I believe that I have evolved as a reader by plowing through this one. Remember Virginia Woolfe and my distaste for that little literary technique she is so well-known for--STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS? Well, guess what Faulkner is so special for? Yeah. You guessed it--confusing the hell out of the reader.The book is broken down into four chapters, all narrated in a different voice, and all taking place on different days. That seems simple enough, but throw in steam of consciousness, no punctuation, moving forward and backward in time with no heads up, and that makes for one confused bnizzle.
After reading the first chapter I had a fuzzy idea of the plot. I was aware that it was being narrated by the special needs brother, and I knew his narration jumped around in time, and I got that he had a special connection with his sister Caddy, but beyond that a lot escaped me. I was lost and confused and not all that interested in continuing.
So, I went online and found the wikipedia and sparknotes websites about the book. Is that cheating? Did it ruin it for me? At first I thought maybe yes to both, but honestly, I think it was the only move I could make to salvage the book for me. I went back into the book, with three-quarters left to go, and I knew who was narrating, what they were thinking, and what was going to happen, and it made the book way more enjoyable, and a more manageable puzzle.
I don't know that I will pick up another Faulkner book soon, but I have definitely not written him off.
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