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The Unvanquished

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 2,490 ratings · 150 reviews

Set in Mississippi during the Civil War and Reconstruction, THE UNVANQUISHED focuses on the Sartoris family, who, with their code of personal responsibility and courage, stand for the best of the Old South's traditions.

Paperback, 272 pages

Published October 29th 1991 by Vintage (first published 1934)

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Feb 20, 2009 Mrs. Ward rated it 1 of 5 stars

Just shoot me! I get it, I get it. William Faulkner is "one of the greats" a "lead in the canon of American History." However, I cannot bring myself to appreciate his work. The only reason I made it all the way through the book was because I was forced to read it for a literature course several years ago. I didn't see the "art" in it. I just felt tortured.

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May 23, 2012 Patrick added it · review of another edition

Like a lot of people, the only Faulkner I've read was the Sound and the Fury in college, and though I have to grudgingly admit it was pretty good, like a lot of people I thought it was stupidly hard to read. So with a little trepidation I read The Unvanquished, which is a lot easier to read, though still I think it's no sign of literary merit when a reader can't figure out easily how characters are related to one another or what certain pronouns are referring to for long stretches of time.

The Un...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Al Gellene rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have to admit that I feel terribly ambiguous about Faulkner. I am in thrall with the writing. It flows and eddies in a mesmerizing way. His characters are like forces of nature, impelled by who and what they are to unavoidable conflict and, for many of them, doom. That the narrative sometimes borders on impenetrable, not so much in The Unvanquished, as much as in Absalom, Absalom and his many of his other novels, forces the reader to fixate on the prose, delve deeply into the dark and unfathom...more I have to admit that I feel terribly ambiguous about Faulkner. I am in thrall with the writing. It flows and eddies in a mesmerizing way. His characters are like forces of nature, impelled by who and what they are to unavoidable conflict and, for many of them, doom. That the narrative sometimes borders on impenetrable, not so much in The Unvanquished, as much as in Absalom, Absalom and his many of his other novels, forces the reader to fixate on the prose, delve deeply into the dark and unfathomable aspects of human nature and mirrors the sometimes inscrutability of life.

On the other hand, as one reviewer as said, his is a perpetuator of the Southern Myth: that if the South had just been left alone, life would have continued in its wondrous, harmonious pace until the end of time. His treatment of the issues of race make my skin prickle. With notable exceptions, slaves and former slaves are depicted as a dark force of the natural world. In The Unvanquished, they trudge dreamlike to the ‘Jordon’ River, seeking freedom without knowing its nature and oblivious to the practicalities of existence. Historically, the freed slaves did converge, in masses, upon the Union lines. And probably had as little knowledge about the realities of the world outside their plantations as we do of outer space. But one cannot forget that that ‘mass’ consisted of an assembly of unique individuals with the hopes and needs of people anywhere.

The saving grace seems to me is the understanding that Faulkner’s concerns are of an artistic nature. And everyone in Faulkner’s novels seems to be representative of an idea or concept useful as a device to create a world where the forces of the characters’ inner natures collide and conflict with the mores and ethics of their times.

The Vanquished is a compelling story of the voyage of one white youth in Civil War Mississippi from innocence to knowledge. At the beginning of the novel, at 14 years of age, Bayard is blithely unaware of the outside world. Bayard’s father, Colonel Sartoris, is off fighting Yankees. Ringo, one of his father’s slaves, the same age as he, is more like a brother, or even a shadow or echo of himself, than a slave. Neither Bayard nor Ringo seem to have any consciousness of his nature as an owned chattel. When word comes that the Yankees are freeing all the slaves, Ringo and Bayard have a hard time understanding just what this means.

Events propel the youths, along with Bayard’s grandmother, Rosie Millard, Colonel Sartoris’ mother in law, who has charge of them and the plantation in his absence, into direct involvement in the chaos of a land conquered and yet not conquered. The theft of some mules and a trunk full of the family’s silver and other valuables, offends the grandmother’s sense of justice and propriety. This triggers a series of events which, sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, thrusts Ringo and Bayard into premature manhood.

Love, hate, honor, justice and illicit passion are the dominating themes of the novel. Villains receive their just reward. The good are left to struggle on, bound by iron clad codes. At the end of the novel, which takes place some ten years after the end of the war, Bayard faces a moment of truth in which he comes fully into himself and which finally defines his character.

