Reddit Trashed My Favorite Writer | RESPONSE

[@tarnim80]

I will NEVER trust a book review that starts with "I had to read this for school and i hated it". Of course you won't like something that you feelt forced to do. It's sort of like leaving a travel review by saying "I was kidnaped and brought there against my will , I hated it. Never go there!". Btw, you made me put this book on my tbr. :)

[@HAngeli]

Indeed.

[@hellofriend545]

So just starting this video, so Idk if he mentions it, but the fact that Faulkner said he wrote the novel from midnight to 4:00 a.m. over the course of six weeks and that he did not change a word of it is the funniest shit ever and was totally in line with me, an overworked high schooler’s experience. I hated it at first, bc I felt so shitty from sleep deprivation, and I felt bad, bc I could tell this was a worthy read. But everything changed when I heard he wrote it like that. Suddenly, I was listening to another exhausted person telling me a hilariously absurd tale of disgusting misadventures with a corpse.

[@darrenfleming7901]

That's the thing though, I've personally rarely enjoyed the books I was assigned to read in school, like I had one teacher with really good taste that made us all read actual classics that were enjoyable and you could clearly see why those books are endured and remained well respected for so long, but the vast majority of the stuff I read actively made my opinion of reading worse. Even decent books can be painful to read because of the context. I think the reason I basically only read fiction nowadays is that the complete garbage non-fiction books I was forced to read when I was younger completely turned me away from that kind of literature. It's such a failure of an education system when compulsory literature classes actually make people hate reading instead of encouraging them to read.

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

"I was forced to eat ice cream when my belly was full and that's why all dessert is disgusting"

[@samuelbird7151]

Dude In my friends circle only one of them reads no one in my workplace reads I blame schools for this they rip the joy of reading from kids it's brutal I love reading and the discussions around books however unfortunately rare those discussions are as I lay dying is not trash I think it's over rated I read true grit immediately after as I lay dying and it was way better but for kids to read as I lay dying at school is brutal kids should read the something like the old man and the sea something equally poetic thought provoking and easily digestible

[@althechicken9597]

High-schooler: *reads the book once(probably half assed)* "ANYONE WHO FINDS MEANING IN THIS TEXT IS JUST MAKING UP MEANING FOR THE TEXT"

[@kevinsundelin8639]

I mean, isn't that how books work in general? Interpreting is technically making up a meaning

[@boopdoop2251]

It’s only “making up” a meaning if the meaning wasn’t the intended meaning for the story. If it was intended, you aren’t the one making it up, you’re just reaching the conclusion the author intended you to reach.

[@DarkHunter047]

​@@boopdoop2251 How could you know that it wasn't "intended"? And if it wasn't, why that meaning isn't valid?

[@PeebeesPet]

@@DarkHunter047They didn’t think that far or at all.

[@PeebeesPet]

@@kevinsundelin8639There’s a difference between meaning that stems from interpreting the source text through reflection and analysis vs meaning that one just wantonly creates. “Making up” carries the stigma of the latter.

[@Colin-kh6kp]

I had a teacher in high school who had a pretty incredible speed reading and retention talent. He would let every student pick a book every month, read all the books and create custom tests for each student. That must have been a hundred books a month. Amazing teacher.

[@jamesmeow3039]

Surely he used spark notes? If he actually read them all he's a savant who should probably get an IQ grant

[@maxkproductions]

@@jamesmeow3039 I mean not really. a lot of people are just quick readers or have good memories.

[@ConeTheBoss559]

​@@jamesmeow3039 Have you seen the average booktoker?

[@GalacticReads]

This has actually convinced me to read Faulkner.

[@ManCarryingThing]

That is amazing and I am so happy :D Honestly this post created a lot of interest in Faulkner, and that is amazing in itself. At least people are talking about books!

[@GalacticReads]

@@ManCarryingThing exactly! The Sound and the Fury has been on my tbr for too long, but I was put off by the mixed reviews. Now I think that's actually a good thing. I like it when a book's divisive - especially if I'm on the side that likes it! We'll see haha

[@ManCarryingThing]

@@GalacticReads I love the Sound and the Fury! But definitely divisive. And same, when a book gets strong reactions, either positive or negative, I'm more inclined to read them. Life is too short for mediocre books

[@GalacticReads]

@@ManCarryingThing 'life is too short for mediocre books' - I need this on a t shirt. Too true. Give me something that makes me FEEL, even if that feeling is hate XD

[@lilacrain3283]

@@GalacticReads Did you end up reading Sound and the Fury? It’s legit my favorite novel of all time

[@firebreathingllama]

It's always bizarre when somebody approaches critiquing classical literature like the AVGN does a shitty game lol

[@Inanedata]

That checks out yeah, I hadn't thought of it like that till you said it.

