William Faulkner - Troubled Literary Genius | Biographical Documentary

[@troopergray]

I have always been drawn to the writings of William Faulkner. His insufferably long, convoluted, tangle of words that many find off-putting and absurd resonated with me from the get go. Hacking my way through the thick thicket of his narratives - thinking the whole while I thought I knew where he was going in his storytelling - only to find he took me someplace I did not even know there was a there there. Somehow I found it comforting to be so lost. The way I find the clippety clop of a mule in trot comforting.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Yeah, rhythm is the key to writers like Faulkner - not that there are many other writers like Faulkner!

[@emilycorwith1119]

Here in the U.S. I think the fact that Faulkner was a southern writer adds greatly to his appeal. The mystery/tragedy of the south emanates from his work and as we are experiencing now politically the Civil War never really ended.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I think that is one of the difficulties for Faulkner for non-American readers - we might know something of the history but we don't have that intimate personal feel of the history.

[@dbarker7794]

Faulkner understood that the South has never stopped fighting the Civil War.

[@robertdean7950]

I have been a fan of Faulkner since I was 17 years old and read and wrote a term paper on As I Lay Dying. At 71 I am still mesmerized by his work. Thank you for the biography.

[@JayGideon-7]

When I was 19 I was happily snowed in, alone, at a family friend's A-frame vacation home. I felt competent as a reader -- before I read Faulkner. Over the next few days I forced my way through 'The Sound and the Fury' rereading nearly every passage, trying to decode it. At around the halfway mark, it all began to make sense. What a book! After finishing I went back to the beginning and read it again. The book was astounding!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

It's hard work - but once you get it - it makes sense and the beauty of the writing comes out.

[@JayAr709]

I admire your stamina, but then be sure to clear your palette, with a turn of Jack Vance, America’s preeminent prose stylist living or dead.

[@shujaagreen]

I feel bad, and applaud you for reading SATF first. When i read it, i loved it, but didn't understand it even 1 iota. When i was 19 I read Absalom Absalom, and till this day whenever I see it on the shelf I shake. I was living in NYC at the time and it was the last novel i read before picking up Ulysses.

[@EndingSimple]

This is the first in depth examination of Faulkner I've encountered. Thank you for it. Again we have it: the difference between what the artist produced and what the artist's life was. There's seems to be a deep strain of "fake it 'til you make it" in Faulkner. The fact that people could never tell whether he was telling the truth or not. (great training for becoming a fiction writer, I suppose.) Adding phony Britishness by adding a "U" to his last name. Coming back from a war with fake stories of heroism and wearing a uniform and rank he did not obtain while using a phony limp. Today that would be called "Stolen Valor." The phony plantation owning gentleman life he attempted. And yet out of that cauldron of a life he lived, he produced work that changed the course of literature. There really is no accounting for art. It comes from a variety of different people, and it strikes like lightning.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I guess that is why art and literature are so fascinating.

[@sonder122]

The comment to his daughter “Nobody remembers Shakespeare’s children” was dreadfully cruel. Whether born from self hate or callousness it was completely uncalled for and I can’t begin to imagine the effect it had on the girl. But then, I don’t think being the child of a great writer has as much going for it, as we of common stock, would believe.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I think she was used to the selfishness of both parents drinking - she turned out well - had three sons, bred dogs and was into fox hunting.

[@dbarker7794]

That comment by Faulkner was terrible, but ol' Bill was right.

[@mustlovedogs8179]

She didn’t turn out well if she was into fox hunting. A sadistic “sport.”

[@njd2342]

@@dbarker7794 Had Faulkner's granddad said it, he'd have been wrong.

[@joandolliedoyle775]

@@mustlovedogs8179Yes, fox hunting is cruel.

[@michelebrowne418]

In high school we had choose an American novelist and write a serious paper - at least three books, research papers and other criticism. A minimum of ten pages and we had all semester to do it, but half our grade would be based on it. I chose Faulkner because he was from the South as was my father. Wow, was I ever in for a surprise! I started with his best known novel, The Sound and the Fury. The first chapter (s) is told from the POV of a mentally challenged (trying to be pc here, there was another word used at the time)young man in Faulkner’s signature stream of consciousness style. All I could do was jump right in and see where the stream took me. Absolutely no point in hesitating or stopping to analyze. Ride the stream, rapids and all. By the time I had finished my paper I had boundless respect for what he had achieved and how unique he was in literature. I did a few biographical sources but I included none of this information in my paper as I wanted to only judge him on his literary output. I very much believe in reading biographical information only as a means of identifying influences. I still remember the title of my paper, Faulkner’s Women: The Virgin and the Whore. Got an A+. 😁

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Ambitious stuff for high school - I did the sciences so opinions were not asked for.

