Faulkner Books

I've heard people talk about the best approach to reading Faulkner, and the best book to begin with. I don't think this is a good book to start with - too much of Faulkner's previous work crowds this text for it to make sense to someone without exposure to some of his earlier work. But I think the Snopes trilogy, and especially this book, is some of Faulkner's most important (and most neglected) work.

The Snopes trilogy follows the fortunes of the Snopes family, and especially Flem Snopes, as they invade and virtually conquer Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County. The trilogy starts with The Hamlet, published in 1940 before Faulkner was a Nobel laureate and a famous author. This book is often considered one of his great works, and I recommend it. The second book in the trilogy, The Town, is a bit less interesting because it focuses so much on Gavin Stevens and his obsession with Eula Varner Snopes and then her daughter Linda. I suppose I got a little tired of the dirty old man staring at the little girl thing.

Anyway, in The Mansion, Flem has risen to the presidency of one of Jefferson's two banks. He lives in the old Sartoris mansion (hence the title) with his daughter (since his wife committed suicide at the end of The Town - sorry to ruin that book for you). As the book progresses, Gavin Stevens moves closer to Linda, though they don't seem to end up together. And Mink Snopes, a cousin of Flem who killed his neighbor Jack Houston in The Hamlet, is getting out of prison (through the intervention of Linda Snopes and Gavin Stevens), and he wants to kill Flem.

Basically, the book jumps back and forth between these two components: the Gavin/Linda exchanges, and the Mink Snopes quest for revenge. Mink is an illiterate sharecropper who seems incapable of sympathy or remorse for his earlier murder or the murder he wants to commit. But in this book you start to feel bad for him. Sitting in a truck, hitching his way across Mississippi to buy a gun, he has to ask the driver to do the math for him to help him figure out how old he is after being in prison for almost forty years. He's too old to be useful to anyone, and so out of touch with the changes in the world around him (cars, for instance, were a novelty when he went into prison) that it seems a miracle that he finds someone to sell him a gun. He has enough principle not to steal from the former-Marine preacher that he runs into, and the preacher gets him his stolen money back and finds him a ride to Memphis.

For me, this book is worth reading for Mink Snopes. He's almost/sort of a sympathetic character here, and the whole trilogy starts to unravel a little when we get inside the head of a Snopes, and we start to feel bad for him. He has a lot of real problems - he's a terrible racist, though near the end of the book he goes to work for an African-American cotton farmer and seems to be social with them. But he rescues this book from being just the fantasy of an aging writer about a voluptuous young woman.

I should also mention that this book really ruins Ratliff as a character. The whole business with the tie really annoyed me, and made this homespun Socrates into a hick.

I think this is a flawed book, but interesting to people who are looking for more from Faulkner. Like another reviewer said, a lot of Yoknapatawpha shows up in here, such as Jason Compson from The Sound and the Fury and Clarence Snopes, who has a small but funny part in Sanctuary.

If you're looking for a good Faulkner book to start with, I think Light in August is good but a little long. Or Sanctuary, because it's so sensational.

William Faulkner wraps up the epic saga of the Snopes family by telling the story of the monstrous Mink, a convicted amoral murderer and victim of counsin Flem's conniving ways. Several other characters from various other stories come and go, allowing Faulkner to wrap up another Jefferson tale or two. As is the case with all of Faulkner's tales, the story has a deeper significance to the human condition. Highly recommended.

"the mansion" is faulkner's memorable conclusion to the excellent snopes trilogy. Although it can be read on its own, it is best appreciated as the third in a series.

Let me first start by commenting on the trilogy as a whole (you can see my reviews on the first two books). This trilogy provides excellent overall background to all the novels of faulkner. In it he talks about most of the main characters of yoknapatawpha county, mississippi which run through all of his work. "The mansion" in particular ties many of these people and history together. In addition to that, it tells the fascinating story of the snopes family.

In "the mansion" faulkner retells most of what has occurred in the prior two books. This allows the reader to enjoy this novel on its own. For the trilogy reader he makes it interesting by changing the point of view. In "the town" v. k. ratliff tells the story of mink snopes and his murder of jack houston. In the retelling in "the mansion" the story is told by mink himself; a totally different perspective. Faulkner also, in sections of the book, reverts back to the omniscient narrator in this book whereas in "the town" 3 individuals tell the story from their perspective. point of view is one of the most intriguing aspects of faulkner's style.

In this novel, he concludes the stories of the main snopes' characters and other characters in the trilogy. There is a clear air of fate that doesn't appear in the other novels. The story centers on mink, linda, and flem. Each ones destiny is irreversible. Even gavin stevens is fated to become a co-conspirator in murder.

As before, we never see into the head of the main character, flem snopes. He has clearly become bored with life as he defeated everyone in his way to becoming the most powerful person in jefferson. Why, at the end he takes no steps to save himself from mink is described by ratliff like rules of the game he has been playing. Is he also bored with life?

Faulkner is a masterful writer. This trilogy is not his best work, but it is excellent literature.