[@itsmebeter3538]

there's an pretty incredible(ly bad) goodreads review of a visit from the goon squad i'm thinking of right now.

[@FantasyTalk]

I fully believe that "I didn't like this" doesn't mean "this is bad" but I will say I do much prefer strong opinions to soft ones. The OP took it too far by saying that anyone else that likes Faulkner is wrong, dumb, etc. Honestly their criticism makes me want to try and see why Faulkner is living rent-free in their head lol

[@ManCarryingThing]

That's awesome they inspired someone to pick up Faulkner XD Honestly, I enjoy seeing some passion, especially when it comes to books. I think it only fuels curiosity.

[@RockySmithsen]

But what if the best things in your life were just regular things that you happened to like a lot?

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

@@RockySmithsen welcome to being an organism, I personally don't much like shit but flies adore the stuff 🤷

[@RockySmithsen]

@@shinobi-no-bueno that's fair

[@purplewine7362]

@@shinobi-no-bueno one man's shit is another fly's treasure

[@fuzzydunlop4513]

As I Lay Dying was one of the most badass books I’ve ever read. Also they made you read as I lay dying in high school? That’s fucking sadistic

[@hellofriend545]

Faulkner writing a book stream of consciousness from midnight to 4:00 a.m. over the course of six weeks and not changing a word of it: haha literature Me, an exhausted high schooler, writing essays stream of consciousness from midnight to 4:00 a.m. over the course of six weeks and not changing a word of it: haha high academia standards up in this b*txh

[@alexm8859]

I also had to read it in high school though I regret not enjoying it just because it was forced on me. I will definitely read it again.

[@cheer90099]

"bizzare, abstract idiot" is going on my tombstone

[@chainthunder083]

This is what I really disliked about r/books, probably half of the posts are just people shitting on books they hate, because that gets upvotes. It feels like all the posts are written in an overly exaggerated style to purposely start arguments which is kinda irritating. I don't mind if people make posts about disliking books where they point out what they didn't like, but doing it in a professional way is so much nicer.

[@tylerharrell9862]

"My mother is a fish 😳" 😅 honestly the more I hear Falkner rants, the more I want to read him.

[@martinbiglieri]

so read him

[@TheSuckoShow]

"It's so poorly written in every way" is one of those digs like "It's like a five year old made these graphics." It just... doesn't mean anything.

[@The_Ex_Boxing_Nerd]

"I will not give this fool another second of my life," the original poster says before writing more about this so-called fool, presumably in what took at least 1 or more seconds.

[@RedTriangle53]

They are a very quick writer and did not edit their comment.

[@The_Ex_Boxing_Nerd]

@@RedTriangle53, So do you think they wrote the comment in half a second? Your reply to me took at least a second. That guy wrote much more than that…

[@RedTriangle53]

@@The_Ex_Boxing_Nerd My replies to you are taking 0.68 seconds precisely

[@The_Ex_Boxing_Nerd]

@@RedTriangle53, *Precisely* 0.68 seconds per sentence for you. So you took extra time to time it? If you’re basing it off of your words per minute, then that would be the opposite of “precisely” as it is an average and inherently approximated. Imagining you are him, you wrote 3 sentences after saying you wouldn’t spend one more second. That would be roughly 2 seconds and realistically 3.68 seconds considering one sentence was the length of both of your replies combined. Regardless of making two into one, you would have given at least 1.36 seconds of your life to complaining about something you don’t want to give any more energy to. This is imagining that you are indeed him, which I highly doubt. If you are not him, then I wonder how you know how fast he is at writing. Not editing it means nothing because he could have written it out before hand and checked for mistakes before posting it. My initial point stands that it took him more than 1 second to continue complaining about a writer he apparently didn’t want to give even 1 more second of his life to.

[@RedTriangle53]

@@The_Ex_Boxing_Nerd yes, I took roughly 0.26 out of those 0.68 seconds to time it. Sadly it is impossible to know precisely how many of those were spent actually writing, which is why I reported the upper bound of 0.68 s.

[@ShipwreckedLibrary]

Wish I felt as passionate about ANYTHING the way this person feels about hating Faulkner. I can only imagine that they have recited that entire reddit post (word for word) to every single unfortunate date they've ever been on, and I picture them wearing round thin rimmed glasses and a Carhartt beanie with a jean jacket slung over the back of their chair while drinking a flat white at a very posh cafe that also sells very tiny cake pops for $8 and their sign one of those chalk boards has written "don't talk to me until I've had my coffee" on it and the entire time their date is too afraid to say that they're pretty chill with Faulkner. It's Twain they personally hate. Also, now I really wanna try Faulkner........