[@michelebrowne418]

@@professorgraemeyorstonHonors. And quite a while ago. I was the English, history, languages type, much to the dismay of my engineer father. While I am here please let me say how much I enjoy your channel and look forward to each new “chapter.” And I betcha there were plenty of opinions to be found on your exams!

[@JCPJCPJCP]

Very ambitious stuff for high school. 👏

[@albertschweitzer8334]

It is a real pleasure to listen to you, you are knowledagble and intelligent, both objective and sympathetic, calm and even a good editor. Don't change, man!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you - I have a good team.

[@barrydavis987]

From the UK. Another fascinating delve into the life and work of a creative artist. Professor Yorston manages to pack so much information into the post but without making it difficult to follow. Many thanks for all you hard work.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@samsum3738]

Very informative , but more important , you made it very interesting .

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@Dalaruan]

German here. I studied American literature at university in the 1990s. Faulkner was a solid stock of authors we studied. We read & discussed As I Lay Dying, Light in August, The Sound & The Fury and Absalom, Absalom.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I'm impressed - they are tough going for a native English speaker.

[@Dalaruan]

@professorgraemeyorston Yeah. Plus the different culture & historical background, also necessary to learn for understanding.

[@summerlakephotog8239]

Very comprehensive biography. I think a similar Eudora Welty biography would be very interesting. She was such a magical writer. Maybe Flannery O’Connor as well.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Great suggestions! I'll look into them.

[@robertdean7950]

Yes indeed!

[@phoxfoenix]

I hated, than loved Faulkner. I read as I lay dying and wanted to throw it across the room. I honestly thought there was a bit of mental restriction of cognitive path ways going on. I felt heart broke for the mother. I think that's what he wanted. What redeemed was The Town and The Mansion. A Snopes is a Snopes. Living a bit in Atlanta helped make the true connection that there is a lost intelligence like Harper Lee told that gets lost in that turn of the century. A world lost to time that we don't fully understand if we are outsiders. Thank you Prof, keep up the good work.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@gailgaddy5340]

Thanks for the video. I admit I tried reading his books as a young woman and found it hard to understand or enjoy his style. Later in my life I did reread and managed to complete reading a few. Somewhat like Dickens, he wrote about the less than pleasant issues of his time.. As a fellow Southerner I did recognize and grieved over some portrayals. Learning about his life history made his writing style and subject matter understandable. Your channel and work is appreciated.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks for watching.

[@countdebleauchamp]

Although I am not very familiar with Faulkner's literary work apart from his scripts/screenplays (I found 'The Sound and the Fury' quite ponderous), being born in Memphis, with familiarity of the culture in which Faulkner was raised and about which he wrote, I found this fascinating. In addition, my greater family shared the same Southern-tragic scourge of alcoholism and addiction, so i identified strongly there. Very well-narrated.

[@standemain]

Great documentary. As I recovering alcoholic and drug addict, I can relate to his quest for praise, success, money, and the “right” relationship to cure inner turmoil and depression. It didn’t work for me and it apparently didn’t work for him. Self-destruction seems to be the result of this failed quest.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I wonder if it those who have successful quests have more of a reason to beat their addiction.

[@jonathans.bragdon5934]

Why so troubled? Because if one has the breadth if awareness and imaginative intelligence to write as he did, one is inevitably troubled. The reality of the world IS troubling.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Good point.

[@tomklock568]

Thank you. Such a great analysis of why he was what he was as a writer. I appreciate these videos.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks for watching.

[@medievalladybird394]

Faulkner was only a name to me until I came across The Sound and The Fury in our local book exchange booth (books for free). I will take anything in English - there are a few other Brits in our village - and was instantly fascinated by the story and the way it is written It is the rather old Penguin Modern Classics edition for £2.25 (No date of publishing to be found, - maybe a page lost) Faulkner's comment: "It's the book I feel tenderest towards. I couldn't leave it alone and I never could tell it right ....." Yes it is a hard read, but captivating.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I suspect it's the same edition I have - yes it's definitely worth the effort.