In the novel, the Civil War is treated as a war to preserve a way of life rather than a war about slavery, an issue hotly debated by historians to this day. Its battles occur off stage as do the deaths of its brave heroes. Everyone’s life is turned topsy turvey, even to the blurring of roles of gender. It is a compelling adventure story which I finished in a few days, having been captivated by the drama and the strong and interesting characters. The stage is at times sketchy. Whatever happened to all the other slaves on the Sartoris plantation before the coming of the Yankees is never fully explained. Neither is the tactical and strategic flow of Yankee and Confederate forces across the landscape, although the depredations of the Union forces, intent on economic punishment of the rebels, burning and looting everything of value, is made clear. Although the Yankees are depicted mostly as bumbling and gullible, to Faulkner’s credit, there is honor found even there.

The book is a great introduction to Faulkner and a rewarding read. It is not the best of his novels, but probably the most accessible. Despite my misgivings, I am a great fan of Faulkner. They just don’t make writers like this anymore.
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Dec 08, 2010 Martin rated it 4 of 5 stars

A Civil War tale about a boy, his granny and his slave. There are 7 stories, 6 of which were published prior to being collected into novel form. This causes the stories to be rather optimistic or sentimental in tone when compared to the hard hitting novels like "Sanctuary" or "Light in August". It's a great place to start reading about Yoknapatawpha County. Many of Faulkner's families are represented here: old Mrs. Compson, Ab Snopes, Colonel John Sartoris (who had built the railroad in Jefferso...more

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Jun 03, 2009 Christy rated it 5 of 5 stars

After giving up on "Absalom! Absalom!", I turned to this in the set of four Faulkner novels that I had checked out from the library. I've been a fan of Faulkner's since high school when I did a thesis on "The Sound and the Fury"...I respect his technical superiority immensely, but at this point in my life slogging through A!A! was simply not working out.

"The Unvanquished" is really a whole other kettle of fish. It's a classic example of Southern Gothic writing and I think it should be read in co...more

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Jul 13, 2010 Michael Dworaczyk rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-summer-reading-challenge

Hemingway once remarked that he could tell when Faulkner picked up the glass while writing. I, myself am always tempted to pour myself a nice, large glass of bourbon while reading him, but I always refrain. Drinking may have helped Faulkner write his “stream of consciousness” passages, but it certainly doesn’t assist me in keeping up with him.

Initially published as disparate short stories, this novel brings them together as chapters, with a new one for the end. It is set during the Civil War, an...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Annisa Anggiana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, bildungsroman, terjemahan

The Unvanquished artinya undefeated or unbeaten. Setelah saya baca bukunya sampai selesai baru saya ngёh what this is all about. Saya dapet buku signet classic terbitan tahun 1960 ini dari Readinglights seharga 25 ribu sajah ^_^ ohohohohoho…

Latar belakang buku ini sejaman dengan Gone With The Wind, tahun 1860 an dimana terjadi perang saudara antara kubu Union (Utara Amerika) dan Confederate (Selatan Amerika) yang berujung pada pembebasan para budak afrika di area perkebunan selatan amerika.

Dilih...more The Unvanquished artinya undefeated or unbeaten. Setelah saya baca bukunya sampai selesai baru saya ngёh what this is all about. Saya dapet buku signet classic terbitan tahun 1960 ini dari Readinglights seharga 25 ribu sajah ^_^ ohohohohoho…

Latar belakang buku ini sejaman dengan Gone With The Wind, tahun 1860 an dimana terjadi perang saudara antara kubu Union (Utara Amerika) dan Confederate (Selatan Amerika) yang berujung pada pembebasan para budak afrika di area perkebunan selatan amerika.

Dilihat dari judulnya dan latar belakangnya, saya kira buku ini akan menceritakan tentang perang tersebut. Ternyata isinya lebih ke what moral grounds you stand for and i like it!! Dan undefeated disini lebih condong ke kontradiksi dalam diri si tokoh utama. Apakah dia memilih apa yang orang lain harapkan dari dirinya atau apakah dia akan memilih apa yang benar.