[@ManCarryingThing]

Oh my god...you know this person, you must. Or I do. Why did you just describe every LA cafe so perfectly? lol. The $8 dollar cakepops? Honestly, all of us are this person about one topic or another (for me...politics). And look! You want to read Faulkner, so some good came out of it after all!

[@Three_Blind_Dice]

It takes a great writer to make something that someone hates so vehemently that they begin to hate you as a person, not to mention hating everyone else who likes your work

[@ManCarryingThing]

Honestly, you hit the nail on the head. This kind of passionate, rageful reaction would have made Faulkner proud. At least people are reading and feeling something real

[@itsaUSBline]

Wouldn't that qualify Stephanie Meyer or Ayn Rand as great writers? I'm not sure this criterium holds up in every case.

[@havewissmart9602]

@@itsaUSBline Yessssss. You worded my words soo well. Thank you

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

@@itsaUSBline no, because it doesn't make people write that much about it and it doesn't create controversy with its thoughts. Since most people dislike it there isn't much conflict opinion wise.

[@abhyudaykrishna9714]

that's dumb as shit lmao, being controversial doesn't make something good

[@mohammedsuliman8072]

Ok “My Mom is a fish” being the entire chapter sounds dope AF , I wanna actually read the book now

[@transfo47]

As I Lay Dying is a masterpiece. The frame narrative of the entire book detailing the journey of a family transporting a corpse while they all go through their own cycles of death and rebirth in the events surrounding the hearse is magnificent.

[@club2772]

Reddit's a series of echo chambers kinda. One of my friends pointed this out to me when asking reddit for advice. Ay ur laptop blue too. Blue laptop squad?

[@ManCarryingThing]

Ayyyyyyyy blue laptop squad let's go (reddit is like twitter, every now and then the same opinions get recycled again and again, the same hot takes over and over)

[@joeblow9657]

You mean Jane Austen and the Harry Potter series aren't the epitome of English literature

[@h_curly6384]

@@ManCarryingThing I have a reddit account and I noticed that depending on the general social climate r/books can either be pro literature or against it. Recently there’s been a resurgence for more creative fiction but generally this changes when it becomes too popular of an opinion. Its weird because most subs follow this general pattern of joining a hype train and then going against it and defaming it.

[@michaelwbell442]

Whoa! Hey! My laptop is blue! Can I join squad!?

[@s0rtaananym]

'echo-chambers' describes most of the internet

[@MilesWilliams88]

There's nothing better then reading a "hard to understand" book... It's rewarding! I'm reading through Blood Meridian right now, and while I feel like I'm way too much of a dumbass to even scratch the surface of the book, trying to figure it out has been one of the most rewarding reading experiences I've had in a long time. I can't wait to read some Faulkner sometime soon, also!

[@ManCarryingThing]

Blood meridian is brilliant!

[@smokemystogies9063]

Mccarthy was a disciple of Faulkner alright, but they do operate different realms nonetheless, I'm skimming back through suttree while reading light in august and I love the similarities, like how some of the characters are established ie brown is giving me more deranged harrogate vibes. Personally Faulkner impresses me on more levels but McCarthy's moments of streaming descriptive language communicating his wicked gnostic philosophy through nature are just so lucid he wrote some of the most pleasing literature I've ever read through, also undoubtedly some of the most disturbing

[@Guffaw9494]

Yep. This is why I get annoyed when people let contemporary trends in popular genre fiction define “good writing”. I heard another KZbinr say something along the lines of “writing has gotten demonstrably better each generation” like it’s trending toward some perfect type of prose over the arc of history. Everybody is entitled to an opinion but that sure seems to be constrained by a narrow view of what “writing” should be. I think this sort of opinion comes from a lack of curiosity in the art of writing and a vapid consumerist mindset where anything that makes you work harder when reading is worse because it stands in the way of you and the story.

[@anerrorhasoccurred8727]

I’ll admit that I prefer pretty straightforward narratives but to say any particular style of writing/art etc is “better” is pure ignorance 💀 especially if your only reason is because it’s new or popular

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

@@anerrorhasoccurred8727 you can enjoy bad things and admit that they're bad. That doesn't mean that there isn't objectively good writing

[@anerrorhasoccurred8727]

@@shinobi-no-bueno well, yes, obviously. But there’s a difference between “bad” and “style I happen to dislike” which some people don’t seem to realise even though they portray themselves as experts on the topic.

[@frederikl.4290]

How to fix everyones misery: Add a postscript that reads "This is a weird-ass fucking book-AND IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE"

[@epsilon6516]

The guy who made the post, “u/Karl_Marxs_Left_Ball” is my best friend and current roommate. He was absolutely plastered when he wrote this rant, finds it hilarious that it got as much attention as it did, and as of last year has finished his Bachelor’s Degree in history Magna Cum Laude. To this day I personally have no idea who Faulkner is, other than my friend still hates him.

