Traveller’s Comments (group member since Jan 14, 2015)

Traveller’s comments from the On Paths Unknown group.

Dianne wrote: "I cannot believe I have never read this. I think I've been intimidated, but very excited for this group read to give it a real deep review and finally cross it off the list!"

I think many people are in the same boat. Yes, so much has been written about it, and yet I wonder how many people have actually finished it. It's time! 💪🧐👍

Hello everyone!
Let's start talking about William Faulkner's famous novel in this thread on Aug 24, 2024. You don't have to start reading before then, though it might be a good idea just to glance over a few pages just to get an idea of what we're dealing with.

See you soon!

EDIT: Threads to be found here:

Thread 1. Benji . April Seventh, 1928 . https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thread 2. Quentin. June Second, 1910. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thread 3. Jason . April Sixth, 1928. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thread 4. Omniscient Narrator. April Eighth, 1928. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thread 5. End spoiler discussion . https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Oh, and since TSATF is naturally divided into four narrators, we can perhaps make 4 or 5 threads, and a thread for each narrator at the least.

Linda wrote: "Is that "read it by Aug 24" or "we start Aug 24"? ..."
That's a "We start 24 Aug." Remember, on this group, we make threads for every few chapters, and then a thread for ending spoilers at the end, so that we can discuss while we read, in as much detail as we want, but without giving too many spoilers ahead of time. This way, we don't have to read in unison, but just more or less so, and can comment in the appropriate thread when we get to that section, and others who already commented will see your comment and come back if they like, etc.

But on the 24th (or the evening of the 23rd, if you like) we all get together in the convening thread and say things like "I'm still waiting for the book; I managed to get hold of it, I saw a good article about the book, or about the writer, or I started and I'm liking/not liking it/confused. etc.

Guys, this is shaping up to become a Sound and Fury read. Ok, shall I send out a group message tomorrow and make it so we convene on Saturday the 24th of August, that sound good to all here?

Hmm, it is very famous, and it would actually be nice to do that as a group read... let's hear from some more people, I'll do a poll in a day or two, just a bit busy right now.
You are tipping the scale, Saski!

Sorry, Bonitaj, I wasn't being very helpful, was I?
Give me a bit of time, and I'll maybe do a poll and try to organise a group read for sometime soon-ish, and see which one other members choose.

I know for a fact that I wouldn't want to do Sanctuary, so would you mind if we made it a choice between the other two?

Bonitaj, yes, you are correct about the chronology, but please keep in mind that an author's earlier work is not necessarily their best work, as many authors grow and mature along with their works. ;)
So yes, as far as I can make out from people's opinions in general, Sanctuary is not quite as mature as the other two, and many consider Light in August a masterpiece. ...and from what I can see of it, it has many dark psychological twists and turns, if that is your bent.

...but hey, if you have the guts to take on 3 Faulkners, by all means start with Sanctuary, while keeping in mind that it is not considered as much of a masterpiece as the other two are.

There's also the fact that one has to try The Sound and The Fury to say you have tried Faulkner, so perhaps the best would be to toss a coin 😅.

Let's get a third opinion, someone!

Bonitaj wrote: "hello everyone. For some unbeknown reason I've suddenly become drawn to the work of William Faulkner. Is it his indomitable search to uncover the darkest corners of the human psyche?
So my question..."

Phew, all I'm going to say for now, is that is a hard question. Seems like you already know Faulkner is dark. I haven't personally read the other two yet, but Sound and the Fury is stylistically unusual, and perhaps harder to get into because of that. From all of my friend's advice and reviews, though, I would personally go for Light In August.

I'll try to make a buddy read for it in a about 6 or 7 weeks or so, if I can get other things cleared off my list... but let's hear what other members think?

Lucky that you had such a nice teacher, Esthy!

A book that I never finished, leaving me wondering why not, was Infinite Jest by DF Wallace. On the one hand, if I got enough people to go with me to do a group read, I'd probably force myself to finish, but on the other hand, I simply don't have the time or energy.
I'm sticking to shorter reads these days, and luckily there are many good reads that are short.

Thanks.

Ok, my list is a bit full at the moment, so how about we make it for the end of the month? Will think about it and post something in a day or two.

Saski wrote: "I was going to say I read quite some time ago and don't remember it being disturbing, but when I looked it up in 'my books' I don't seem to have listed it. I thought I had read all the Ian (and Ian..."

Hey, I'm up for making a thread, shall I? I feel loathe to try and rekindle the group proper, since I'm not currently able to give it my full attention, but I can always put it in the "next up" thread, and simply make a thread for it where those who have read it can comment without us risking putting spoilers in threads like this one.

Carlton David Kaller wrote: "I just finished The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks (before he went SciFi). Psychopath or Sociopath? Level over level of disturbing. I enjoyed it very much."

I've been wanting to read that one for a long time, now. I wonder if it would be too disturbing for a group discussion? I will make a plan to read it soon, in any case. :)

Hi, Nilanjana, good to see you around, and thanks for the feedback!

Hi guys, welcome! Thanks for the input. I suppose the Romans actually did their imperialism in a relatively clever way around Europe and the Mediterranean, by not (in the initial years) forcing people to give up their religions, and in a way having Latin as a Lingua Franca did actually help trade, technology and so on, but it really does appear as if peoples the world over like to hold on to their unique ethnic identities, and of course, things can and do become heated if you throw religion into the mix.

One of the things that strikes me as I look up about the countries and peoples surrounding Nigeria and Sudan, is how apparently senseless as far as demographics the borders of the countries are- these borders are a legacy of European imperialist colonization of Africa and I can see why people are saying it's a mess and the cause of civil wars - what were the Europeans thinking? It's as if they absolutely had no regard for the different ethnicities and religions of the people living in the chunks of land that they were dividing up amongst themselves.

I suppose they thought they would convert them all to Christianity with the snap of a finger, and no problems after that. It also feels to me as if they thought, ok, these people are all black, so they must surely all be the same. 🤦‍♀️

Ok, so Things Fall Apart deals with the first contact with English missionaries of one of the 3 major groups in Nigeria, being the Igbo tribe, who are mainly Christian and traditional in religion. Another large group is the Yoruba, who seem to have a syncretised religion and culture from various sources; here is a video about them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRy92... as told by a Yoruba man

This is a better and clearer (more concise) video for non-Africans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-fMG...

The other group is the Hausa-Fulani, who are partially affiliated with the Arab Muslim culture of North Africa. Traditionally they are associated with the Sultanate of Soto ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokoto_...

The Nigerian civil war of 1967-1970 was mainly fought between the latter group and the Igbo, who wanted to secede from Nigeria and create their own country, namely the Republic of Biafra. Starvation and genocide took place, the French and the Brititsh were involved, and the images of starvation among the women and children are absolutely heartbreaking. Check out Wikipedia for a short introduction to the Biafrian war: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria...

GABON:
A West-African country with a French colonial past, here is a quick video introduction to the country: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6uJ8...

Here is a Fang wedding ceremony in Gabon, but sadly the video creator didn't include all of the music they dance to at the ceremony; it seems a bit sanitized : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsFNA... , but interestingly, French is the sole national language of Gabon, as one can witness spoken on the video.

The reason why I am posting info re Gabon, is because it appears to be one of the main countries where the Fang people live, a nation extolled by Chinua Achebe in his essay against Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.