This book (The Mansion) was my first experience with William Faulkner. I plan to read more. Despite his tendency towards long sentences that are impossible to parse, Faulkner has created an extremely compelling story chronicling 40 years in the history of a family and a town in the deep South. Having been raised in the South (although certainly long after the setting of these events), I found many of the characters, and certainly some of the attitudes towards the rest of the world, eerily familiar.

This epic of the rise and fall of the Snopes family illustrates the tremendous impact a single family can have on a community, especially when that family is driven by naked ambition. In the course of his narrative Faulkner also reveals how the inhabitants of a small town in the South viewed such events as World Wars I and II, the New Deal, and the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement.

Although this book is the last of a trilogy, I found it to stand on its own very well. In fact, the first chapter stands on its own and is worth reading all by itself - in my view it's a near-perfectly constructed short story.

Surprisingly enough, I found The Mansion to be the best novel in Faulkner's impressive Snopes trilogy. Flem Snopes, the devious and underhanded antihero of The Hamlet and The Town is on a crash course with Mink Snopes, the unbalanced family member whom Flem allowed to be imprisoned for murder nearly four decades earlier. The paths of these two characters converge with fascinating inevitability, as Gavin Stevens and Linda Snopes finally arrive at a crossroads in their own relationship. The Mansion is a satisfying conclusion to a story that spans over forty years in the history of Jefferson, Mississippi; the Snopes trilogy is a must-read for Faulkner fans.

This was an interesting story. I have read a large number of World War Two historical fictions and this is the first time I have come across this topic. The detective is a good character, sure there are a lot of stereotypes with him but we all expect that and the author uses them to his advantage. The ending was a bit fast; a few more pages would have done the book justice. Overall a good effort that should not take you too much time to read. If you are a fan of this author then you defiantly should read the book

By far the best of Len Deighton's works, SS-Gb works so well because Deighton focuses upon the ordeal of an "everyman" character. In this instance, a detective who becomes caught up in events that are out of his control. A must read for anyone interested in alternative history tales.

I have enjoyed, as far back as I can remember, fiction dealing with a victorious Germany in WW2. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I read Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" when I was 8. SS-GB is one of the classics in this sub-genre of speculative fiction.

Britain invaded and under the heel of the Nazi jackboot...what does a career detective do? If he resigns, who will look out for the rights of the people and track down those who are truly guilty? There is still real crime in a conquered country, after all. Is there a time to sacrifice the duty of a policeman for the greater good of the country as a whole?

That's a good part of the appeal of the novel; that is, how does a man of virtue and honor deal with this situation? Especially when one is trying to get the King out of the clutches of the Jerries and on to the USA to give the British Empire a figurehead to rally round. Can it be done? Buy this novel and find out....

That's the setting for this novel. It's 1941 and Germany is victorious, at least in Western Europe. The US and Germany are not at War. Deighton mentions one of the characters in the book, Barbara Barga, a US journalist (and later the love interest of the main character) having come over to the UK on the inaugural London to New York Lufthansa flight. A flight he slyly mentions Himmler and Goring were on. What business these German power brokers had in the States and who they were meeting the author does not say, nor is it in the least bit important to the story's plot. It's just a neat way of providing information in passing, and to me, shows how attentive to detail and how much fun Deighton has with this 'alternative history' or 'What if' novel.

The story centers on Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer of Scotland Yard and his Sargeant, the elderly Harry Woods who make up the 'Yards murder team, and who are called in by their German superiors to investigate what looks like a simple murder case involving a blackmarketeer. The case quickly develops into something with a wider scope. The SS in Berlin shows interest and sends a senior officer, Standartenfuhrer Huth to supervise Archer. The underground movement, politicians, the German police, the SS, a small resort town in southern England, the King and finally US Marines all have a role to play in the unravelling of the plot.

Ambition, greed, love, jealousy, and political plotting are all motives that drive the characters along. The characters are not stereotypical. Huth, far from being evil SS is one of the more principled, sympathetic and even likable characters in the book.

The only complaint I have is the rather rapid tying up of loose ends in the last few pages, it feels forced. Also, Archer having proven how smart a detective he was throughout the book, suddenly seems rather naive and daft even, as Huth has to explain all the political machinations and subtleties of the plot to him.

SS-GB is undoubtedly Deighton's best work of fiction. The basic premise presupposes a Nazi victory over Great Britain sometime in early 1941, (Presumably after a failed evacuation from Dunkirk and a disasterous Battle of Britain.) The story itself takes place later that year and earily accounts a Nazi occupation of England. While the protagonist falls a little too often into the 'cop on the edge' cliche, the fast paced plot, centering around the rivaly between the S.S. and Wehrmacht, will keep the reader riveted. Must reading for all fans of 'What If' history and more than enough tension for readers of international suspence.

Quite frankly, I was only interested in this book because I'm an avid Karen Ranney fan. I purchased this book with reluctance, not one for scary stories. I opened it with even more trepidation, having no affinity for vampires.

I started with Ranney's story and really LOVED it...it's so poignant and romantic. I like how the female main character falls in love with the vampire she can feel but not see (Ranney lets the reader "feel" him too).

The other two stories are also engaging...and even romantic. Don't be put off by the title or preconceived notions and think you won't like these stories. They're not scary or bloody, just good.