[@inanimete]

As I lay dying is honestly one of my favourite books of all time, I can't understand why anyone would hate it. It's so human and honestly heartbreaking in parts.

[@Silviremon]

Forget Ulysses and go straight to Finnegan's Wake. I want to see this person go nuclear.

[@ForeverMasterless]

Never read Faulkner but I've encountered similar sentiments about my favorite author gene wolfe. His work is also rather confusing and takes work to suss out, and he's also made comments about how he writes his books with a second reading in mind. A lot of people have a visceral negative reaction to that approach to literature for some reason.

[@CmogVT]

probably because our society is so focused on consuming content that gets pumped out month by month that they feel frustrated that they might have to spend more time on one thing to get real value or meaning out of it which takes away time from consuming. therefore they will fall behind and not be up to date to talk about whatever meaningless trash was pumped out that month with their peers that do nothing but consume and/or produce the same type of content

[@LostinDiscovery]

Honestly was just a great advertisement for Faulkner for me lol. The last few minutes of this vid were on point, I'm definitely going to check out As I Lay Dying now :)

[@ManCarryingThing]

That is so awesome!! And at leasp OP was getting people to talk passionately about books! As I Lay Dying is a wild ride, and really short. You should definitely give it a read!

[@ryanschmidt5839]

Strangely, I can relate to the person trashing Faulkner a bit. I used to love reading as a kid up through elementary school, and even though I lapsed a bit in middle school, I felt like high school literature classes had their moments for me. On one hand, I hated vocabulary tests and having to spend an egregious amount of time reading through Shakespeare (I actually really liked reading them, but we read it IN CLASS, and it took forever to get through). On the other, I got back into reading again because I had some great teachers for the first 2 years where we went through To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies, and despite me not liking the fact that we were "forced" to read these books, I still really enjoyed what the books were about, and from that feeling this spark of inspiration to read again. Cut to junior year, and I had a teacher that was very much a piece of work (strangely not the worst teacher I've had, but this one ran a very close second). We had your usual groups of "slack-offs, jocks, nerds, and academics" in the class, where if you weren't one specific group, you were multiple (I was technically a mix of all of these, but besides that), and the teacher seemed to hate anyone who didn't give 200% to their class. They were one of those hardass teachers that would almost never give anyone an A for anything, but unlike other hardass teachers I've had like this where they "expected you to treat this like college", it never felt like you could improve, just struggle. My assignment grades ranged from A's to F's, and almost all the time I felt like my most rushed work did better than the work I felt proud turning in 90% of the time. There were TONS of stories people had about their interactions with this teacher, and while I have quite my share of stories to tell, this sadly isn't the place to tell them, and I'm not one to recite gossip new or old unless I have a valid reason (which I hope this will constitute as). Couple that with the fact that I was constantly sleep-deprived from staying up late playing games AND being on a swim team that practiced at 5AM in the morning, plus some insufferable kids in the class making hell for both other students and the aforementioned teacher, and you have one of my worst memories. Cut to when we had to read As I Lay Dying. It was tough, fucking bizarre, and mismanaged heavily by this teacher because they kept trying to push this book as one of the greatest things ever, only to be met by about 70% of the class being apathetic or just confused as to why they should like this book. But unlike other teachers where they would be met by this budding high schooler cynicism and either just brush it off or move on, this teacher took it SUPER PERSONALLY, and while I can't remember the specific timeline of when we read it, I remember just hating the whole experience, hating that class, and ultimately, hating As I Lay Dying because it did seem like this pretentious book that lay at the center of my problems, and I ended up keeping this opinion for a number of years. Skip forward to senior year of high school and college, and how I barely could read anything, to the point where I feel like I can't even sit down to read a textbook without taking a nap in between sentences. I can get super in-depth with movies or games that might explore interesting themes or give me these vibes that I love to discuss, but I felt so out-of-touch with my own logic because I felt like I had to simplify everything so I could understand it. I read Dracula for said high school senior year, but instead of really digging into the book, I ended up forgetting most of it and having my paper on it be more about how various adaptations tell the the story or depict Dracula himself. Part of me reasons that it just held my attention more, but I'd also argue that some of these adaptations were what made me analyze the themes of the book (and the concept of vampirism and how it applies to class, sex, etc.) sooo much more. And now that I've come across these videos, I've been trying to get back into reading again (to which I've mostly failed, but I plan to keep trying), and my opinion on As I Lay Dying now is that I should probably read it again of my own volition, not even out of obligation or pity, but more out of curiosity. Even if I don't end up liking the book or Faulkner as a whole in the future, I hope I can at least appreciate and respect it more than I did when I was a teenager who just wanted to get a good grade and not sacrifice myself to do so. Most teenagers (and college students) that I know don't wanna go out of their way to read books because forcing them to do something they might end up loving will immediately kill their interest. Let them read what interests them; or better yet, find a better system to get them to try these "classics" on their own that they might be interested in, like I did with Dracula. It won't lead to way more of them wanting to read stuff like As I Lay Dying, but it won't completely kill their interest in reading and have them groan when they have to think about required books.