Bercerita tentang seorang anak bernama berumur 12 tahun bernama Bayard Sartoris, saat itu perang saudara sudah dimulai dan Ayah Bayard, John Sartoris adalah seorang petinggi di kalangan confederacy yang langsung turut memimpin peperangan melawan union. Saat itu Bayard memiliki seorang sahabat bernama Ringo yang merupakan anak dari budak afrikanya. Saat itu Bayard dan Ringo sama sekali tidak aware akan perbedaan mereka dan tidak paham ketika mendengar isu tentang pembebasan budak.

“Ringo and I had been born in the same month and had both fed at the same breast and had sleep together and eat together for so long that Ringo called Granny ‘Granny’ just like I did, until maybe he wasn’t a nigger anymore or maybe I wasn’t a white boy anymore, the two of us neither, not even people any longer..”

Ketika ayahnya pergi berperang, Bayard diawasi oleh neneknya Rosa. Dari apa yang saya mengerti dari buku ini, pada saat itu kalangan confederate memiliki nilai-nilai rigid tertentu yang mati-matian mereka pertahankan dan yang mencolok ditonjolkan dalam buku ini adalah tentang pembalasan dendam.

Saat Bayard berumur 15 tahun tragedi pertama terjadi pada anggota keluarganya. Saat itu ayahnya masih ada di medan perang. Seperti hal nya yang diharapkan oleh masyarakat sekitarnya Bayard pun melakukan aksi balas dendam terhadap pihak yang menyakiti keluarganya.

“I could have held her, turned the wagon, driven away, holding her in it. I was just fifteen, and for most of my life her face had been the first thing I saw in the morning and the last thing I saw in the night, but I could have stopped her, and I didn’t. I sat there in the wagon in the cold rain and let her walk on into the wet twilight and never come out of it again.”

Waktu berlalu dan Bayard belajar banyak hal. Ketika Bayard berumur 24 tahun dan sedang kuliah di bidang hukum Ringo datang menyusulnya untuk pulang karena tragedi lain telah menimpa keluarganya. Ketika ia pulang sebagaimana anak yang baik dirinya diharapkan untuk melaksanakan pembalasan dendam untuk keluarganya. Namun kali ini Bayard telah menyaksikan dan belajar banyak hal dari hidup. Apakah ia akan tetap menerapkan prinsip an eye for an eye atau apakah ia memilih jalan yang lain? That’s the main question in this book. Such a great story, such a great theme.

Tentu saja selain cerita tentang Bayard ada beberapa tokoh kuat lain yang perannya sangat saya sukai dalam buku ini, antara lain tokoh Rosa, nenek Bayard yang keras hati dan akan melakukan apapun untuk melindungi keluarganya dan juga Drusiila sepupu Bayard yang merupakan anomali dari perempuan kebanyakan pada zaman itu.

Sangat senang akhirnya sempat membaca novel ini ^_^

“At least this will be my chance to find out if I am what I think I am or if I just hope; if I am going to do what I have thaught myself is right or if I am just going to wish I were.”(less)

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Nov 07, 2012 Mat rated it 5 of 5 stars

Faulkner does not create conventional plotlines, he creates atmospheres and has produced some of the most fascinating characters ever in literature. This is without a doubt by far the best Faulkner book I have read to date. Forget The Sound and The Fury folks, if you are looking for Faulkner's hidden masterpiece, look no more.

In my opinion, WF's pen falls into a perfect rhythm in this novel in which he manages to achieve a perfect balance between his celebrated 'obscure' style (which many lament...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Penny rated it 4 of 5 stars

While I was a little reluctant to read this book because Faulkner comes with a reputation of extremely long sentences that are complex and difficult to understand, I enjoyed this book very much. All of the book except for the last chapter was pretty simplistic with a few sentences in each chapter that I had to read over to get the full meaning. While the book was written from the point of view of the south during the civil war, it was a compelling narrative. Throughout the story I was drawn in b...more

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May 08, 2013 Christopher Sutch rated it 3 of 5 stars

This "novel" (really a collection of short stories Faulkner wrote to make money) is a terrible let-down after the brilliant _Absalom, Absalom_. It does give some backstory to the life of Bayard Sartoris (one of the characters in _Flags in the Dust_ AKA _Sartoris_). But the writing quality is horrendous and the racism of the characters (which goes without any sort of comment, overt or otherwise, and which is not appeased by the prominence of "Ringo," an African-American slave) is problematic. The...more

