpful

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Mark T

Can be confusing

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2024

Verified Purchase

The Sound and the Fury is hailed as an American Classic. I’m no judge on which books are deemed a Classic and which ones aren’t ….but, I was thoroughly confused when I began reading it and in my humble opinion, it’s not a Classic. Lucky, in this day of computers, I was able to search and find out what the hell Faulkner was talking about. I gave it four stars because it is an excellent book, just prepare yourself before hand on the writing style which is very unique.

One person found this helpful

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Oeneophile

Poignant, Provocative, and Haunting

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2011

Verified Purchase

This is among the greatest, most mentally challenging, emotionally arresting novel I have ever read. If you want a novel to shatter your concept of the limits of literature and thus transform the way you read, look no further.

This book haunts you. Here's the thing. You know that feeling you get when you hear a song or see a face that sparks some vague memory? The memory may have been a dream, or may have been something you saw in a movie. It might well have been something that never actually happened to you, but was some fantasy you had years ago. Maybe there's even a physical reaction? There is a connection, but you can't quite put your finger on it. Still, it occupies your mind for an afternoon and inspires a train of thought you might not have had otherwise. That's good right? Of course. That's what you get with this book. you're trying to find that connection.

The more important themes here have less to do with the post-reconstruction era/turn of the century south, and more to do with a broader examination of time and history as it relates to the human/family experience. This is a book that unfolds like nothing I've ever read. You're sort of lost for the first 70-100 pages. Our understanding of time as a linear process will confound your experience with the first section of the book. Benjy's narrative is difficult to be sure, but when the book is said and done, his is arugably the most memorable (though Quentin's honestly rivals it as a literary tour de force). In all, the book is divided into four sections with four different viewpoints. We see through Benjy the past, present, and future existing on a plane rather than a line; Quentin's inability to accept time's passing at all and his longing for the past (a past he was not necessarily a part of); Jason living only in the present and obsessing over an up to the minute existence; and finally Dilsey who seems the only member of the household with the ability to absorb the past as a part of the here and now, and lives without fear the future. This theme is explored through style. It's like reading a dream. The idea is to pull together all these moments, images, and broken bits of dialogue in order to get to the heart of that feeling I was talking about earlier. "where did this come from? why am I thinking about this? When will I be able to pull it together and figure it out?"

And in fact, time's presence becomes so prevalent, that by the end of the book it practically becomes another character: "On the wall above a cupboard, invisible save at night, by lamplight and even then evincing an enigmatic profundity because it had but one hand, a cabinet clock ticked, then with a preliminary sound as if it had cleared its throat, struck five times" (341).

So why this theme of time in The Sound and the Fury? Is it that the miseries of its people are so held hostage by it? The book is basically 425 pages of nightmare imagery and suffering with no sign of hope. Would it not be human nature to wonder when it would end? Was Faulkner trying to create an emotional reflection of this tragic Mississippi household through the mind's eye of the reader? I am convinced this to be true. Why else would he devote the first 90 pages to a mentally retarded narrator (Benjamin) who can't even feed himself? Why else would he commit the next 80 pages or so to a reasonably intelligent but obviously insane narrator who is about to kill himself (Quentin). And why would he devote a third section, to the "sanest" member of the family (Jason) and make him almost as incomprehensible as the previous two?

Thankfully, we have the final section and an opportunity to see the household through the frankness and honesty of a black servant woman's eyes (Dilsey). Though ironically, Faulkner does not grant her narrator status. Rather, as mentioned earlier, Dilsey's voice is heard through an omniscient narrator. The reasoning behind this is the stuff of research papers and the like, but I find it fascinating nonetheless.

It is in Dilsey's section that the story finally comes together. All the battered fragments of the story cohere into a bruised understanding of what has transpired, though I was still lost in many of the details. Here, some of the horrid beauty of Faulkner's language emerges. In one scene, the narrator allows what would be considered an archetypal "window image" of beauty (In Romantic literature, for example) and transforms it into ugliness: "The window was open. A pear tree grew there, close against the house. It was in bloom and the branches scraped against the house and the myriad air, driving in the window, brought into the room the forlorn scent of the blossoms" (352).

But perhaps my favorite line, involves the wailing of the idiot son Benjamin, and to me, represents the "Sound and the Fury" of this tragic family: "Then Ben wailed again, hopeless and prolonged. It was nothing. Just sound. It might have been all time and injustice and sorrow become vocal for an instant by a conjunction of planets" (359). This contradictory statement sums up the complexity, and evasiveness of the entire novel. Who better to symbolize the unseen ticking of the clock and the gradual deterioration of a family than the moaning of an idiot, who is simultaneously given the credit and dismissed all in the same sentence? Benjamin's sounds lead to other "furies" as well, but I'll not spoil it all for you.

Seriously though, Grove has it right--no Southern author nails the plight of the post-Civil War South with more ferocity than Faulkner. It's as if the very air the characters breath has become tainted by the past.

So if you feel like losing yourself in words that will horrify and confuse you, if you consider reading more than just a sally on the beach, then buckle your seatbelts and pick up The Sound and the Fury.

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