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/lit/ - Literature

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15416573 No.15416573 [Reply] [Original]

Guys, I'm losing steam on this one. Sure, it has some pretty passages, cinematic imagery, detailed human interactions; but it's so hidden and buried underneath mostly tiresome prose and confusing dialogue. Initially, my brain is telling me reading shouldn't be like this, or at least just not for me. I'm not giving up on it but I'd like to hear your thoughts on this book.

>> No.15416593

It's for people with more auditory imaginations.

Try reading it aloud.

>> No.15416639

Put it back and learn to code or something instead

>> No.15416660

how much more difficult is Sound and Fury than this?

>> No.15416664

>>15416639
Books on passive aggression?

>> No.15416757

Faulkner was a tiresome projecting cuck who couldn't write

>> No.15416825

>>15416573
I enjoyed this book a lot and I'm an ESL. Up your game, pleb.

>> No.15417309

I thought it was beautiful, and it led me to read The Sound and the Fury, which is even more beautiful.
If you hate it, I guess slamming your head against the wall and continuing isn't gonna work. How far did you get?

>> No.15417809

>>15416573

I remember I tried it about a decade ago and just couldn't get on with it at all. I knew almost immediately that he was really good. (The moment that clinched it was the end of the first chapter where she says "when she sees me watching her, her eyes go blank". Great stuff.) But even so it was just too hard.

But then after a few years I happened to come across The Sound & The Fury at a friend's house where I was staying and I read that and loved it, and thought hmmm OK let's try AILD again so I tried it again and it went like cream, absolutely no problem. Not sure why.

I think it really helps to know the vocabulary and the details about living in the time and place he was writing about. Because it IS hard, so that extra bit of difficulty just makes it impossible. Also it really helps if you can them speaking in the right accents.

But mostly, if you really hate it, just put it aside for a bit, I guess.

>> No.15417819

>>15416660
way more, the first 80 pages switch time periods between paragraphs and it’s all from the perspective of a retard

>> No.15417837

>>15416573
I read the entire thing in two sittings, back to back with a short break in between. I loved it. If you don’t, that’s ok. To the opposite of what Faulkner himself said, I think I’d you do not enjoy reading it, you shouldn’t. At least in the case of fiction, I believe.

>> No.15417935

>>15416573

AILD isn't the sort of book you want to slog through. If you're reading, say, a calculus textbook, even if it's hard and you don't enjoy it you can still derive benefit from fighting through it. But AILD is not like that. You need to be able to read it quickly and HEAR their voices, and you should also find it funny (as well as sad). If you don't, you'll get to the end and just think "so what?"

Maybe try some easier Faulkner first, like Light in August?

>> No.15417976

>>15416660
More, but it's not very difficult.
The only place you'll get lost is Benjy's part, but you could easily just go to wiki and read up on the chapter either before or during to know what is going on.

>> No.15417989

my mother is a fish

>> No.15418508

>>15417309
>>15417809
>>15417837
>>15417935
Thanks for the replies. I'm at page 100. I'm getting by thinking of it like Lost was when it would change sequences like fast dreams and flashbacks

>> No.15418521

>>15416573
As I Lay Dying is babby-tier Faulkner. If you can't make it through that one, then just give up.

>> No.15418530

>>15418521
>Gatekeeping literature
Cringe loser

>> No.15418541

>>15418530
just being honest ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

>> No.15418548

>>15416573
First time I gave up after the first chapter with the retarded kid. Second time I got through it all. There are four chapters, each one is written extremely differently. The point is all in the prose and writing style, the plot barely matters, the point of this novel is exploring different perspectives on the same world.

>> No.15418555

>>15418548
oh fucking woops wrong book, i meant this one
>>15416660

>> No.15418578

>>15418548
>the plot that covers the dismantling of a family is not important
alright then

>> No.15418596

>>15418578
Yes.

>> No.15418664

>>15418596
>interconnected storylines that stretch between chapters
>you cannot understand what happened or why it happened unless you follow the literal plot
>details how, why and when the family destroys itself
>somehow doesn't matter
dude, i place aesthetics above everything, myself, but don't be stupid

>> No.15418690

>>15418664
For me, the point of TSATF is exploring different perspectives on similar situations. The actual situations, or "plot," is just a background structure. Embodying the narrative inside different characters means we never even get an objective view of the plot - unless of course you count the appendix Faulkner added in later editions, which from a detached point of view summarize the plot and what happened after. That this was not even part of the book originally supports my argument.

>> No.15418736

>>15418690
>similar situations
in what way? that they are in the south?
and no, i wouldn't bring up the appendix, although i never got the feeling that it summarised the plot at all

>> No.15418749

>>15418736
The book literally shows several of the same exact situations from multiple perspectives in different chapters, dunno what else to tell you man

>> No.15418805

>>15418749
no, it shows some, at best.
the chapters aren't even in the same timeline, the best thing you get is quentin remembering shit about his sister.

>> No.15419345

>>15418541
Gay

>> No.15419605

>>15416660
Read on its own The Sound and the Fury is more difficult, but if you read up on a few key events that are only ever hinted at beforehand, it's not so hard. As I Lay Dying, on the other hand, is hard to read regardless of what you know.

>> No.15419619

>>15416573
I never understood the appeal of Corncob. So convoluted and muddle-headed.

>> No.15419621

>>15416825
You enjoyed it BECAUSE you are esl. Faulkner is for melanin-enriched subhumans.