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May 08, 2011 Patrick rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is my fourth book of Faulkner's, and the least challenging. It is a series of short stories set around the Civil War and its aftermath in Mississippi. As with other books, there is humor, although not everyone would appreciate it. What I appreciated was the telling of the issues of race from a southern perspective. Although brutal, it does give insight into what was supposed to happen to slaves when emancipated, given the fact that all they were given was their freedom. Like Twain's famous...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Gene rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very disappointed. I do believe William Faulkner is considered "high brow." Maybe that's why this reader who is of only moderate post-secondary education with a technical emphasis was unable to appreciate this novel. I found the narrative unnecessarily confusing and the descriptions foggying rather than clarifying. I'm sure there were nuggets of truth for my soul within the story, but I just couldn't connect to them or to the characters portraying them. It was an interesting story, and I did fin...more

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May 23, 2012 Zach Irvin rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Most peoples

Recommended to Zach by: Chris

Not quite as powerful as Go Down, Moses, but still a great read. Faulkner once again subverts Southern conventions and genres and gives a complicated view of a family during the Civil War. It was great to read this story now, after reading some other books where the Sartoris family plays minor roles, and finally get their story from Bayard. My favorite character was Ringo. He was smart, tough and he could draw. One of my favorite lines in the book is "I saw Ringo, in the air, looking exactly lik...more

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May 21, 2012 Zach rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Compared to the rest of Faulkner’s novels, The Unvanquished is relatively short and straight-forward, lacking the chopped-up, stream-of-consciousness style that made him (in)famous. But, even if the narrative is easier to follow, The Unvanquished is anything but simple. Through the eyes of Baynard Sartoris, Faulkner offers a hysterical and horrifying look at the American Civil War as a moment of immediate degeneration and continual regeneration, a forced but necessary reexamination of then-commo...more

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Dec 25, 2009 Richard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: so-glad-i-read

Yeah, so, not much of Christmas book, but damn, does Faulkner do the south. And while doing the South, we got the classic struggles of identity, with the cycle of violence, etc. Here we deal with the Sartoris clan at the tail end of the Civil War, in part trying to find when the war actually ends (how prophetic...), but also dealing with the complexities of racial and gender relationships, and with families with their own pasts. We also have one of Faulkner's better child narrators, and a final...more

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Jul 30, 2009 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Faulkner is my favorite author so take this review with a grain of salt if you already know that you are not a Faulkner fan. This is sort of Faulkner-lite; it tears along like a good western and has the feel of an adventure story.

Alas, the racial politics feel like a slightly more sophisticated Gone With the Wind. He reportedly wrote this while taking a break during Absalom! Absalom! (probably my favorite novel), and this fits nicely into my theory that Faulkner's writing over the years shows h...more

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May 26, 2010 Patrick rated it 3 of 5 stars

A fairly quick read, especially for a Faulkner work, the fiction tells the story of Sartoris family and their struggles and endurance through the civil war. Told through the eyes of the youngest son Bayard, the family is an ideal, poor confederate group that must utilize their wit and knowledge of the land to thwart the approaching Yankees. Mixed with an interesting array of characters, including the steadfast Colonel Sartoris and the often hilarious Granny, the novel is compelling enough to war...more

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Nov 05, 2010 Paul Clayton rated it 5 of 5 stars

I finally finished The Unvanquished a week or so ago. Been so busy with my own writing and publishing, actually, mostly publishing, cause that’s what I am now, for all intents and purposes, ‘self-published.’ So, even a little one hundred and ninety page novel took me weeks. (Oh, did I say I have a job and a commute?) Anyway, The Unvanquished — I really enjoyed it! I’m lovin’ my current regimen of interspersing my readings of modern novels, literary and genre, with works from the literary canon....more
I finally finished The Unvanquished a week or so ago. Been so busy with my own writing and publishing, actually, mostly publishing, cause that’s what I am now, for all intents and purposes, ‘self-published.’ So, even a little one hundred and ninety page novel took me weeks. (Oh, did I say I have a job and a commute?) Anyway, The Unvanquished — I really enjoyed it! I’m lovin’ my current regimen of interspersing my readings of modern novels, literary and genre, with works from the literary canon. The Unvanquished wasn’t one of Faulkner’s most lauded works, but I think it may be his most approachable for new (to him) readers. It follows the story of young Bayard Sartoris and his friend and shadow, Ringo, as the army of the North burns its way through 1860’s Mississippi.