You must buy this book if only for the Last Story A DANCE IN THE DARK. This is the one where the heroine... is not pretty (ugly is the word she uses and others in the book). Excellent dialoge, very thought provoking. You don't even know what this Vampire looks like until the end, but you still fall in love with him. Go figure, who can write a story like that! I've read many romance anthologies, but this is definitely a keeper. The last story is so deep, not your normal romance short story. It is gentle and kind. He is also not your run of the mill "suck your blood vampire" no spoilers...gotta read it. It is a terrific variation on a Vampire stereotype. Grab it while you can.

After Midnight is an anthology by three popular authors. The picture on the book is positively SCOURCHING!!!! A dark & deadly vampire is hoovering over a woman who is only to eager to succumb to that unearthly passion. YIKES!!

Now onto the three stories.

Karen Ranney's A Dance In The Dark is very good. A lonely, charming vampire falls in love with a Regency lady who believes herself to be ugly. This story is filled with tenderness, sadness and redemption. Enjoyable read!

Colleen Faulkner's Highland Blood is also very good. An 1898 vampire must learn to control his dark cravings when an American beauty pays a visit to his Scottish castle. This story has an element of mirth to it. The heroine plainly doesn't believe that the man she is hired to work for is a vampire. That is until certain things begin to happen . . . Very, very good!

Carol Finch's Red Moon Rising is about two people who are concealing a dark secret from each other. This story will keep you on your toes!

Grab yourself a copy and simply enjoy the dark side of love!

RED MOON RISING was a delight by Carol Finch. The dialog was witty and even humourous at times. Seth was the vampire whose greatest wish was to find at least one gray hair on his head. Matti aka "Mishap Matti" because of her propensity for accidents was darling. Both had secrets from one another but the love story was so sweet. Very good!

HIGHLAND BLOOD was also very good. Gordon Fraser was due for his 100 year 'appointment' and was expecting an expert to come and restore/repair water damage to his Gutenburg bible. He was expecting a man - E. Bruce MacDougal - the E. unfortunately for him, stood for Emily and not only was she a woman but she brought along a female companion as well. This story was VERY VERY Good and I was most interested in the solution they came up with that broke the vampire curse!

A DANCE IN THE DARK - Karen Ranney's contribution was most excellent! Not your typical gorgeous heroine come to save the vampire's soul - but an heiress whose face was not attractive but her heart and soul were shown to her to be her most beautiful assets. The intelligent dialog is what will entrance you and - I would love to find the continuation of this story! Where oh where is it Ms. Ranney?

I enjoyed this book, although I especially enjoyed the final of the three stories writen by Karen Ranney titled "A DANCE IN THE DARK". I found this final story to be much more absorbing of the three, Usually the main female character in this style of romance novel is physically aluring(you know the sexy with glasses type). But in this story the main female character was portrayed a real "ugly duckling" with a heart of gold and an exceptionally educated mind. It shows us the readers that all the wealth in the world can't buy real everlasting love and true happiness, and she finds it in the most inobvious place...from a recluse with a dark,horrifying secret. This story is well writen and worth reading, even if you dont usually like vampire romance stories. Now if I could only find the conclusion to "A DANCE IN THE DARK" !

Exile's Return

This is a book of essays, anecdotes, and observations. They are primarily concerned with the 'Lost Generation' of American writers who spent time in Paris between 1918 and 1930. Donald W. Faulkner provides the Introduction and Cowley, who made some revisions to the 1934 publication in 1951, writes a note on the text.
I imagine that many of the 'senior citizens', such as myself, will have some sense of familiarity with the subject matter. A few may have read the book in the days of their youth. Unless they are experts on the subject they will find Cowley's intimate perspective interesting, and they will enjoy the easy accessible style of the writing.
For younger generations it may not be the best introduction to the period. The names Hart Crane, Harry Crosby, and Edmund Wilson should have some resonance, as well those more familiar ones such as Hemingway and Fitzgerald.
Appendices include A Selective Chronology of Events from 1915 to 1934, and A Tabular History of the Literary Life, 1924-1949.
Many detailed works on the authors and the period have been written since. Cowley's perceptions do not date, as they are more of less contemporary rather than historical. But it must be said that they do not provide a suitably informative introduction for those readers not already familiar with the territory.

Cowley was the ultimate in a thinking,toughly idealistic American living a literary dream in an epoch which permitted the indulgence. Jaggedly incisive as a writer, Cowley decided instead that editing was his prowess and observation his art. So he proceeded. Much romantic lore has been made of the many great American authors inhabiting the Left Bank scene in Paris in the 1920s. Exile's Return makes sense of the historical, literary and personal sequence of events leading to this decade-long picnic, and transforms the legend and nostalgia into the movingly profound minutiae of everyday life and thought amongst the loose collection of free spirits who changed modern conceptions of Western literary art forever. Artistic and intellectual achievements notwithstanding, "une generation perdue" comprised some very desperate and talented people trying to make sense of a world gone mad and define themselves within the insanity. A lot like now. Imagine an author being able to account for the global, tragic complexity emblematic in 9/11 and explain its implications for humanity and civilization's expressions. Flash back eight decades and you have Cowley's subject matter and his accomplishment. Let's hope someday somebody equals Malcolm Cowley's formidable ability to observe and explicate, and make us love, in retrospect, a loveless and temporarily hopeless age as it finds its way into our favorite novels and poems.