[@Natsu-pv4jh]

2:57 Ahh the same old “anyone-who-likes-this-is-dumb-or-delusional” argument XD As a music fan I’ve seen people like the OP on online music communities too, especially when an album with a peculiar style is well received. Those comments make me want to ask them “you know people have different tastes right…?” lol

[@Inanedata]

I've been sort of irritating and actually had that conversation with a couple folks who said this sorta stuff. With the two I talked to they were geniuene in it, and they did not. The intensity of their dislike made em kinda short sighted, but they also quickly came along when I pointed out taste plays a huge role, ect. Far as I can tell it's just an opinion that comes from intensely feeling something and letting that opinion go unobserved. Which, y'know, we've all do that shit.

[@lizzycorvus5109]

I have no experience with or opinion on Faulkner, but that post is going into borderline Nostalgia Critic territory of rage, it's almost funny

[@antifantastisch4467]

That's the pain I felt when someone on Goodreads called my favorite author, Walter Moers, a Harry Potter rip off.

[@jesseopie6664]

I can upvote Faulkner here as well for what it's worth. The Sound and the Fury still strikes me as one of the most creative and interesting novels I have ever read. The pure beauty and the passion of the language is something I think you only find in the very greatest of writers and the way Faulkner is able to find this poetry and intensity in the life of a fairly unremarkable southern family is really an incredible achievement. Of course, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but it does sound like our reddit critic was probably just venting their own limitations onto the book and probably read it, as you suggest, at the wrong time of life. Reading says a lot about the reader as much as the writer, as we have to bring our own emotions, empathy, and imagination to it and it sounds like the reader in this case did not bring much of an effort to it. Of course, once again that is the reader's right, but it says a lot more about them than Faulkner.

[@smokemystogies9063]

Yeah man I still remember how powerful and vivid an image was evoked once I finally pieced together benjis first ~paragraph, the ball and the fence. In my opinion literature probably never had a greater mind

[@joeblow9657]

3:07 I like Faulkner and I think that's a fair criticism. I don't agree but I can understand why someone would think that.

[@SandrasLibrary]

I’m tickled you’re so passionate about Faulkner to post this video. The disgruntled student seems to be only parroting the thoughts of their similarly disgruntled colleagues. I find in my life,when it comes to most matters of the subjective nature that they can only be truly appreciated and understood during exactly the right season of life. This person hasn’t experienced enough of the world to open themselves up to it.

[@ManCarryingThing]

I'm glad others find amusement in my frustration! Lol. And absolutely, anyone who discredits other people for liking another type of art has some growing to do. I'm glad that OP got people sharing their opinions on Faulkner. I'm all for people expressing themselves passionately, and this person definitely did!

[@dahliaparks1779]

I recently read As I Lay Dying after seeing it on a test prompt in high school (currently in my 2nd college semester) and I don't wanna judge, but this sounds more like misunderstanding that this book is abstract. It's planned crazy and that's good! If you look for order in this work, you're not gonna find it. I think that's why OP was upset. In a novel about grief, pain, and confusion, they thought it would be far more clear in its direction.

[@LaPtaVerdad]

The author of the comment is just amazing at trashing authors xD

[@TheCodeXCantina]

As I Lay Dying in High School feels a bit too early in my opinion. “My mother is a fish” chapter made me laugh pretty hard the first time I saw it. I like the first opening statement of TSatF compared to what it became. It was really fun to see some of the changes to try to better represent a sensory view of life was very interesting to me.

[@ManCarryingThing]

The Sound and the Fury is definitely an amazing novel, but it appeals more to my writing/analysis brain rather than emotionally. You can tell he's attempting very new, exciting things for a novel -- and watching the creativity leap of the page is amazing in itself. I still don't think anyone should start with that book, though, because most people think ALL of his books are as alienating as TSatF.

[@9Kualalumpur]

There's something wholesome in passive-aggressive Internet feuds about books

[@ClaeFace]

I just can’t imagine being this mad about anything tbh

[@Richardiii2]

People should start with one of Faulkner's short stories, like "Barn Burning".

[@whawhawhawhaaaa]

I've been reading for years now, and I've read books that I love and books that I don't love. But I have never read a book that when I finish I said "that sucked". I just can't imagine reading something and immersing yourself in the writers and characters head and coming out the other end hating it so vehemently.

[@Zack-xv2yc]

*Collen Hoover??* That poor excuse of a "romance author" might completely change your mind, as much as her books had completely changed mine.