[@jam1087]

Hell yeah!!! I just booked my reservations to the opening of the extra saucy letters in 2039

[@professorgraemeyorston]

They'll be interesting and very....tender!

[@sharonjack8582]

Another very good bio documentary by you. You certainly do a lot of research and bring out so many interesting details. THANK YOU so much. USA

[@fr57ujf]

Excellent writing and narration. Thank you.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@janethayes5941]

And now my week is complete and perfect.👏👏👏😊

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Enjoy!

[@lj6278]

Very well done, as always. Alcohol, the fuel to great writers.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Too much alcohol is the poison of great writers, just as it is for anyone else.

[@Obladgolated]

Thank you for your thorough biography and lovely insights on a writer I was forced to read in college. I knew I was reading something great, but my imagination was that of an aspiring electrical engineer, too literal-minded to be able to make sense of _The_ _Sound_ _and_ _the_ _Fury._ You explained its main points skillfully, for which I am thankful. From that book, one line slithered into my mind in a weird way, and I remember it to this day: _Harvard_ _my_ _Harvard_ _boy_ _Harvard_ _harvard._

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I never understood when I was younger why literature teachers insisted on people reading tough books - I didn't like Shakespeare at school - but now I can see that if you got though them - they opened the whole world of great writing.

[@ElkoJohn]

Well done. First, the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man. Any chance you can take a look at Samuel Beckett? Waiting for Godot is my favorite play.

[@sharonjack8582]

An artist I find very interesting is Jean Michel Basquiat. I would LOVE to see you do a bio documentary on him. There was great depth to him, starting from his childhood. Another artist of interest is Yayoi Kusama. Also Yoshitomo Nara who is also from Japan. Nara says Japan tends to not appreciate their contemporary artists. Perhaps that is changing.

[@dong4617]

Alcoholics don’t need a reason to drink. At least he wasn’t as mean natured as Steinbeck. I enjoyed your exhaustive biography of Billy.

[@nataliewilliams9741]

I never fail to enjoy your empathetic presentations on the notable people of our world. Thank you.

[@srsusansummers3070]

Always a good listen. Thank 💕

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks for watching.

[@jilltagmorris]

Thank you again for these! ❤🎉😊

[@professorgraemeyorston]

My pleasure.

[@ChristChickAutistic]

Hi Doc, you featured a Mississippi writer, the mighty Faulkner, so I had to comment. Bravo, a great analysis of a complex man. He's hard to read, but easier than Joyce, lol! Seriously, you ought to come here sometime, you can visit Rowan Oak, y'know. I remember seeing Ms. Welty in the Jitney Jungle on Fortification St. when I lived over in Belhaven, really nice lady. Be cool if you'd feature her sometime, she won a Pulitzer. There's loads of great writers from here for some reason, lol! Thanks Doc, you do a great job.❤

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks I'd love to come and have a wander round Rowan Oak - and I'll look into Eudora.

[@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd]

Because of his convoluted writing style his prose is a challenge at least for me. So far the only thing I’ve actually finished is his story Old Man maybe one other short story. I’m currently struggling with The Sound and the Fury but am told it gets better after the first chapter and the conclusion where the author brings all the threads together is very rewarding. So it remains on my bucket list.⚛❤

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Keep going - it might be worth watching the film first as at least you'll understand some of the threads - but it may spoil that sense of revelation at the end of the book.

[@robertmitchell2178]

Thank so much this clear and insightful work on my favourite author, William Faulkner. I have read most of his mature works at least 3 times. As a Canadian descendant of Missouri Scots-Irish and Kansas Cherokee people there is a song and a vibration in his work that helps connect me to the familial uniqueness of what my grand parents brought with them. The modern jazz like passages that still read as fresh as John Coltrane, this is the American Southern Gothic Master. Bravo!

[@johnsharman7262]

Bob Dylan, from his name onwards, to his early playing experiences in Midwestern circuses comes to mind of the young artist who confabulates to make himself seem more interesting. Faulkner became a great writer, and he had as tangled a history with words as he did with his romantic longings and quests..

[@5kehhn]

Yes I remember having to read Faulkner in high school, and I too thought it was a workout.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I'm glad it wasn't just me!