I had expected EXILE'S return to be more of a straightforward history of the Lost Generation, and was somewhat surprised to find instead a profoundly insightful, exceedingly well-written reflection on Malcolm Cowley's literary generation. As a result, many writers that we associate with that decade, e.g., Ernst Hemingway, receive almost no mention, whereas others, e.g., Hart Crane, get a considerable amount. The highest praise that I can bestow on this book is that in looking now at the poetry and literature of that period, I feel much more at home in their world than I did before reading Cowley. A marvelous book in man, many ways.

Cowley was many things: author, poet, editor, reviewer, American expatriate in Paris. He was aware of his diverse past and constantly strove to contextualize himself within what was going on around him. Exile's Return was his first such attempt. In it Cowley recounts his experiences in such notable hot-spots as pre-war Greenwich Village and inter-war Paris. Moreover, he examines the movements of which he was a part within larger historical/literary/artistic trends.

There are some things to bear in mind with this work, however. Cowley returned to his past often, and often his return would bring re-evaluation. While there is some evidence of this habit across the various editions of Exile's Return, the trail of revision is more apparent by comparing this work against other retrospectives (Dream of the Golden Mountains, View From 80, etc.).

Another issue with Cowley is that he (as most, especially Modernist, writers) tends to favor his own position. That is, he perhaps exaggerates his own part and importance. This tendency becomes controversial within the context of his chapter on Harry Crosby. While they were clearly acquainted, Caresse Crosby (Harry's wife), among others, thought that Cowley didn't know Harry well enough to write what they considered a spurious account of Crosby's last days.

However, even with these negatives the book is highly recommended. In it, one gets a concise introduction to Modernism, important figures in the expatriate movement and inter-war Paris, and pre-war New York. Further, one receives a context of how these movements and people fit together. Among Cowley's works, this is one of his finest.

i strongly recommend this book to anyone who needs more insight into the idea of a lost Generation

I should probably start by saying that I'm not a fan of romances - this is the first I've "read" (I picked the audio book up from the library due to boredom and limited choices), and I'm afraid that aspect of the story did not inspire me to seek out more. I didn't take that into account in my rating, though, since most people looking at this page probably *are* romance fans and not interested my personal genre biases.

That said, the story was enjoyable and the characters engaging, though (with the notable exceptions of Elen and Munro) they were a bit 2-dimensional for my taste. Lately, I've been reading mostly historical fiction where the emphasis is on research and accuracy, so the anachronisms in this novel were a bit disconcerting. For example, there were numerous mentions of "clan tartans" 500 years before that 19th-century tradition began.

Still and all - and this is probably my genre bias talking - it was better than I expected. It did pique my interest in that historical period (I've read about the Viking influx in Ireland, but not Scotland), so I'll probably try to find some good non-romance historical fiction in that area.

This is the first I have read of a romance histroy or that of Colleen Faulkner. I have felt like I was there with them in the flesh. A must read.

This is the sequel to "Highland Lady" which i really enjoyed. In this book we get Anne's story. She is the bastard daughter of Robert the Bruce sent to live with Elen and Munro from the first book. The hero of this tale is Munro's bastard son. He didn't know he even had a son until Tor shows up after his mother dies. She made Tor promise to go to his father and he feels he must do just that to honor her. He is half viking and holds a big grudge against his Scot father. Munro honestly never knew about him and it makes for a good story to see them become a family. Anne is a very straight forward young woman, she takes after Elen, and she wants Tor. He is also highly attracked to her but they beleive they can't be together for several reasons. This book has humor and tendersness and passion in it that make it a wonderful story. I loved the fact that the author brought us up to date on what Elen and Munro had done with thier lives and it was nice to see that they still cared as deeply for each other as ever.

I also liked the secondary characters of Tor's brothers and would like to read a book about Finn in the future.

Colleen Faulkner never disappoints a reader! Highland Lord is a great book. I didn't want it to end. It made me cry and laugh, and I thought the unusual romance plot was wonderful. Faulkner's characters leap off the pages. I'm ready to buy a ticket to Scotland this minutes. Those who enjoy a well-crafted historical with a strong heroine and tasteful sensuality will love this story.

A Faithful Faulkner Reader

Fans of Colleen Faulkner's HIGHLAND LADY will easily recall the heroine's vicious sister Rosalyn and her plot to destroy those around her. Rosalyn had arranged her own kidnapping with the aid of Lord Munro Rancoff's younger brother, manipulating him to her will. At the conclusion of the novel, Monro's brother died and Rosalyn had been shipped off to a nunnery to live out her existence. Young Anne, the illegitimate daughter of King Robert the Bruce, had also arrived to wait for the time she's old enough for her father to marry her to an appropriate alliance.