[@Chimera-man-man]

Came to this after reading As I Lay Dying and this is incredibly funny to me. Loved the book honestly, Darl might be one of my favourite characters after reading it, but my god I cannot imagine giving it to a teenager to read.

[@JoshuaGramm-ur9re]

POV: you just failed your Faulkner essay

[@ianboard544]

The logical question for the reviewer would be for him to name a work or a writer he _does_ admire.

[@milicadiy]

I had three Faulkner books on my Goodreads TBR before this. I now put As I Lay Dying on there too and I'm going to read it ASAP. Thank you for this unusual advertisement.

[@ManCarryingThing]

Nice!

[@ChadRFoltz]

I read As I Lay Dying after I graduated from high school on my own, and I only read it once and it made Faulkner one of my favorite writers. I think this person is just upset because they had to read a book for school and it was difficult, which admittedly it is. I don't know. I know I hated plenty of books I was forced to read in school that I now love. So...

[@willing1043]

I read the entirety of As I Lay Dying in one night because I had to start an essay on it the next day. It was bloody brilliant. One of the most satisfying ways I’ve read a book ever, with many cherished memories of cackling insanely at “my mother is a fish.” Got a 100 on the essay too

[@chadvonswan]

I read as I lay dying. I didn’t really care for it at the beginning but by the time I finished it I absolutely loved it

[@MrBulletGuy]

To be honest, As I Lay Dying isn't anywhere near the most obtuse of Faulkner's work. The Sound and the Fury is still the only time I have ever had to completely give up on a section of a novel (Quentin's section, obviously). For me personally, As I Lay Dying was actually incredibly approachable. I had a professor who introduced it as a batshit insane ride of a book, and because of that I was able to let go and enjoy the ride of it. I also appreciated how it's broken into chunks that are easier to process than plowing through a monolith of a large chapter. I think the reason the book is taught in high school is because it's a pretty good example of how wild modernist literature can be while still being relatively understandable, at least conceptually.

[@cassiaprior453]

Honest, I'd go to this post and like it just cause this person took the time to bash that author so passionately it's almost poetic. This reminded me of The Scarlett Letter, which I thought was the trashiest trash in human history, after "La acrtiz que nadie queria" which will forever hold first place. However, I agree reading for school vs reading for pleasure is different and once I picked up the Scarlet letter again... I still hated it, but I kinda understood it better so now I hate understandably.

[@TheVCRTimeMachine]

I read "As I Lay Dying" once and finished it and thought, "God, that was awful! I have NO IDEA what was happening!" Then I thought, I really want to be able to understand Faulkner, so I checked it out from the library again, but this time I read every chapter and after each one I would read the sparksnotes summary of the chapter. After about the fourth chapter I realized I was following along and then just finished the book and thought, "That's one of the best books I've ever read!"

[@stevenbetz2041]

That post was prime r/bookscirclejerk bait.

[@rasmusforchhammer9557]

Having never read Faulkner, that excerpt was quite interesting, I thought, though I did kind of lose the meaning of the last part. Maybe I'll pick up that book

[@debrachambers1304]

When people say something takes multiple reads/watches to understand, they don't usually mean it takes multiple passes to understand at all anyways. They mean to fully understand it. You can still critique the novel for being incomprehensible, I'm just critiquing the critique of that statement.

[@aaronstark5060]

I first read Faulkner in 11th grade for a book report. We were given a list of books and had to choose one. I chose The Sound and the Fury because it sounded interesting to me. I didn’t know anything at the time about Faulkner’s reputation. I had heard of him, of course, but knew nothing about him. So I was %100 not influenced by the reputation surrounding him as I was unaware of it. I was gobsmacked at how brilliant it was. It’s not hyperbole to say that book changed my outlook on literature forever. It was the dividing line between me subsisting on a steady diet of Stephen King and YA fiction and diving head first into more dense literature, leading ne to the likes of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Thomas Pynchon and countless others. That was 26 years ago and I never looked back.

[@allesvergaengliche]

Kid’s lucky it wasn’t The Sound and the Fury 😂

[@kevinsundelin8639]

I honestly agree with the reading over and over point the OP made, if you have to read something over and over to understand it, it's probably not a very good text

[@janhrubin4595]

I agree with most of what you said. A better choice for high schoolers would be Light in August since it's written in conventional prose and has a cool story, and I actually read it in high school and loved it. And since then, I also read and loved Faulkner's books The Sound and the Fury, Go Down, Moses, Sanctuary and As I Lay Dying (twice), and I'm now reading Intruder in the Dust. I get that Faulkner's stream of consciousness style can be confusing, but trying to understand what Faulkner tried to say and trying to submerge your mind in it can be rewarding in the end.