[@KathrynMcFarlane-hu5hy]

Challenging for high school. Its definitely a task

[@clifrbroc]

I'd love your to hear your thoughts on the singer Karen Carpenter. She had such an original voice, yet seemed so tortured... died so young.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Great suggestion - I have done a short on her - but I'll do a longer one.

[@clifrbroc]

Thanks, I didn't know about the short on her. Another person I'd like to know more about is Philip Seymour Hoffman.

[@JCPJCPJCP]

I have never read any of Faulkner's literary works, but I read a biography of him years ago. I always enjoy your essays on writers and other artists; and I was just wondering what you think about Knut Hamsun, a fictionalist whose name is rarely mentioned these days. I learned about Hamsun through Henry Miller and through your countryman Colin Wilson's book "The Outsider;" and years ago, I read and reread most of Hamsun's novels. Thanks again! 😊

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Great suggestion - KH was also a favourite of Bukowski which is why I ended up reading him.

[@rickartdefoix1298]

Knut Hamsun is definitely a great writer. Read his Vagabond Trilogy and found it a wonder. He's the opposite of Faulkner, because it's an easy reading. Hamsun manages to catch the reader, despite his characters being common people. ➖ Then Hamsun has plenty of poetry in his novels, making them a very catchy ones. ➖ Forget about his Nazi praisings, that was a big mistake on his side. And it isn't reflected at all in his writings, fortunately. Hamsun is an excellent Writer. 💜❤️💎😔🙏

[@JCPJCPJCP]

"Pan," "Hunger," "Mysteries," and "Growth of the Soil" stand out as my favorites. As I recall from the biography, Hamsun was grateful to Germany because they were first to publish his books. He also believed in following promptings from his unconscious, and so he praised Hitler and the Nazis without thinking much about the consequences. Later, he was imprisoned in his home country, and his reputation there was damaged for his involvement with and support for the Third Reich. Yes, his books are very readable.

[@JCPJCPJCP]

I found Colin Wilson's "The Outsider" to be a great source book of Outsider writers, their work and their thinking. Wilson's "The Occult," the first volume in his "Occult Trilogy," also has great interest. He also wrote a large number of other books, some of which are not found easily here in the States. Wilson's ideas about the evolution of human consciousness made a strong impression on me many years ago.

[@janerainsford8996]

Keep ‘em coming!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

That's the plan.

[@stefanstern3542]

Marvelous! I'm very grateful for your work...

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@georgefillingham1255]

I like most literary documentaries. There was a fine 4 or 5 part doc. about Southern Lit in general, which I found very informative.

[@donaldfoltz4649]

Very well done and informative, a man who didn’t seem to enjoy his life. To me, his writing very hard to understand but was very entertaining. Thank you.

[@Raventooth]

I met an man whose mother dated Faulkner. He remembers a man passed out face down on the carpet in the living room. He thinks that was him. My mom had Sound and the Fury in her book shelf when I was a kid. I couldn't quite grasp it.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Sounds like Billy!

[@bisibisbi]

What a fascinating video! Now I am very motivated to read the 2 books I have of him asap. Thank you!

[@carpathiangirl8460]

Thank you for another excellent biography. Another writer to explore would be the New Zealand writer Janet Frome.

[@OzzieJayne]

Thank you, he was an interesting character. May I suggest Australian Henry Lawson? "Beer makes you feel how you ought to feel without beer"

[@tashuys]

I have never heard that quote. It's brilliant! In fact, I just wrote it down in my notebook. If you substitute beer for any addiction, it works. I would love to know more about the mind that originated such a seemingly simple, but utterly descriptive sentence. Thank you for the quote, and thank you for the video, most interesting.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Great quote - I'll look into him - I recognise him from his stamp from my schoolboy stamp collecting days - I'll happily add him to the collection!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

It is a great quote.

[@carpathiangirl8460]

'The loaded dog' and 'The drover's wife' are two of Henry Lawson's better known stories.

[@opinion3742]

Interesting line, I said just that to my brother while we sat in his garden last summer. Years before I remember observing that ecstasy (the drug) showed you what it was like to live without fear.

[@matthewseawell1667]

Once again, Graeme, you avoided the heavy-handed psychologizing many lay people wouldn’t hesitate to indulge in.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Because his writing is so complex - there are a million and one interpretations - but I liked his comment about Jewel's horse...