HIGHLAND LORD begins eight years later when the bastard son of Munro arrives demanding acknowledgement. The son of a Norsewoman, Tor Henneson prepares to fight, to argue, and to overwhelm his father with his rage and resentment for the man he believes to have abandoned himself and his mother. Rather than questioning his son's claims, Munro immediately ascertains the truth of his son's words and accepts him as his son. Tor demands coin so that he might return to his mother's lands. Munro promises a rightful share of his wealth when Tor proves himself worthy to a Forret.

In the weeks that follow, Tor finds himself torn between his old heritage and this new one. He also finds himself quickly falling under the spell of the beautiful Anne. But Viking half-breeds aren't ordinarily allowed to marry daughters of kings, legitimate or not. But dark trechery once more brews in the highlands, threatening to lay waste to its lands and people in a bitter plot of revenge.

A richly textured novel, HIGHLAND LORD blends the strengths and the power of HIGHLAND LADY with a new generation. While strongly influenced by her guardians, Anne has her own independent ways. She doesn't wear the man's garb that Elen favors, yet she speaks her mind and maintains her independence admirably. Tor's initial anger and resentment mellows into a powerful yet loving character that will delight romance lovers. His newfound loyalties, his sense of responsibility toward his younger brothers, and his growing love and respect for his new family lends him a fascinating depth. Yet Tor also falls into the typical male approach to love, not recognizing a woman's desire for romantic displays of affection. After all, Vikings rule their women, and Viking women would never disagree with their mates.

The secondary plot will delight fans with the struggles of comparing a long-term relationship with the impetuous powers of a new love. Elen is still a fierce warrior woman who cares little for clean floors, yet is tempered by her passionate nature, wearing men's clothes and loving her husband deeply. She struggles with the changes that eight years make in a marriage, missing the passion of those first loving days; she struggles with the conflicts of duty and love that drain one's energy before going to bed at night. Her husband reveals the weaknesses many men fall into when in a comfortable relationship, neglecting to remind the woman of his heart that she is still the center of his world. Yet together, Elen and Monro give the novel a solid foundation for the fiery desires and independent thinking of young Anne and Tor. A wonderfully told tale of memorable characters, HIGHLAND LORD comes very highly recommended.

Authors Pat Avery and Joyce Faulkner have written a powerful story of a barbaric and savage treatment of American Army POW's during the opening months of the Korean War.

Flush from their opening week's victories over unprepared, poorly trained, and poorly-led American Soldiers, the North Koreans herded some 250 POW's onto a train north the North Korean-Chinese border in October 1950. Starved and beaten, the soldiers ran a gamut of emotions from giving up and dying, to attempting to escape. In the North Korean town of Sunchon, 100 soldiers were executed, and another 33 were executed later when the train came under fire from American fighter jets. With the train disabled, another 91 were marched north, with only a few finally being rescued by American forces.

Their book "Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivors" is a thoroughly-researched story which includes multiple interviews with the eight survivors still alive today. The authors concentrate on the stories of the individual survivors, as opposed to American or N. Korean strategy and tactics. The result is a human interest story that will appeal to a far wider audience than that of a normal "military book," which can only serve to get this story of bravery and courage into the wider audience it deserves.

I enjoyed the book but as a Marine Korean War Veteran I did find quite a few inaccuries in the descriptions of infantry tactics which I seriously doubt the U.S.Army would employ in 1950.

Ever since reading In the Shadow of Surabachi, I have been a big Joyce Faulkner fan. This book (in collaboration with Pat Avery) did not disappoint. Although very difficult to read at times due to the mistreatment and heartbreaking experiences of our soldiers, the book is a well-written tribute to the men who served our country during the Korean War conflict. Thank you Pat Avery and Joyce Faulkner for recording the stories of these brave men...so that we may never forget.

Pat McGrath Avery and Joyce Faulkner eloquently remind us that every war has events that should not be forgotten, remind us that war is hell no matter where, no matter when. Further, they tackle the subject in a way that keeps the voices of the Sunchon Tunnel Massacre survivors whole but still carries us through a event that many of us didn't learn about in school. Having said that, it is most certainly an not an event that we once knew about and forgot. That would be an impossibility.
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~Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award-winning author of This Is the PlaceThis Is The Place, HarkeningHarkening and TracingsTracings, books with themes of tolerance that complement this one. She also blogs on the subjects of warpeacetolerance at blogspot.

The term "HERO" is often debated and misused. Those who fit the term are reluctant to accept it. In fact, they are the first to tell you they don't qualify. Readers of They Came Home: Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivors by Joyce Faulkner and Pat McGrath Avery will find the story of the survivors of the Sunchon Tunnel Massacre a profoundly moving account of seven men who fit every portion of the definition of hero. I've been fortunate to meet five of them and found it a deeply moving experience.

Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivors is a true story of events during the Korean War. Avery and Faulkner conducted painstaking research. Both women interviewed survivors, survivor's families and worked with the United States Department of Defense to assure accuracy in its telling. Faulkner creatively weaves together the soldiers' stories in a modern-day form of Greek tragedy using the men's individual stories as a chorus. The impact is tremendous. These two writers have uncovered vital information.