One of the amazing things about Faulkner’s writing is his ability to infuse readers with so much drama and information without them being aware of it, much like we are unaware of the air we breathe, or fish the water they swim in. What intrigues me still is what Faulkner left out of that book. Bayard tells us that he and Ringo were born the same month, fed at the same breast, (likely a black, slave wet-nurse), that they both called Bayard’s grandmother ‘Granny,’ but, more intriguingly, that both boys, white and black (half brothers, perhaps?), lived in the Sartoris home, slept in the same bed, and were loved by the elder Sartoris and Granny. In fact, Bayard acknowledges that Ringo was probably smarter than himself, and seems to feel badly that, that being fact, Ringo, because of his dark skin color, had to step aside on certain occasions and let Bayard take the lead.

The name that rode in and out of the campfire of my mind as I read this novel was Mark Twain. I don’t know much about Faulkner, but he must have studied Twain and his books. And like all good students, he goes beyond the teacher. And just as it is in Twain’s greatest work, slavery and the South are brought vividly to life in this tale, with real down-home Southern vernacular and, I have to mention, lots of use of the n-word. The book is set in the Civil War South, so the n-word is as ubiquitous there as it is, sadly, in many contemporary rap songs. It did bother me a little initially, but that’s the way that world was, and you cannot accurately recreate that world by sugar-coating its prejudices.

Probably not too many other writers could pull a reader along through three-quarter, and even full-page, blocks of narrative prose, without them throwing the book down and rushing back to their laptops to click through link after link like ten year olds popping Skittles into their mouths. Faulkner manages that, at least with this, albeit older, but tech-savvy reader. I don’t know how well today’s young adults would do with a book of this level. Probably only those blessed with a private school education could handle it, and that’s with a good teacher as a guide (this insight courtesy of seeing the movie, Waiting for Superman, a sad documentary about the state of our public schools).

Don’t want to give too much away, but after peeking at the little bio of Faulkner in the front of the book, Faulkner is probably recounting stories he heard as a child from folks who lived through the Civil War and Reconstruction (parents, grandparents), at least as young, attentive children. It has that ‘being there’ quality. Anyway, don’t want to keep you any longer either. So I say, send Big Publishing a message and forgo that new, over-priced vampire bodice-rip(off) mashup! Instead, get a cheap copy of The Unvanquished, find a comfortable quiet corner somewhere, turn off the cell, and be transported.
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Aug 26, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Faulkner is simply an unbelievable writer. The way in which his sentences, his words, flow is entirely unique and undeniably beautiful. The Unvanquished is easier to comprehend at face value than some other Faulknerian works, specifically The Sound and the Fury, but there is still some ambiguity with respect to time that the reader must confront before understanding the essential plot points that bring Faulkner's idiosyncratic characters to life. In short, The Unvanquished is a beautiful tale to...more

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Aug 24, 2009 Marisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think I could reread this book a few times in a row and appreciate it more and more each time and see things I didn't see before. Such beautiful language. Poetic. The chapters of this book were originally published as stories in magazines and then threaded together...except he was never able to get the last chapter/story published in a magazine (prior to the publication of The Unvanquished). Anyone know why? I loved that section and actually reread it and think I might reread it again before m...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Carolyn Shank rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Unvanquished was Faulkner's 10th book. This book focuses on the history of the Sartoris family and its part in the Civil War. The courageous and headstrung actions of the progenitor, Colonel Sartoris, head of the family, set the code of honor for the following genrations: one of bravery, derring-do, and personal responsibility. The Sartoris offspring are, of course, the subject of successive novels (Sartoris; and Flags in the Dust) and this book is an integral part of the whole of the Faulk...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Quinn Wright rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great story that does a great job demonstrating the historical tragedy of the south during and after the civil war. The novel leads the reader to confront southern identity and watch as that identity undergoes transormation, and how the generational gaps in southern society were effected by the transforming social identity of the south. Bayard is a brilliant character, and his naration is a wonderful literary choice by Faulkner. His ability to disect so many competing issues in the setting he ch...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reread, american-literature, american-south, 20th-century-lit, faulkner