[@genet55]

Unless you have a photographic memory it is essential to read “ The Sound and the Fury”twice. It is the most intriguing book I’ve ever read.

[@Zakarias-b2g]

Interesting as always. Thank you.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@troygaspard6732]

One of my favorite lines in literature, from his novel As I Lay Dying. "My mother is a fish.'

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Amazing - where did he come up with those voices?

[@gwickle1685]

Very well presented

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@JuliaAlexandra180]

wonderful piece Professor

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Many thanks!

[@scottjackson163]

It is ironic that we are all powerfully influenced by admonitions to refrain from drinking, sexual promiscuity, and other aspects of dissolute living, yet we find consistently that these foibles comprise the playbook of genius writers and other great artists.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

They do for many, but not all - the consistent theme of their loves is not their dissolution but their single mindedness to achieve their artistic goals.

[@dolinaj1]

I was familiar with Faulkner’s scriptwriting only until I was preparing for my Master’s in Medieval studies. Faulkner was on the general reading list. His novels especially were revelatory. That his personal life was so f*cked up is appalling, but he is a titan of literature.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

His personal life was fairly tame in comparison to Steinbeck and Hemingway.

[@JamesSimmons-d1t]

Well done, visuals, script. I found Faulkner difficult to enter into, as English major, more than half century ago. may try again. Danke schoen.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you - give him another go!

[@barryspurr9577]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Davidf8L]

Thank you sir for your story about my hero,count nocount❤

[@brianpite0893]

Thank you for this. Faulkner is my favorite. My i suggest a living writer? John Irving

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He would be great one but I can't comment on anyone living for ethical reasons.

[@brianpite0893]

@professorgraemeyorston I should have thought of that. Thank you

[@candide1065]

> writes "r*c!sm bad" > "Oh, he's such a genius!"

[@pauleohl]

It's hard for me to comprehend how a drunk could create such complex literature. He certainly(?) could not fashion these intricate stories with their arcane vocabulary while inebriated.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

His drinking was more controlled when he wrote, but then he would go on massive benders after finishing a book.

[@spencerjones1928]

I was a professional lyric writer in the mid 90's signed to EMI. I know that I could really write well UTI. Alcohol comes from the Arabic Alkohool a flesh eating demon so in enibreation there is a contentious element of posession. We are afterall served in spirits.

[@grantlawrence611]

I would never attempt to write anything drinking. It always amazes me that famous authors could. There is a flow that comes when writing that writers tap into. The drinking would never contribute to that for me.

[@JSEEEEE220]

You should cover Jean Michel Basquiat, I’ve seen your videos on Van Gogh and Warhol multiple times I’d love to see you cover Basquiat

[@ClaireCopeland-n6y]

His books are like someone on LSD trying to explain the old south.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Never had LSD but I know what what you mean.

[@gmaureen]

His drinking doesn't surprise me, nor does it seem terribly excessive for the time period. He was still able to write. Two world wars took their toll and alcohol conquered all ailments...or so it was said. That remedy lived on through the 60's and 70's until drugs gradually took over.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He didn't exactly rough it in either world war and I'm pretty sure he wasn't drinking to avoid catching colds.

[@KathrynMcFarlane-hu5hy]

Hemingway must have loved the guy

[@rickartdefoix1298]

When speaking about Faulkner I always keep in mind his Long and Hot Summer scrptwriting. A movie I consider a Masterwork, thanks to Orson Welles, too. Think he based it on some of his Short Stories, though never knew exactly upon which one and what was its Title, as a Short Story. ➖ My girlfriend is fond of Faulkner as a writer, much more than me. 😔🙏👍

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Great movie - it's based loosely on two works: the 1931 novella "Spotted Horses", the 1939 short story "Barn Burning" and the title comes from The Hamlet.

[@KathrynMcFarlane-hu5hy]

While reading Faulkner you need a dictionary. His vocabulary was huge. His books are difficult reads. Nothing easy but ultimately rewarding.

[@andrealittle2836]

A great writer!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He was indeed.

[@andrealittle2836]

@@professorgraemeyorstonWe studied him in college. I wrote a paper about Faulkner and his use of the Gothic/horror, especially in “As I Lay Dying” and”Absalom, Absalom, and “A Rose for Emily.” Those vultures flying over Addie’s coffin as they take the ill-advised journey to Jefferson are unforgettable.

