/lit/ - Literature

>>22101828
I think The Sound and the Fury is a better novel. It's true that Faulkner was definitely better at writing prose by the time he got around to Absalom, Absalom! There are a lot of great passages and turns of phrase in the book, and it's much more rare that he comes off sounding purple compared to TSATF.

But Faulkner achieved much more in TSATF, it's much more unified and complete. The decline of the South is witnessed directly through the eyes of the Southerner types ranging from Benjy to Jason to Quentin. Mostly in Quentin's section but all throughout the novel the thematic parallels to Macbeth expand upon their reactions to the destruction of their culture, and it's especially relevant today considering how willing we are to see those from different cultures as morally reprehensible (especially whites, especially white Southerners).

>>20132299
Absalom, Absalom! as others have mentioned has his best prose.
But in my opinion the best part of Faulkner isn't his prose. It's his ability to place you into the shoes of very misunderstood or unfortunate or damaged people and see the beauty and the despair they see and empathize with their plight as human beings. For that, The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom! are the best. Barn Burning is a great short story, as is The Bear. Don't let the stream-of-consciousness stuff scare you. It's not that difficult; you just need to approach it as a task that you may have to spend time to parse, as you do with many great pieces of literature.

>>18352673
whoops, this pic instead