[@sampletext8614]

Having never read Faulkner books I saw this video and paused at 6:40 to read the passage the commenter highlighted as evidence the book is unreadable. As I started reading it, I thought it was brilliant and started laughing. Sounds like an interesting book. Maybe someday.

[@oldtimejustin7131]

I enjoy your videos. I especially like the content on William Faulkner. I’ve only read a few short stories by Faulkner but I plan on reading more.

[@PanglossWasWrong]

I didn't know Holden Caulfield had a reddit account!

[@tesset8828]

That reddit post is such a huge cope. Some things take effort to read.

[@JPH1138]

The only Faulkner novel that I have read is Absolom, Absolom!, that I just happened to see at a secondhand sale. I grabbed it because it was ~50 cents and I had heard he was a great writer. Although the beginning was impenetrable and the structure strange, it won me over aggressively. It doesn't seem to be one of his better regarded books, and is possibly a companion piece to other works, but I felt like it was one of the best books that I've read for exploring themes totally through subtext and what's implied. There was no aspect of preachiness - in fact, it seemed when characters made bold statements the reader were meant to disagree with them or at least be highly critical or suspect of what they were saying. He took a hackneyed framing device - of the real story being told to the narrator by another character - and inverted it after a couple of chapters by other characters taking up the narration, culminating with a guy who knows none of the people of the people involved but frames his speculations as certain fact. It's incredibly bold writing, to explore the idea of how mythologies start by drawing your attention to the artifices of his own narrative. Not many books have left me thinking about their content for as long as that novel did. I really should read some more.

[@Skimaskkass]

it seems like one of his better books from what i've known, huh. his late works like the hamlet seem like the stuff that gets trashed on

[@antonychigurh8939]

knowing the professor taught “As I Lay Dying” as a postmodern text, and given the online discourse surrounding Postmodernism, I’m willing to bet OP approached the novel with some B I A S.

[@opinion3742]

Hey, some people still insist that the world is flat.

[@hellofriend545]

Faulkner writing a book stream of consciousness from midnight to 4:00 am over the course of six weeks and not changing a word of it: haha literature Me, an exhausted high schooler, writing essays stream of consciousness from midnight to 4:00 am over the course of six weeks and not changing a word of it: haha these be some high academia standards up in this b*txh

[@a.a677]

The top comment on this Reddit post saying this was written by the ghost of Ernest Hemingway made me laugh so much xD

[@brettmentzer8731]

Ok. What author can create an image like this: I ran down that hill in a vacuum of crickets like a breath traveling across a mirror. Absolute genius! WF is my fav

[@lmaolmao4456]

Reading As I Lay Dying in high school is only good when it is taught really well, otherwise it’s painful and not enjoyable

[@BrittanyGates]

I agree that Faulkner isn't for everyone. He can be difficult to understand, and you may have to re-read a sentence or paragraph a couple of times to understand what's going on. However, he's an awesome writer and I highly recommend him to anyone interested in Southern Literature or Southern Gothic. Finally, As I Lay Dying is a great example how certain women shouldn't become mothers and will put their families through tremendous trouble to get "revenge" for being a mother.

[@MotiviqueStudio]

I really had no dog in this fight but once you got to "Greatest dereliction of duty" I seriously laughed.

[@nwadentrepairpaintlessdent2603]

I listened to Light in August on Audible after hearing how great Faulkner was, and if not for Will Patton's great performance I would have never made it through the whole book. It was agonizing trying to force myself to finish.

[@unladenswallow43]

Can’t wait for you to read Malazan. 🌝

[@Rynewulf]

I mean I didn't like Of Mice and Men in high school when we had to slog through that, but that doesn't mean I'm dumb enough to assume everything that author ever did was bad. Or even that that book was bad: I was forced to read it and I doubt I would have been interested anyway so its not like I was the intended audience

[@anth636]

I wanna read OMAM again on my own without needing to squeeze meaning out of every detail.

[@miketacos9034]

"They don't know how to be, but it do." -Man Carrying Thing

[@boreduser2843]

i agree, an entire chapter of "my mother is a fish" is so fucking cool

[@LuisAlbertoRodriguezGoff]

Brother, I came to this video looking for some sort of review of Faulkner’s writing. The quality of his prose. Thinking that he may have a style similar to Doyle. Yeah. I do not yet know if your video makes a case for reading Faulkner or not doing so.

[@ajwickham7917]

I tried Faulkner for the first time recently, reading "The Sound and The Fury". Ended up being a bit of an intense read and I'm still wondering if I at all really got the point, ahaha. That said, I would like to try more and wonder which book of his would be good to hit next? Still though, I feel a bit for this kid. I remember reading The Great Gatsby in High School and the experience gave me a completely irrational dislike of the novel, though I'm sure that was more the fault of the teacher and coursework than anything.