[@kimsherlock8969]

Some minds are concentrated Able to put life aside to write about the life he created in his imagination

[@daniakalaina]

I read As I Lay Dying in high school on my own. What an awful experience then! Wonder how I’d feel reading it now at 61. Later after I started law practice in North Georgia, older lawyers were called Colonel. It was because lawyers were awarded that rank in the Confederate Army

[@countdebleauchamp]

😮 Wasn't aware of that, but it makes sense. I remember one of the attorneys in 'Inherit the Wind' being bestowed with the honorary title of 'Colonel'.

[@njd2342]

William Shakespeare had three children Susanna, Judith and Hamnet. He had 4 grandchildren but none had heirs so William's line ended (unless he had children to other women than Anne). Clearly somebody has remembered this for me to find it out.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

And he was right - no-one remembers them.

[@njd2342]

@@professorgraemeyorston William did have an illustrious grandfather (WC) who I learnt of through your biography who wrote a book and begat a famous grandson.

[@JohnWallace-mb1mi]

I regard "As I Lay Dying" as a surrealistic work , don't know if anyone agrees.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I think of surrealism as a parody of realism, a single alternate reality, whereas Faulkner is a multi-layered, multiple voiced, multi perspective postmodern world where there is no certain reality.

[@gwickle1685]

I will reread

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Definitely worth it - life experience helps understand the subtle little references.

[@hrvojeskenderovic5508]

Great work, Professor. I have just finished Light in August, and noticed that you described how Faulkner's wife tried to jump out of the hotel window once (kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4TbZHl6jtB7qLM.) At the time Faulkner was writing this novel where rev. Hightower's wife actually did the same thing - jumped from a hotel window in Memphis. Life writes novels, as a frequent phrase we have in HR.

[@russell2910]

Not only is he a library genius, he played mr feeney in boy meets world.

[@Edo9River]

I grew up in a small Southern town, was chosen to go off to a nearby male, (nonmilitary) boarding school that modeled its reading requirements on the northeast universities. lists of requied British, Irish and 20th century US texts.. Faulkner was just part of the load. As a sheltered privledged white kid, all the social issues and complexities of relationships went over my head, but were required analysis. I remember parts and characters with sympathy, like Snopes family. lol The scene of the short story, Barn Burning" where Snopes steps in horse shit before enterring the imposing classical white mansion of his landlord. Mr. de Spain is out. Therefore his wife is helpless to deal with the aggressive menacing personality of the elder Snopes. He wipes his feet on the French rug, twisting his limping leg's boot into the fabric to ensure that the shit is particularly ground inio the fibers.. Classic Snopes wickedness!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I wonder if the rebellious young Faulkner ever did anything like that himself.

[@MylesNewman-cc1tx]

‘Alas for the South her books grow fewer, She was never much given to literature.’ (Coogler) Until Faulkner came along.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I guess for a lot of non-Americans his voices are the south.

[@MylesNewman-cc1tx]

I really enjoyed ‘Sanctuary.’ I found myself surprised by how readable it was. It may be more accurate to say that Faulkner was from the Deep South than just the South.

[@rickartdefoix1298]

For me, even if The Sound and the Fury is considered Faulkner's greatest work, The Wild Palms may be his better one. ➖ Always wondered how he could work out a novel or a Short Story, with such uninteresting characters as his peasants and country people could be. In this sense, have to say that couldn't keep on with Light in August, after the first two hundred pages I read. ➖ And think has to be said, that neither Sanctuary, nor Soldier's Pay were good enough novels. Sanctuary could have been, but think it was carelessly done, and then I read it's a novel he did because he was charged to write something alike. So, it was a bit of a scandal, but he did it for money reasons. So, it went spoiled and think not even the movie, was a success. ➖ About The Sound and the Fury, it's a fab work, though as everybody says, it isn't an easy reading. But it catches you and its plot goes quickly enough. ➖ Faulkner is not an easy reading, but there's also something special about his vocabulary. You could say he's dry or harsh, still he's precise and with some kind of inner rare beauty you won't find nowhere else. Am not fond of monologues as a literary technique, but I admit that should have read As I Lay Dying, having gone so far with this author. Who's certainly not a friendly one. But one does not have time enough to read everything we should. And is me who's saying it, after having read around five thousand books or more. 🤔🙄😔🙏👍

[@professorgraemeyorston]

That's a lot of books!

