William Faulkner Books

I thought this was the book that dealt with a bear and a woman forming a relationship. This novel that I am talking about describes very well what it's like. I was quite disappointed with this novel.

"The Bear" by william faulkner was an extreamly slow paced book. Many of the sentances ran on for two pages or so, and became incomprehensable. Faulkner seems to ramble on aimlessly, failing to reach distinct points. There were some good double meanings in the text, but if this is what you like, look at James Joyce. This was a failure.

It was O.K

First off, the editorial reviews are on the wrong book, 2nd these are cliffs notes for the short story "the bear" found in Go Down Moses' by william faulkner. As for the "the bear," in my opinion it is a very difficult piece to read and i would recommend cliffs notes for it.its good to attempt to read through the actual book, but its a pain.faulkner trails off on the most myriad of details and takes 2 pages to explain something that could easily take only half a page.i've never used cliffs notes before in my life, but i needed them for this book. This is the opinion of an accelerated junior in high school who just wrote a 13 page term paper on this, so you can determine for yourself if this info. was useful.

All I want to say is this book is so boring. All I wanted to do when I was reading it was shoot myself in the mouth with a pistol to end the constant eternal boredom. I think all it was trying to do was impress a few academic kooks who live in an academic bubble. Yeah well its boring.

...American Dreams in Mississippi is cultural (not economic) history. It is not about the reasons for poverty, but rather what it MEANS to live in a state that is perpetually impoverished while also living in a nation that bills itself as the Land of Opportunity. In this book, Ownby seeks to redefine the very concept of the American Dream. As his title suggests, there are in fact many dreams. Young and old, men and women, blacks and whites, rural and city folk all experience these dreams differently, and Ownby gives a voice to them all. With all due respect to the late C. Vann Woodword (who I am certain Dr. Ownby has the highest regard for) American Dreams in Mississippi goes beyond the boundaries of conventional history, asking questions historians have never asked about the South and using new kinds of sources like clothing, furniture, cars, and song lyrics as well as literature, general store ledgers, and obscure state documents to break new ground. The chapter "Men Buying Cloth" reveals the important discovery that Mississippi women, contrary to the national stereotype, were historically not consumers. The section on slave purchases is, to my knowledge, the only study of its kind, and the discussions of blues culture and Civil Rights boycotts add a fresh perspective to those topics.

If some parts of this book require a little effort on the reader's part, it is only because Ownby's research and documentation are so thorough that he provides not just one but many examples to back up each point. As Ownby lays out in his first chapter, the book is also grounded in solid theory. More works of history should be so "dry." I urge all readers of this book -- especially graduate students in history looking for an excellent example of their craft -- to stick with it. It is well worth the journey.

Dr. Ted Ownby of the University of Mississippi has attempted to explain the social patterns of Mississippi from 1830-1995. In doing this, he has focussed on the buying patterns of the state's public. Through analyzing extensive sources and census records, Dr. Ownby has attempted to show that the buying power of poor Mississippians and the state's econommic caste system led to political differences between black, poor white, and wealthy white Mississippians. In analyzing buying power, Dr. Ownby has failed to take into account C. Vann Winwards famous essay on Race and Economics (1956). In Winwards address he stated that the caste system was much more racial than class. The buying power of black Mississippians was not effective because they were poor, but rather they were poor because they were black. Dr. Cecil M. Cooper's 1989 groundbreaking analysis : Dollar's and Cents Segregation : Black and Green in Rural Mississippi, speaks along the same lines. Dr. Cooper has stated that Black Mississipians and poor white Mississippians had little access to wealth. However, poor white Mississippians had more access to credit. Credit was denied to African-Americans for the most part. If not denied black credit was used agaisnt black poilitcal efforts. Although Dr. Ownby's work attempts to tackle a very important issue, race and economics, he fails to give a coherrant documentation on buying power froom 1830 -1990's. His reasons for choosing those dates are also unclear. It is one in a long line of academic books that fails to drive at the real reason for race division: social class. More research and documentaion are needed for this book to successfully overcome its deficiencies.

Graham Swift's Booker prize winning novel is an unashamedly disguised version of Faulkner's brilliant novel. It has some of his finest passages in it including the famous one-line chapter of mothers being a fish

This story is both complex and well written through the use of perspective, but its complexities do not make it a good story. Personally, I feel it is a story that does not even need to be told. The characters are backward and hard to understand. Initially you feel as if all of the facts and details that are included will lead to an interesting end, but it is not an ending at all just a weird closure. Basically it is a story of a bunch of hicks that carry their dead mother around in a coffin and learn of their mental incapasity to deal with it.

Yoknawpatawpha County must have been a sorry place tolive. God's Country? I hope not. Faulkner has some good books, butthis isn't one of them. Somebody hit these people with the stupid stick. In the sequel, Dewey Dell's works in the local cathouse and wonders why she's got ten kids. Cash has more concrete in his head than on his leg. Vardaman is still dumb as dirt. Addie is still dead and stinking up the county. And teachers make you read this stuff?

This book is wonderful! Anyone with any intellectual ability could see that! :)

very bad book. would not recommmend reading it. He just drags the story on and not very interesting.

This collection of short prose pieces was originally published in the _New Orleans Time Picayune_ in 1925; however, I'm not sure that Faulkner would be entirely pleased that they have been re-exposed to the light of day. The writing is rough, even amateurish, and the story lines of the pieces are often trite and stock. But in spite of the general weakness of the writings, there are thematic elements and character types in the pieces that would reappear in Faulkner's mature writings. What is absolutely amazing is that just two years after the publication of these mediocre writings, Faulkner had published two novels and was deeply involved in the creation of his masterpiece, _The Sound and the Fury_.

Prof. Singal has an interesting thesis here, one well worth exploring, but his book needs more focus. Singal wanders from psychobiography (including some ill-fitting speculation into Faulkner's neurological problems!) to literary analysis to critiques of other Faulkner critics. Singal ends his study when it reaches the midpoint of Faulkner's career, essentially saying that Faulkner did not write anything interesting after 1942 or so--and while this well may be a valid opinion, asserting it without substantiating it is a cop-out. At times I felt I was reading the work of a talented undergrad rather than that of a tenured professor.

Readers interested in more rigorous studies of Faulkner's life and works should stick with Blotner's *Faulkner: A Biography*, Brooks's *WF: The Yoknapatawpha Country*, and Frederick Karl's relatively recent *WF: American Writer*.

This book is a very good comination of two of the greatest works by William Faulkner. The Sound and the Fury is carefully written using stream of consciousness refering to a sibling of the family. Even the very last sentence can easily take the reader back to the very first sentence. It is beautifully written, as well as As I Lay Dying. As I Lay Dying is written in many perspective's of each person in the family. The full story is obtained through reading through each person's mind and opinions and happenings. A suprise ending adds to the punch of this book. Both of these novels (combined into one book) are stories that critics and others seem to love, cherish, and remember for a long time.

While studying John Steinbeck I came across this book and was glad to find a book that treats "In Doubious Battle", "Of Mice and Men", and "The Grapes of Wrath" together in one volume. I was, however, totally disappointed. The book consists of several abstracts of essays that are available elsewhere in full. The selection of essays does not seem to make any sense and the essays are not commented. The aim of author seems to be to make money out of other people's essays. If you want to learn something about John Steinbeck, do not buy this book! Look for essays elsewhere and look for other books. There are better ones!