All things Faulkner

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Post anything you want about William Faulkner here.

[Cheryl Carroll]

Thanks for this new page, Tom!

There is a new documentary of William Faulkner called Faulkner: The Past is Never Dead. It premieres at the Oxford Film Festival on Friday March 3rd. (The festival itself runs from March 1st - 5th.) It looks *very* promising. Actor Eric Roberts plays the older version of WF, with Skyler Adams portraying the younger version. Here is the link to the film webpage: https://www.williamfaulknerfilm.com/o...

Here is the link to the trailer. It appears to be a very good movie!
https://www.williamfaulknerfilm.com/m...

[samuel-levi]

Does anyone know where we can view this documentary? I looked on the link but there is no information about this. Thank you

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

It's status is listed as Post-Production on IMDB so I suspect that it is not yet available.

[Cheryl Carroll]

The WFBC on Facebook will be reading As I Lay Dying, beginning October 3rd. Zoom calls are Tuesdays at 130pm EST. Yours truly will be moderating the discussions! This is a free book club / zoom meetings.

I have also posted a These 13 - Reading Challenge 🥇📘 to the group. Inspired by one of our members, who realized that he hadn't read all 13 of the stories in Faulkner's first short story collection, published in 1931. When I checked the TOC, I saw that I hadn't read all of them either. 😲

Here's an excerpt from Bob Hamblin's Myself and the World: A Biography of William Faulkner:

Sanctuary, published on February 9, 1931, became Faulkner's first best seller, going through six printings in five months. Unfortunately, however, Faulkner realized very little money from the sales. The publisher, Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, was in financial difficulty and would, in fact, soon close its doors...

Faulkner was beginning, though, to have better luck with his short stories. He had finally succeeded in placing "A Rose for Emily" in Forum, "Honor" appeared in American Mercury, and the Saturday Evening Post took "Thrift" and "Red Leaves", perhaps Faulkner's greatest story about Native Americans. From 1930 to 1932 eighteen of Faulkner's stories appeared in various periodicals, and six of these, plus seven unpublished ones, were collected in These 13, published in September 1931.

--From Chapter 6: Genius Unleashed

[Cheryl Carroll]

Tom wrote: "It's status is listed as Post-Production on IMDB so I suspect that it is not yet available."

Frustratingly, I haven't been able to get any information of when the film will be available to the general public. I messaged one of the producers today, and hopefully will be able to give an estimated timeframe for my WFBC and GR book buds.

This is the last premiere the film was shown at, July 2023:

https://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/proj....

[Samuel-Levi]

Cheryl: Is it possible to joint the Faulkner book group without being on Facebook? I don't use it. Thank you

[Cheryl Carroll]

Deborah wrote: "Cheryl: Is it possible to joint the Faulkner book group without being on Facebook? I don't use it. Thank you"

You do not have to be on fb to join the zoom calls. You would of course have to be on fb to view and comment on posts. If you are definitely interested in the AILD read, I can screenshot and email you - or anyone else, for that matter - the most relevant posts. I create an "Album" for each of our reads, with screenshots of the posts in chronological order. So basically, I would be sharing those with you to keep you in the loop. Please message me directly here on GR if you are interested, I am happy to help!

[Lawson]

One of the best books I have read is Faulkner’s Country by Don H. Doyle, history of Oxford and it’s surrounding area with a tie in to Faulkner’s novels.

[Samuel-Levi]

Cheryl Carroll wrote: "Deborah wrote: "Cheryl: Is it possible to joint the Faulkner book group without being on Facebook? I don't use it. Thank you"

You do not have to be on fb to join the zoom calls. You would of cours..."

Cheryl: I am interested in reading As I Lay Dying with the book group online. My email is laniusthomas@gmail.com Thank you Deborah Lanius

[Cheryl Carroll]

@Lawson - I have that one! I haven't read it yet, though. I prioritized Hamblin, Rollyson, and the one volume of Blotner. After I get through those, I'm going to reassess what's next in the tbr pile. There are just SO MANY books on Faulkner!

@ Deborah - I will be in touch soon! I am no Faulkner scholar and get advice from those who are. A formal reading schedule has not been posted yet, but for now - Week 1 will be discussion of reading the character chapters in this order: Anse, Dewey Dell, and Vardaman. You gotta start with Anse, don't you think?

DD is the only female child, so we need her perspective going in.

Then, in honor of the recently passed John Lowe, I hope to look at the sibling dynamics of the Bundrens with excerpts from his essay "The Fraternal Fury of the Falkners and Bundrens." (No one is expected to read this 30 page essay but me, it's just an fyi reference.) Vardaman is the brother "looking in" on the other three, so that's why we need his perspective. The novel begins with Darl (who has the most chapters at 19) and ends with Cash (4 or 5 chapters). Jewel gets only one chapter... I can't wait for the discussion on that! :-)

[Cheryl Carroll]

I don't have my notes in front of me, but I believe that Vardaman has the second largest number of chapters.

[Cheryl Carroll]

Michael Gorra, author of The Saddest Words: William Faulkner's Civil War has a series of presentation through the Smithsonian. Virtual Meetings, Mondays 645pm - 8pm. Classes are $25.

Monday Aug. 21st was TSTF, which I missed. I am going to these last two -

Sep. 18 - Light in August
Oct. 23 - Absalom, Absalom!

Here is the link to Carl Rollyson's interview with Gorra, back in 2021. "William Faulkner's Civil War, a talk with Michael Gorra."
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh...

Here is the link to the Smithsonian page for more information:
https://smithsonianassociates.org/tic...