[@rickartdefoix1298]

@professorgraemeyorston Yep. Am lucky to have found time for reading as much as I wanted. Though not everything I read was worthy. Took me sometime to search out what I should read and what not. ➖ When was a teen, found two very cultivated pals, older than me, and asked both to make me lists of what they thought, deserved to be read. They did it, and from then on, I wasn't lost any more. ➖ But of course, before having those lists, I had already read all the French, Brits and Russian classics one has to. ➖ What I regret is to have spend too much time reading things that weren't a great thing. ➖ So, about everything I've read, only eight hundred or a thousand as much, should really be read. ➖ Reading is a passion for me. Because I wanted to have become a Literature Professor. And never could, for my father only wanted me to study Law career. And so, he never paid me any other studies. ➖ Am still struggling nowadays, to find the time I need to keep with what I think deserves to be read. It's a big pleasure, each time I find some very good new Author. ➖ Am fond of Art and Culture, and so, I enjoy a lot too, being surrounded by people who share these things with me. 😔🙏

[@reaganwiles_art]

where did he get the money to live this way?

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Film scripts.

[@deirdrenugent1887]

He was definitely a Walter Mitty type character 😂

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He was indeed.

[@eakherenow]

Lovely,lovely you are a treasure.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Very kind.

[@bipolarbear7325]

He kept falling off his horse because he was drunk. Which gave him back pain that he treated with whiskey.

[@bipolarbear7325]

You failed to mention all the bags of mail he dumped in a creek while he was a postman. The complaints are what got him fired. When he said he'd rather spend his time writing, he meant it. 😂

[@greatexpectations6577]

Is an artist a true artist if his soul hasn't been tossed back and forth by the burdens of life and the toil of existential trauma?

[@courtnayzeitler8564]

Absalom, Absalom! is the very best.

[@kingfisher9553]

Generations of steeplechase jockeys are arching a brow over the statement that Faulkner fell too many times from "horses that were far too big for him." My surmise is that there was nothing fractious about the horses. Faulkner was probably drunk while riding.

[@maxheadrom3088]

He stole the idea of Sound and Fury from Shakespeare - the British playwriter told him something about a play he was writting at the time and Faukner stole it ... Great artists are always troubled - very few are well adapted people.

[@VincentConti-m5j]

They are all troubled authors. Insane history? Seriously😮?

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Take a look at some of my other videos on the history of mental illness if you want something more hard core - try Henry Cotton!

[@VincentConti-m5j]

@professorgraemeyorston thank you, i certainly will. Always interested in the lives of artists.

[@VincentConti-m5j]

@professorgraemeyorston on first look i came up with English Aglican divine!!! That says something right there! Thanx. I will check out your videos.

[@Connie-e9x]

I am a recovered alcoholic of 44 years and was the only member of my family who became an alcoholic even though they all drank.... there is no deep reason for this... like one gay child raised in a home of straight siblings.... forget the why.. focus on not drinking to get well.... there are countless intelligent alcoholics.......................

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Faulkner still managed to produce 19 novels - so his drinking never assumed total primacy in his life.

[@johnjakson444]

Definitely not AI generated

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Never!

[@lornahuddleston1453]

You really are quite a moralizer. How boring.

[@daniakalaina]

And you are judgmental to write this

[@LongdistanceRider22]

Boring as Dirt …

[@donnarichardson7214]

Why was he so troubled? He was a Southerner. A totally-failed culture grounded in the violence of slavery and massively losing a war. A culture that provided no good identity. He needed to create one.

[@candide1065]

Must be the most ignorant, smug and condescending comment I've read in a while.

[@candide1065]

Please teach the stupid commoners more about failed cultures, great highpriest of the high culture of cheesburgers and guns.

[@donnarichardson7214]

@@candide1065 Read Absalom! Absalom! and his other works in which this is basically what he himself says about the south.

[@jamesbarry1673]

Unfortunately he has become very dated

[@robertgiles9124]

So much sadness in these Booze soaked lives. Remember: Don't ride the horses drunk. For some reason you made me think of another Southern artist I wish you would explore; the first American Surrealist. John Clarence Laughlin . kzbin.info/www/bejne/pH_Oapuomt2neaM

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks, I'll look into him