William Faulkner

As I Lay Dying is Faulkner’s harrowing account of the Bundren family’s odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Narrated in turn by each of the family members -- including Addie herself -- as well as others; the novel ranges in mood, from dark comedy to the deepest pathos. Considered one of the most influential novels in American fiction in structure, style, and drama, As I Lay Dying is a true 20th-century classic. This edition reproduces the corrected text of As I Lay Dying as established in 1985 by Noel Polk.

Emily is a member of a family in the antebellum Southern aristocracy; after the Civil War, the family has fallen on hard times.

The tragedy of the Compson family features some of the most memorable characters in literature: beautiful, rebellious Caddy; the manchild Benjy; haunted, neurotic Quentin; Jason, the brutal cynic; and Dilsey, their black servant. Their lives fragmented and harrowed by history and legacy, the character’s voices and actions mesh to create what is arguably Faulkner’s masterpiece and one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.

Light in August, a novel that contrasts stark tragedy with hopeful perseverance in the face of mortality, which features some of Faulkner’s most memorable characters: guileless, dauntless Lena Grove, in search of the father of her unborn child; Reverend Gail Hightower, a lonely outcast haunted by visions of Confederate glory; and Joe Christmas, a desperate, enigmatic drifter consumed by his mixed ancestry.

Published in 1936, Absalom, Absalom! is considered by many to be William Faulkner's masterpiece. Although the novel's complex and fragmented structure poses considerable difficulty to readers, the book's literary merits place it squarely in the ranks of America's finest novels. The story concerns Thomas Sutpen, a poor man who finds wealth and then marries into a respectable family. His ambition and extreme need for control bring about his ruin and the ruin of his family. Sutpen's story is told by several narrators, allowing the reader to observe variations in the saga as it is recounted by different speakers. This unusual technique spotlights one of the novel's central questions: To what extent can people know the truth about the past?

Emily is a member of a family in the antebellum Southern aristocracy; after the Civil War, the family has fallen on hard times.

"Barn Burning" is a short story by the American author William Faulkner which first appeared in Harper's in 1939 and has since been widely anthologized. The story deals with class conflicts, the influence of fathers, and vengeance as viewed through the third-person perspective of a young, impressionable child. It is a prequel to The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion, the three novels make up the Snopes trilogy.

“A deft hand has woven this narrative. . . . This book rings true.”—New York Times Faulkner’s debut novel, Soldiers’ Pay (1926), is among the most memorable works to emerge from the First World War. Through the story of a wounded veteran’s homecoming, it examines the impact of soldiers’ return from war on the people—particularly the women—who were left behind.

“Full of the kind of swift and lusty writing that comes from a healthy, fresh pen.”—Lillian Hellman, New York Herald Tribune A fascinating glimpse of the author as a young artist, Faulkner’s sophomore novel, Mosquitoes (1927), introduces us to a colorful band of passengers on a boating excursion from New Orleans. This engaging, high-spirited tale—which Faulkner wrote “for the sake of writing because it was fun”—provides a delightful accompaniment to his canonical works.

Here, published in a single volume as he always hoped they would be, are the three novels that comprise William Faulkner’s famous Snopes trilogy, a saga that stands as perhaps the greatest feat of this celebrated author’s incomparable imagination. The Hamlet, the first book of the series chronicling the advent and rise of the grasping Snopes family in mythical Yoknapatawpha County, is a work that Cleanth Brooks called “one of the richest novels in the Faulkner canon.” It recounts how the wily, cunning Flem Snopes dominates the rural community of Frenchman’s Bend—and claims the voluptuous Eula Varner as his bride. The Town, the central novel, records Flem’s ruthless struggle to take over the county seat of Jefferson, Mississippi. Finally, The Mansion tells of Mink Snopes, whose archaic sense of honor brings about the downfall of his cousin Flem. “For all his concerns with the South, Faulkner was actually seeking out the nature of man,” noted Ralph Ellison. “Thus we must turn to him for that continuity of moral purpose which made for the greatness of our classics.”

Nel gennaio del 1937, recensendo su «El Hogar», il recente Assalonne, Assalonne!, Borges scriveva: «Conosco due tipi di scrittore: l'uomo la cui prima preoccupazione sono i procedimenti verbali, e l'uomo la cui prima preoccupazione sono le passioni e le fatiche dell'uomo. Di solito si denigra il primo tacciandolo di "bizantinismo" o lo si esalta definendolo "artista puro". L'altro, più fortunato, riceve gli epiteti elogiativi di "profondo", "umano", "profondamente umano" o il lusinghiero vituperio di "barbaro"... Tra i grandi romanzieri Joseph Conrad è stato forse l'ultimo cui interessavano in egual misura le tecniche del romanzo e il destino e il carattere dei personaggi. L'ultimo fino alla straordinaria comparsa di Faulkner. A Faulkner piace esporre il romanzo attraverso i personaggi. Il metodo non è del tutto originale ... ma Faulkner vi trasfonde una intensità quasi intollerabile. In questo libro di Faulkner vi è un'infinita decomposizione, un'infinita e nera carnalità. Lo scenario è lo Stato del Mississippi: gli eroi, uomini annientati dall'invidia, dall'alcol, dalla solitudine, dai morsi dell'odio. Assalonne, Assalonne! è paragonabile a L'urlo e il furore. Non conosco maggior elogio di questo». Né noi conosciamo migliore presentazione di questa. Assalonne, Assalonne! è apparso per la prima volta nel 1936.

"La struttura e lo stile di Mentre morivo esercitano un fascino, a volte esasperante, soltanto se il lettore accetta la sfida di mettere in atto tutta la sua disponibilità percettiva. Bisogna cogliere insieme l'assurdo, il comico, il simbolico, l'inconcluso, la ridicolaggine che incombe sulla tragedia, l'enigma, che non si risolve".

En Luz de agosto aparecen retratados algunos de los personajes más memorables de Faulkner: la cándida e intrépida Lena Grove en busca del padre de su hijo; el reverendo Gal Hightower -atormentado por constante visiones de soldados de caballería confederados- y Joe Christmas, un misterioso vagabundo consumido por los orígenes raciales de sus antepasados. Faulkner, además de haber sido el innovador de una forma de narrar que ha influido poderosamente en las generaciones que le han continuado, fue el cronista de los más notables hechos, costumbres y personajes de su tierra. Luz de agosto es una de las obras más representativas de un hombre que, trabajando sobre la historia y haciendo campear la imaginación, logró convertirse en uno de los escritores más importantes de este siglo.

Quinta novela de William Faulkner, Mientras agonizo es una de sus obras maestras y uno de los libros por los que sentía más aprecio. La escribió en seis frenéticas semanas, de madrugada, mientras trabajaba como bombero y vigilante nocturno de la central eléctrica de la Universidad de Mississippi. Relata la peripecia de una familia de blancos pobres, los Bundren, que recorren los parajes rurales del Sur con el cadáver de la esposa y madre en un ataúd para enterrarla en una parcela de su propiedad.