This book should be in every school and college library. It should be mandatory reading material in every history classroom in the nation. Pat McGrath Avery and Joyce Faulkner have done this country a great service by telling this mostly forgotten story of incredible heroism, comradeship and survival during the Korean War.

"The Bear" in all of its versions has a secure place as a boy-coming-of-age story, one interwoven with a microcosm of the southern experience of race, racism and family history. The first half of the novella is the hunting story, and for Faulkner, it's pretty straight forward. The second half however, rehearses all of Faulkner's worst literary mannerisms (portentous vocabulary, over-wrought prose) as the adult Isaac McCaslin encounters the racial history of his family and tries to make reparation. This second section, which is not well connected to the first, is a delight for English professors. All the usual Faulkner themes are here: Biblical import, civilization v. wilderness, miscegenation, family secrets, boy and man culture. The laborious prose is intended to replicate the sense of torturous, sorrow-ridden history, but finally, it's just tedious. And it's difficult to tell if the author even takes it seriously. As if to ridicule the ambitions of Old Ben (the iconic bear of the hunt), Faulkner shrinks his hairy symbol (in the second section) to a scared young bear trapped in a tree, unable to descend because of the thundering daily train. Perhaps we are to see pathos in this "machine-in-the garden" motif, but most readers will just be relieved that the story is drawing to a close. Like many of Faulkner's novels, this one is over-rated.

Among Faulkner's best work, The Bear is more than a simple story of the hunt for an ellusive bear. Faulkner uses the backdrop of the hunt in 19th century Mississippi to show the progress his protagonist, Ike McCaslin, makes towards the unltimate achievement of man. Faulkner was convinced of the godd that man is capable of; Ike, the typical Faulkner youth seen in other works, shows this idea in full detail.
Ike begins his hunt as a young man, growing to accept the ways of nature as taught to him by a fallen Indian chief. The connotations of a fallen race abound in the story, yet they are no more obvious than in the detailed fourth chapter. Readers are advised not to merely skim this section; it remains one of the best testaments to Faulkner's ability to create some of the most complex material of the 20th century.

Three Famous Short Novels gathers together three long and diverse works by America's greatest writer (that's my opinion, others my contest it, I will only agree to disagree). Spotted Horses is a humorous tale culled from the pages of The Hamlet, the first novel in the famous Snopes Family Trilogy. The Bear is the expanded version of the somber and mythic hunting story about the killing a legendary bear that means so much more than just that. The final story is the exciting adventure yarn Old Man and was one half of the two conjoined novellas that made up The Wild Palms (aka If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem). Although each story has more power than many writers have in their entire output, they acheive even more when woven into the wide fabric of Faulkner's far reaching, generations spanning Jefferson, Mississippi. Required reading.

If you expected Faulkner's "The Bear" to be as difficult as "Pat the Bunny" you will be deeply disappointed. High school teachers may assign it in segments to English classes, but it is at heart an adult story, with deep seams of place and poetry. In this coming of age novella, the relationship between the boy Isaac and Old Ben the bear takes place against the backdrop of threatened forest land. Faulkner's passionate writing about the value of the woods rings true for nature conservationists today. The lengthy section on Civil War ghosts and the equivocality of inheritance, often considered an intrusion within the main narrative, also rewards careful reading. As for Faulkner's infamous run-on sentences -- well, here they are on full steam ahead, and even Faulkner's machismo is forgiveable in the context of his marvellous sentences.

This was a challenging story, like all works of Faulkner. But also a very rewarding story. When you finish this one you feel like you have been somewhere... truly immersed in a time period... truly immersed in a family.
No author, ever... has had the knack of creating a world of ordinary people so expertly intertwined throughout his novels. Faulkner either by design or accident (I doubt that??) has created a rich tapestry in his books, of characters subtlely connected by time and circumstance.
I have read The Sound and the Fury and most of Light in August; and it is not difficult to see the connections in just these two books plus the short story The Bear. Everything I have chanced to read by this amazing author has had careful, deep, intricate connections to the other works.
I know this is a well known fact... but the way in which Faulkner executes it, leaves me amazed each and every time I encounter it.
The Bear is a coming of age story about Ike McCaslin. It traces his development to a young man through several vingettes. Each time we see him he is involved in a hunt. That is until the last 2 sections in which we see him at age 21 looking back on his family history and discussing his right to the land. Once we see him as a young boy and then onward into his teenage years.
The story revolves around an aged bear who roams the forests and swamps where they hunt. It is interesting to see Ike develop as a hunter and man, as the hunters get closer and closer to the old bear.
There are many rich characters in this story.... far to many for me to touch on in this short review.
A big theme that impressed me in this one was how our personal history is inexticably tied to the land we grow up on. Ike McCaslin was, "who" he was because of where he was from, and he could never escape that fact.
Faulkner was an author unafraid to delve into the scriptures in developing his ideas. I believe his use of scriptural narratives only serves to strengthen his work. What he says, rings with authority when he uses Abraham, Adam and Eve as illustrations. He expertly uses the story of Abrahams travels to the promised land to show how his characters have squandered their "rights" to the land they grew up on... their "promised land".
There is no doubt William Faulkner knew how to put a story together. Any of his works, beg to be read again and again. I will surely be picking this one up again... I recommend it to anyone who loves books! William Faulkner is a giant in the world of literature!

