From the Bookshelf of Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)…

Light in August

William Faulkner,

Joseph Blotner,

Noel Polk (Editor)

Start date: September 1, 2018

Finish date: September 30, 2018

Why we're reading this: September 2018 New School
[close] September 2018 New School

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

May 27, 2019 Candi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-shelf, american-south, southern-gothic, chunksters

I’m not going to attempt to write an erudite review of this book, because then I would simply be revealing the glaring holes in my Faulkner education. A scholarly write-up of this brilliant man’s work is best left to students of college literature classes or perhaps a well-taught AP English course or another reviewer more adept than I. Confession: I was hesitant to read this, but I was determined to make another attempt after a failed one several years ago when I picked up a copy of Absalom, Abs I’m not going to attempt to write an erudite review of this book, because then I would simply be revealing the glaring holes in my Faulkner education. A scholarly write-up of this brilliant man’s work is best left to students of college literature classes or perhaps a well-taught AP English course or another reviewer more adept than I. Confession: I was hesitant to read this, but I was determined to make another attempt after a failed one several years ago when I picked up a copy of Absalom, Absalom! I vaguely recall reading Faulkner in high school, and the fact that I can’t quite remember the details tells me it was probably neither a poor nor an exceedingly enjoyable experience. I am happy to say that this time around I was sold! Light in August is not only accessible, in my opinion, but is also a remarkable work of fiction.

This is what I would call Southern Gothic fiction at its finest. Jefferson, Mississippi in the 1920s was rife with racism, misogyny and religious fanaticism. The depiction of every single character is striking. Their lives are tragic, lonely, and often violent. I couldn’t help but feel that each and every one of us must be damned in one way or another after reading this! A man of mixed race, Joe Christmas is the epitome of a person consumed by an identity crisis. He strives to find where he belongs, and in the process becomes completely alienated. He cannot find his place as either a black or a white man. Society feeds and inflames his feelings of alienation.

"Nothing can look quite as lonely as a big man going along an empty street. Yet though he was not large, not tall, he contrived somehow to look more lonely than a lone telephone pole in the middle of a desert. In the wide, empty, shadowbrooded street he looked like a phantom, a spirit, strayed out of its own world, and lost."

The other characters that populate this novel are equally compelling and I won’t soon forget Lena Grove, Byron Bunch, Lucas Burch, Reverend Hightower, Joanna Burden and many more. Since what truly sells me with any book is the writing itself (I’m not a plot only kind of gal), it would be remiss if I failed to mention the pure artistry of Faulkner’s prose – often poetic, deeply emotive, and highly evocative of this time and place.

"He can remember how when he was young, after he first came to Jefferson from the seminary, how that fading copper light would seem almost audible, like a dying yellow fall of trumpets dying into an interval of silence and waiting, out of which they would presently come. Already, even before the falling horns had ceased, it would seem to him that he could hear the beginning thunder not yet louder than a whisper, a rumor, in the air."

I feel at a loss to say more about this book, except that we must continue to reflect on our humanity and our obligations towards others. We must as a society strive to work harder on inclusiveness and acceptance of others. Faulkner’s message rings all too clear right now.

It was with tremendous sadness that on the same evening that I finished reading this masterpiece, on May 22, 2019, I learned that a young classmate of my daughter’s, a fifteen year old young man, had taken his own life. A teenager who seemed always cheerful and one whose goal was to make others laugh at his charming antics. He wanted to embrace others. What amount of misery and feelings of isolation must have resided in his hurting soul for him to take such a drastic and irrevocable step; I can’t begin to imagine the pain he felt and now that of his grieving family.
...more

200 likes · Like · see review

Sep 29, 2018 Laurene rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Having a hard time leaving any kind of comment. I am not an English major. There is probably thesis written about this novel that explores all the symbolism in this novel. I am just an avid reader. Who am I to rate a book by William Faulkner? I loved and was so engrossed in As I Lay Dying. I was hoping to have a similar experience. To my disappointment, the novel reminded me of an undergraduate professor I once had who liked to hear himself talk. (I actually got lost in some of his wordy test q ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Sep 02, 2010 Emma rated it liked it

Shelves: school

Far superior to "As I Lay Dying". However, I still don't understand Southern Gothic. I don't think I ever will.
They're all so... _angry_. ...more

Like · see review

Mar 28, 2010 Lori rated it did not like it

Shelves: fiction, classics

Faulkner just always feels heavy handed in his characterizations and plots. I understand the importance of what he was writing about, I just dislike how he went about writing it, I suppose.

Like · see review