I first read The Unvanquished half a century ago, because I had been told that it was the best Faulkner novel to start with. (Actually, it's not a novel at all, but a linked series of short stories with the same characters.) Seeing the Civil War through the eyes of Bayard Sartoris, son of a Southern war hero, and Ringo (short for Marengo), a former family slave who is Bayard's age, was nothing short of brilliant. I loved the book even more the second time around, and I definitely understood it m...more I first read The Unvanquished half a century ago, because I had been told that it was the best Faulkner novel to start with. (Actually, it's not a novel at all, but a linked series of short stories with the same characters.) Seeing the Civil War through the eyes of Bayard Sartoris, son of a Southern war hero, and Ringo (short for Marengo), a former family slave who is Bayard's age, was nothing short of brilliant. I loved the book even more the second time around, and I definitely understood it more.

In the six stories (and the seventh, "An Odor of Verbena," which serves as a coda), Faulkner memorializes the culture of the Deep South through the horrors of the war and the Reconstruction that followed. That culture included some amazing characters, such as Uncle Buck McCaslin:

There was more to Uncle Buck and [his brother] Buddy than just that. Father said they were ahead of their time; he said they not only possessed, but put into practice, ideas about social relationship that maybe fifty years after they were both dead people would have a name for. These ideas were about land. They believed that land did not belong to people but that people belonged to land and that the earth would permit them to live on and out of it and use it only so long as they behaved and that if they did not behave right, it would shake them off just like a dog getting rid of fleas. [Italics mine]

This would be a major theme in Faulkner's stories and novels in the years to come. (I think particularly of the Snopes family that was to move in on Yoknapatawpha County.) In this book, the example of Grumby's Independents exemplified the McCaslin code. Grumby is a guerrilla who is more into theft, rapine, and murder than he is for the Confederate cause. In the interstices between the withdrawal of the Southern forces and the return of the Yankees after Appomattox, he fattens like a tick until Bayard and Ringo catch up with him.

What draws the boys' revenge is the murder of Bayard's grandmother, Miss Rosa Millard, who is one of Faulkner's most memorable characters. After the Sartoris house has been burned down by the Yankees, she goes after the Yanks for stealing her mules. As a result of a misunderstanding, the Union soldiers give her over a hundred mules. She then sets herself up in business re-selling these mules to the North, and then -- using a clever forgery -- getting the mules back, eliminating the U.S. brand on their haunches, and selling them back yet again. In the process, she partners with the wildly unreliable Ab Snopes; and this is what draws Grumby to her.

After Bayard's father has been gunned down by a former business partner, the father's friends solemnly gather around Bayard

with the unctuous formality which the Southern man shows in the presence of death -- that Roman holiday engendered by mist-born Protestantism grafted onto this land of violent sun, of violent alteration from snow to heat-stroke which has produced a race impervious to both.

How that man can write! I am no Southerner myself, though my heart skips a beat when I see in this and his other books a clarity and a love for the land of his birth.(less)

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Oct 01, 2008 Chuck rated it 3 of 5 stars

Still making my mind up about this one; in many ways, I like this novel as much if not more than I liked much of the Faulkner that I've read. It's unified in that there was only one point of view character, Bayard Sartoris, as opposed to the multiple narrators (sometimes as many as fifteen) that are common in Faulkner's works. It also has a compact period of time, about ten years in Bayard's life, from the early 1860s to the 1870s, from when he was a young boy in the Civil War until he is a law...more Still making my mind up about this one; in many ways, I like this novel as much if not more than I liked much of the Faulkner that I've read. It's unified in that there was only one point of view character, Bayard Sartoris, as opposed to the multiple narrators (sometimes as many as fifteen) that are common in Faulkner's works. It also has a compact period of time, about ten years in Bayard's life, from the early 1860s to the 1870s, from when he was a young boy in the Civil War until he is a law student at the University of Mississippi.

The novel also captures much of what was despicable and admirable about the South. Slavery is not sugar coated--Faulkner flat-out believed slavery was wrong--and yet you see the complex relationships that developed between slave and the families who were over them. Particularly interested is the relationship between Bayard and Ringo, a slave who is exactly Bayard's age. Bayard and Ringo have been raised together, nursed at the same breast and sharing the same bed when they were younger. During the Civil War period, it is Ringo who is most responsible for keeping the family safe and together; Bayard declares flatly that Ringo was more intelligent and more capable than he. But by the end of the book, you see the different paths that post-bellum Southern society will push them on; Bayard is clearly the master of the house, Ringo, clearly the servant although still probably the better man.