Faulkner's literary reputation and legacy was cemented by the time this sequeal to The Hamlet appeared. He had also written all of his important works and was loosing his "touch", writing sequels to his more famous works and light weight nostalgic pieces (i.e. The Reivers). All in all this is still an important examination of the south, filled with the humor and horror that was Faulkner's trademark. Anyone interested in his body of work will have to read it at least once.

This is the middle book of the Snopes trilogy, and it seems like Faulkner has significantly changed his perception of the Snopeses. The Town and the Mansion were written much later than the Hamlet, and it's clear that they're written by a more complex person. It seems that the Jefferson of The Hamlet has an idealized honor that is being stolen away by the invasion of the amoral Snopeses. However, by the Town, the honor held by the locals is shown to be largely in their own opinion. We do see something slipping away, but it's not altogether clear that it's worth preserving. The shift makes for a much more interesting book.

Additionally, there's the maturation of Eula Varner, something beautiful in the South if not altogether pristine, and she is lost in this middle section of the trilogy. Her suicide says something about the South's willfull destruction, the outgrowth of a deal with the devil, but it takes some further mulling to fully absorb her.

There are three first person narrators guiding the reader through the news of The Town. Unfortunately, one of them, Charles Mallison, is an enormous yawn. Faulkner is usually fantastic with the first person children (Sound and the Fury, The Unvanquished), but his heart isn't in this one. Fortunately, the others are much more interesting and make the novel fly. Gavin Stevens is similar to father Compson in Sound and the Fury, and I believe one of the mouthpieces for Faulkner himself.

The Snopes trilogy is interesting in that it shows the maturation of a writer and the deepening complexity of his views. This trilogy didn't end up in the vein in which it was started, and that's a very good thing. Not my favorite Faulkner, but ambitious as hell, and that's the real reason to read him in the first place. When he pulls it off, there's nobody better. If you're already hooked on him, the trilogy is worth doing, unlike Sanctuary and Pylon, which are just downright miserable (regardless of what Sartre had to say about them, the putz).

'the town" is the second book in a trilogy written by faulkner on the snopes family. the 1st and second books were written almost 25 years apart. it is strongly suggested that you read the 1st in the series, "the hamlet", first.

in this book faulkner brings the infamous flem snopes from frenchmen's bend to the city of jefferson and traces his steps up the social ladder from superintendent to president of the local bank. The story is told thru the eyes of three characters ranging in age from a child to an older adult. the story deals with the thwarted lover of eula snopes, gavin stevens who attempts to free eula's daughter from the shadow of snopes name.

as usual, Faulkner finds ways to make the story telling interesting. He does so by having the tale told by two "observers" and one participant. The youngest, charles mallison, tells what he sees and what he hears occurred before he was born as told top him by his cousin gowan. He is given the task of speaking for the town and his perspective is objective and not tainted by personal feelings. Gavin stevens and v k Ratliff on the other hand speak only from their personal perspective. Faulkner takes the opportunity to use each of their differing points of view to leave open a debate as to what motivates flem. As usual, we never see into flem and can only speculate like stevens and Ratliff on why he does what he does.

What we do see is flem ridding the town of the baser elements of his own family while he attemps to raise his own moral and social standing. He uses and destroys everyone around him to get what he wants. At the end, he is all alone.

County Attorney Gavin Stevens and his relationships with Eula and Linda Snopes provide the centerpiece for this rambling, reconstructed narrative of the rise of the ignoble Snopes clan in the Town of Jefferson, Mississippi. The narration comes through the viewpoints of Stevens, his younger nephew Charles Mallison, and sewing machine salesman and all-round busybody V.K. Ratliffe. Stevens' rivalry with Mayor De Spain dominates the first section of the book, and shows how irrationally an educated man can behave when he is blinded by desire; any reader with an ounce of sensitivity will surely squirm at Faulkner's skill in combining drama and farce here. Later Stevens turns his attention to "saving" Eula's daughter Linda from a life of "Snopesdom" and continues making a fool of himself in the process. All the while, the inscrutable Flem Snopes continues on the acquisitive path he established in the first volume, The Hamlet, now setting his sights firmly on De Spain's bank. Can the sympathetic lawyer save Linda, or even himself?

Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County novels are among the best that American literature has to offer, and the Snopes trilogy is certainly no exception. Jefferson is populated with unforgettable characters, including (besides the above-mentioned) the many additions to the vermin-like Snopes clan - Eck, Montgomery Ward, I.O., and Wallstreet Panic Snopes. Some of these characters will turn up in other Faulkner novels as well, and collectively the books enrich each other, building up a depth of shared experience. Although Faulkner's focus is on men, and his women are often either absent or troublesome, this volume's focus on obsessive relationships makes this a fine selection for women readers as well - much more so than the horse-trading of The Hamlet, for example. And while this isn't the Master's very best work, it still easily rates 5 stars.

