Eddie Whitlock's Blog: Reader and Writer - Posts Tagged "faulkner"

I haven't updated the blog here on GoodReads lately because I have spent most of my free writing time working on the sequel to Evil is Always Human .

So far, so good. The current rough rough rough draft is over sixty thousand words. The story is not finished. I have another one-forth to go, if my estimate is correct.

The tale is not in chronological order this time. It starts in 1951, jumps back to 1930ish, moves forward a few years and then - well. The plan is for it to jump as far forward as the 1970s before ending in 1952 or so.

My hero now has a name, though I may change it, and will be addressed by the name throughout. It was easy enough NOT to name him the first time around, but now I need to name him. He's a grown man, after all.

The story deviates greatly from the family tales that drove the first one. This one really incorporates some true-life stories along with some totally fictional ones.

I am writing this on Thursday, February 28, as I prepare to go to Winterville to do a presentation on "Urban Folklore." That comes to mind because urban folklore is a mix of beliefs and storytelling that yield fiction that people would rather fight for than deny. In writing this sequel, I have said some pretty negative things about humanity. Although I wouldn't fight anyone who disagreed with my cynicism - I'm a coward - shooting someone in the back is not beyond me.

At least not in a fictional setting.

The wisteria is in bloom and I think of Dr. McAlexander telling us that Absalom! Absalom! was the greatest American novel. So I graduated shortly thereafter. Intent not to be one of the people who graduates and never reads another challenging book, I rushed out and bought this William Faulkner novel.

Challenging? Yes. Worth it? Oh, hell yes.

Life-changing? Well. Yes. Yes, it was.

First, the story of Col. Sutpen and his "rise" probably helped me put in perspective the way that we - especially men, but really everyone - use other people while we need them then we set them aside and move on. My funky inner voice says, "You need to think about that shit. That shit don't go away. It comes back on ya'."

Second, I was reading this novel while substitute teaching in Pike County, Georgia. It was the fact that here I was, a grown man reading for pleasure, that caught the eye of Beth Allison. She was the beautiful librarian at the middle school there. I didn't figure I had a chance with her and tried to fix her up with a friend. She turned it back on me and suggested that we go out. Wow. That was 31 years ago.

One of the great things about this story - well, other than having been married to Beth for 30 years - is that in my current job, I sometimes see Dr. McAlexander, who still lives here in Athens.

And this time of year, as I drive across the countryside, I see the wisteria in bloom and I think about Quentin and Col. Sutpen and the widow and Faulkner. Good times, good times.