[@depressedtv]

I WOULD define The Sound and The Fury as Post Modern.

[@puz369]

This reminds me a lot of Gene Wolfe. The difference is, rereading Wolfe is what makes his books even more captivating the second, third, ad nauseum time around!

[@SonofSethoitae]

I'll admit, I tried to read As I Lay Dying and I disliked it intensely. The style is aggressively not for me. I just don't like the way he wrote the characters. Faulkner may not be for me. Which is weird, because his influence on Cormac McCarthy is both obvious and profound, and I love McCarthy.

[@ianboard544]

If I hadn't already read it, this would have convinced me.

[@noahgolden4381]

Thank you now I will be giving Faulkner a try. The fish chapter does in fact sound dope as hell

[@rdklarnet55]

Every time you reference William Faulkner i think of Peter Falkners emmy speech…epic.

[@distinctloafer]

I understand his frustration, just didn't thought I would say it.

[@johnradovich8809]

Maybe he read somewhere that Trump liked the book.

[@cyberburnzy]

I read Blood Meridian By Cormac McCarthy and found out there were similarities, or that McCarthy was somewhat influenced by Faulkner. I had only read a couple of short stories by Faulkner and it was so long ago that I don't remember much about them. I started reading Light in August by Faulkner 6 days ago and I am finding it to be pretty awesome. Also I am thinking back to being in highschool and college and what an close minded evangelical idiot I was. I started improving my critical thinking skills and chipping away at the dogma throughout college.

[@Jenna.Im.Just.Saying]

Okay, I've watched almost all of your videos now & the one thing I find weird is that so many people were required to read so many books at school. The only book I remember having to read was Anne Frank. College was a different story, but I picked classes like Harry Potter & Mythology.

[@TrashMetal1995]

Yep, you're right. Faulkner's not post-modern, he's considered a modernist writer. To me those two are very different; for instance, I am completely fascinated in modernist literature, whereas I never really got into post-modern literature.

[@MrRumcajs1000]

I haven't seen a single comment explaining why in their opinion the book is good - everyone's just saying how bad of a place reddit is or how the reason the guy disliked the book was because he was forced to read it. In that sense his criticism still carries more substance than this video and these comments (at least the ones I've been able to see) put together. Kinda funny if you ask me.

[@bloodyhell8201]

It'd be a worthless addendum because it's just that - an opinion. Just like OP's post.

[@MrRumcajs1000]

@@bloodyhell8201 Nothing is truly objective, everything is just people's experience. Giving context to someone's opinion about a book gives other people more opportunity to clash it with their own experiences rather than being arbitrary with no way to relate to it. It's not worthless, quite the opposite. OP gave a pretty elaborate context to his opinion and I relate to his experience, I 'understand', and I don't even need to feel the same way he does about the book for it to work.

[@nemaiemoskalia]

I never read this book but boy, My mom was a fish and the passage about emptying yourself for sleep does sound unnecessarily pretentious and kinda dumb so I understand that reviewer and I totally agree with your point at the end of the video) btw this man who's been carrying things makes the smoothest video endings ever, love them!

[@joonas.roosalu]

Can't get my eyes off that computer, it's looks so purple! I guess it was actually blue? What is that thing?

[@ManCarryingThing]

lol just a cheap plastic cover i think

[@mcman8694]

My mother is a fish.

[@carbonc6065]

Thas was insane ... Thanks for defending Faulkner & Literature in general!

[@eanayac]

I haven’t read As I Lay Dying! I did find The Sound and the Fury very confusing and hard to follow…

[@Tolstoy111]

The first section is. At the end it becomes clear.

[@leirycpanizales5254]

I get how people can thrash your favorite author. I mean I disliked reading King's "The Drawing of Three". It just killed my desire to read any King Novel.

[@chriswick7987]

I promise anyone on this planet that if they read “Absalom, Absalom” 3 times, they’ll understand

[@clairemitch4301]

Preach!!!!

[@ManCarryingThing]

Hell yeah!!

[@maxmclain8572]

Definitely fair to say you don't like stuff, or even say its bad despite it being widely studied and acclaimed. The way the OP writes about their opinions though gives off big "the curtains were fucking blue" anti-intellectual energy which really frustrates me when I see it talking about any work. Anyways, this video bumped up The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying on my bookshelf queue, lol

[@dugonman8360]

I think of stuff in a duel nature: objective and subjective. People seem to think everything is subjective and that is, no, STRONG NO! there is an objective quality to something and a subjective measurement of your enjoyment. Objectively, there is no argument that Faulkner was a highly gifted writer. But that kind of conversation is crap and lame. I like the subjective conversation and why you like or dislike something.

[@theopenmouth9695]

what a cesspool

[@godfunk]

It’s amazing how Faulkneresque some of these comments are