The Town is the second volume of Faulkner's Snopes trilogy, picking up the story from the moment of Flem Snopes's arrival in Jefferson, Mississippi. With the foundation firmly laid in The Hamlet, Faulkner is free to delve deep into the character of Flem, the volatile Snopes-Varner dynamic, and the fascinating interaction between Eula, Gavin Stevens, and Linda Snopes, the pawn in her father's plan to take over Jefferson. Not surprisingly, another host of Snopes parade onto the scene; but it is Flem and his underhanded, diabolical shenanigans that make this novel a joy to read. The ending is both humorous and seriously disturbing, paving the way for the Fall of the House of Snopes in The Mansion. One note: while the book jacket claims The Town may be read on its own, I would highly discourage it; trek through The Hamlet first before launching into it--it is well worth your time.

This is the first of Delores Brown's books I have read but I enjoyed it immensely and look forward to future books from this fine author. Why Wait for Heaven takes us back to a simpler time of community and family. The trials and travails of the family of Doc Andrus were both fun and interesting as a comment on life in the west at the turn of the 19th century. I would recommend this book whole heartedly.

I like the ways in which this author evokes the simpler attitudes to life and society that may have existed in the last part of the nineteenth century. Ice cream parlours, horses and buggies, crinolines and taffeta all have their roles to play in this romance.

Briefly, the story of Why Wait for Heaven is that of the six daughters (and one son) of an eccentric Washington doctor and his wife. The book follows the girls and boy from their early teens and sees them all married, with varying degrees of happiness and hardship along the way. Interspersed with the lighter romance are some occasional but startling insights into the racial attitudes of the time.

The author also raises some fascinating questions about the medical practices of the last several hundred years. She asserts that the some of the New Age trends of today had their origin in the late 1800s. These revolutionary opinions are championed in the book in the singular person of Lord Nelson Andrus, the father of the girls.

Altogether, Why Wait for Heaven offers a unique commentary on American social history. I read it while I was ill with the flu last month, and consumed it all in a single reading. For those few hours I was intrigued by the twists of narrative and frequently surprised by the turns of events.

Why Wait for Heaven is an easy read book compared to many of the other fictional works I have read lately. There is no violence, minimal reference to sex and it is just a "feel good" book. Its descriptions of the foothills of the Blue Mountains of central Washington can almost make you believe you are there. Having spent much time in Dayton where the story takes place I can assure other readers that the tales of the town could very well be real if they weren't fictional. This is truly a "Little House on the Prairie" type book set in a more urban location. It will leave you smiling and feeling good and wanting to read it again and again.

I have read all of Delores Cline Brown's books and Magazine articles.She continues to entertain me with her wit and knowledge of the Yukon. I have lived 12 years in the Yukon. Her ability to transform you to the areas she is writing about is amazing. Her latest book is of the same text. This is my first review. The life she leads is exciting and I am so glad she has shared it with the rest of us. I would recommend this book to everyone.

While browsing through a store looking for a new book to lift my spirits, a bright golden dust cover attracted my attention. The title was even more intriguing. 'Why Wait for Heaven' was written by Dolores Cline Brown. As I had read several of her nonfiction books - Yukon Trophy Trails, Pony Tails on Yukon Trails and Bonnet Plume's Gold - and had found her exciting drama and delightful humour always entertaining, I immediately purchased this latest book. And what a delight it was! To me, 'Why Wait for Heaven' is a must for the reader who needs a spiritual and educational lift. It provides a nostalgic desire for the 'good old days' when life was less complicated and more relaxing. 'Why Wait for Heaven' has it all and brings back the days of buggies and bustles and family ups and downs with the Andres family of Lord Nelson. Lord Nelson dedicated himself to alternative medicine in a counter attack to prosperous medicine shows that caused so much havoc and illness in those early days. His adverse concern to the old orthodox religion is an eye-opener for those following the new-age philosophy. 'Why Wait for Heaven' depicts those days when 'Let Me Call You Sweetheart', 'A Bicycle Built for Two' and many other oldies were the hits of the late 1880's. This book transported me to a time long before mine and yet educated me as to the very beginnings of alternative medicine. A definate good read!

A MUST HAVE FOR ALL EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE PROFESSIONALS OR BEGINNERS. THIS BOOK IS EASY TO FOLLOW AND YOU DO NOT GET LOST IN CONFUSION. NOT TO MENTION MY DAD WROTE IT...
GOOD WORK DAD,I LOVE YOU

This book is the best book I've ever read.The author has great insite to all you need to know and want to know.If your looking for a great read this is a "must" read.If you pass this one up you are truly missing out.I give this book a 10.

Where Faulkner's book consisted of handwritten notes, the 'English-Egyptian Index' appears to be poorly typed and thrown together. There are no hieroglyphics displayed whatsoever, making it useless without buying Faulkner's book as well (though I imagine that was the idea). The publisher didn't even bother to reprint the book with a phonetic font. All phonetic signs appear to have been penned onto the text, with occasionalty confusing character substitutions. Students again will have to make due, though. Just like Faulkner's dictionary, it seems to have cornered the market.

This book is exactly what I was looking for. It clearly shows the pronunciation and transliteration. If your looking to study Egyptian, this book is absolutely necessary.