The Unvanquished also explores the plight of the freed slaves, who were not really wanted or welcome in the North after emancipation, and the starvation and other dangers they faced on the road in a South whose white society feared and did not welcome them. Also, one sees the kindness in the form of the Granny, who does her best to make sure all who are displaced by the war, white or black, are fed and sheltered.

It's a novel that has no clear cut bad guys or good guys, of people trying to find their way in a world that changes so much it is virtually unrecognizable. It also has some of the strongest and most interesting women characters I've read in Faulkner, particularly Granny and pistol-packing, street fighting Aunt Dru, who gives lie to those who say that all of Faulkner's women are whores or mothers. Dru is neither, and it is she, more than any other character in the book , who chafes against the strictures society places on her.

Okay, now that I've thought it through, I really like the book a lot. The fewer stars than I might otherwise give are becuase it's a Faulkner--most other authors, this wouold be a four or five star tome. But since it's Faulkner and I know he wrote at least five books better than this one, I give it three stars and a strong recommendation.(less)

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Sep 05, 2008 John Leach rated it 3 of 5 stars

Focuses on the period leading into, the period of, and the period immediately after the Civil War. This constitutes an entry in the Yoknapawtapha Saga, Faulkner's life's work.

Like several of his works, this can be taken as either a collection of short stories or a novel told in related episodes.

The focus here is on the Sartoris family, a clan which looms large throughout Faulkner's work. The protagonist is young Bayard Sartoris and his various adventures had while his father, the legendary Col...more

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Apr 16, 2008 Charlaralotte rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apparently I had to read this book for a college course on Southern Women Writers. I had no recollection of it, or of why we had to read Faulkner's version of Southern womanhood. Probably because I read it in 2 hours at Lamont Library during a forced reading frenzy & retained zippo.

Anyhow, WOW! I wish I could give this book to everyone who thinks "Gone with the Wind" is the best thing besides Botox.
As an examination of what life was really like in the South during and after the Civil War, y...more

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Nov 28, 2010 Nicholas Hansen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was not one of Faulkner's best yet I would still recommend reading it, if for no other reason then to get a different perspective of southern living during and after the civil war without all the vainglorious hero worship that seams to permeate the genera. In the story you have likable characters in a unlikable situations, evolving as they age, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Racial slurs are used frequently, albeit ironically, but still if that sort of thing offends you then don't read this bo...more

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Apr 15, 2010 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book so that I could have something GREAT to write a review on in my High School AP test and be able to skip Freshman English at BYU. It worked! If you write even a semi-good review of something like Faulkner, you are golden. It's a TOUGH read. Even today it's confusing for me. But it's a great book to challenge those older teenagers with and see what they make of it. If they can give you a great summary and even better, write one on it, their educational battles have been worth it!

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Jun 18, 2012 Drucilla rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: f

If you're looking to start reading some of Faulkner's works, I recommend you consider starting with this one. It's definitely one of his easier novels. Easier doesn't mean "not as good", though. All of these characters are strong and you come to root and care for them. The Civil war is a major presence and force in the novel, but the story isn't about the Civil war, it's about how these characters are changed because of it and I love watching these characters change in this unique way.

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Feb 07, 2011 Meredith rated it 3 of 5 stars

faulkner is my fave, but this definitely wasn't one of my favorites. interesting snapshot of the end of the civil war as told through two young boys: the son of a confederate soldier and his best friend, a soon-to-be-freed slave of the family. touching and deeply meaningful at moments, dense (as only faulkner can be!) and slow-moving at others. records an interesting and oft unexplored bit of the war though--if you're in to historical fiction, i'd recommend it as a worthwhile read.

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About William Faulkner

William Cuthbert Faulkner was a Nobel Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer. One of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, his reputation is based mostly on his novels, novellas, and short stories. He was also a published poet and an occasional screenwriter.
The majority of his works are based in his native state of Mississippi. Though his work was published as earl...more

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“Maybe times are never strange to women: it is just one continuous monotonous thing full of the repeated follies of their menfolks.” — 9 people liked it

“...if there was anything at all in the Book, anything of hope and peace for His blind and bewildered spawn which He had chosen above all others to offer immortality, THOU SHALT NOT KILL must be it...” — 6 people liked it

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