Where to Start with William Faulkner?

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! We all want to know "what is the best book to start with for William Faulkner?" I remember asking Google what is the best William Faulkner book. But I saw a ton of answers. Maybe there is no singular answer that is correct for everyone, but there might be an answer for you. I'd love to have that personal touch in this video but I can't talk to every reader and know their exact tastes. If I knew you were super into crime noir, then perhaps "Sanctuary" would be the best starting point. If Comedies were your favorite genre then I'd recommend "The Reivers" to you.

However, as a blanket statement, and for someone who wants to know what's the best books to get the taste of what Faulkner can do, then I'd recommend starting with this list here today. For reference, I've worked through most of Faulkner's books but not all: The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Absalom, Absalom!, The Snopes Trilogy (The Town, The Hamlet, the Mansion), Light in August, Sanctuary, Go Down Moses, The Reivers, The Collected Short Stories, and The Uncollected Short Stories. They all have something to offer, and they all can be good starting points for various people. Today we just want to look at a generic best starting point for getting that initial flavor of what is William Faulkner all about?

📖 The Before You Read and In-Depth analysis series to read along with:

✨Do you have a Short Story or Novel you'd think we'd like or would want to see us cover? Join our Patreon to pick our reads.

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Bonfire - An Jone

[winskypinsky]

It’s August. For the past 4 years I read Light in August. It just gets better and better every year. As Shelby Foote says “If you read Light in August enough, you’ll see how he does it.” So pleased to find your channel. More Faulkner please!

[micahsanders]

Your third option here is exactly what made me fall in love with Faulkners work! My junior year of high school we read As I Lay Dying, and my senior year The Sound and The Fury. I’m loving your insight and the opportunity to delve back into this work that I’ve loved since I was 15

[Lumo]

Great video! My journey into the world of Faulkner started with "A rose for Emily", much like you recommended doing on the "first door" and I couldn't agree more about how great of a start that story is. Truly made me fall in love with Faulkner and starting to explore the rest of his writing. Currently I only read all of his short stories but I can't wait to get his "big" novels, ESPECIALLY Absalom, Absalom!

[storiedworlds]

Some interesting choices. For me, the Faulkner gateway was Light in August. It’s not too difficult and you get a sense of what Faulkner is all about. From there I went to As I Lay Dying and the Sound and the Fury.

The book that actually got me to love Faulkner was Go Down, Moses.

P.S. I also own the Akira and Bakuman box sets that I see on your shelves. Good taste.

[jamesstout]

Bringing out the big kahuna! I can see that. If you're only going to read one... might as well as do the most famous!

[BookishTexan]

Great Job! We actually agreed on one of the recommendations.

[Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

My husband as been bugging me to read As I Lay Dying....I really really need to get to it.

[mariebelcredi]

You guys are fantastic. I started reading TSatF but couldnt make head or tail of it. I then listened to your "Before you Read" video and that showed me how to start. I'm now sold on Faulkner, absolutely one of my all time favourite authors and you helped me get there. I love your videos. Currently reading Light in August.

[pony_bonnyman]

I started with "Light in August, " thanks to an excellent high-school English teacher. Honestly, I would probably start people with "As I Lay Dying, " partly because it's short. But for my money, the most accessible of Faulkner's "great" novels (written between 1929-36) is "Light in August."

I would *never* suggest a first-time start with "Absalom! Absalom!" It is indeed a great book, but I think it's the most difficult of Faulkner's novels.

[TheNerdyNarrative]

Brilliant video, Una. More of these please!

[williamsawyer]

Your use of the metaphor of a door made me think of the scripture at Matthew 7: 7. "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you." This advice can be applied to reading William Faulkner.

[Aaron-hrbb]

In 1962, in the Spring semester of my sophomore year at San Bernardino High School in California, our English class read, analyzed and discussed for 4 months The Sound and The Fury. We loved it so much that we took up a collection and had a 14ct gold toothpick made for our teacher as an end of the year gift. (Read the book and you will understand.) Great story, great teacher and we felt like we were seriously respected as incipient adults, not just another bunch of kids.

[DGol]

I started with The Sound and the Fury. Benjy and Quentin turned my brain inside out, but I loved every minute of it, especially Quentin's poetic prose. Since then, I've been hooked. As I Lay Dying, Absalom Absalom, Light in August, some of the short stories, and now I'm nearing the end of Go Down Moses and looking forward to your video on The Bear.

I don't know if you've done a Light in August video or plan to, but there's an analysis of it that identifies each chapter in it with the corresponding chapter from the Gospel of John, kind of like Ulysses and the Odyssey. Blew my mind rereading all the parallels, how Faulkner could create such a masterpiece.

[sabinelipinska]

I started with As I lay dying. It was a gread read! The second was Sanctuary, the third one probably Light in August. Thank you for your video.

[bighardbooks]

_First!_ Brian just now dropped where _not_ to start 😂😆😂 Great video, Una

[xporkrind]

It was so helpful to me when you mentioned that Faulker's writing is really like poetry. It made me less impatient about trying to read his work. It was a nice way to reframe how I saw his writing.

[WhaleMilk]

I am a staunch believer of the idea that there is never an all around "good" place to start with any author. The best place to start with an author is the work that sounds most interesting to you. If you want to start with Absalom, Absalom or A Fable, go right on ahead. You know your tastes best, and if you do your due diligence in researching the works of an author such as Faulkner, and you know exactly what you're getting into, then start wherever you damn well please. That's going to hook you faster than any recommendation anybody that's read Faulkner before can give.

I do like your approach though. Giving the three approaches in neat and takes into account the fact that everybody likes to read different things, so you're not prescribing a specific place to start. Although I will say that personally, I would replace either AILD or TSATF with Light in August. Light in August is just such a wonderful book in so many ways, and it's always a safe option to start with his easiest work (because ALID is not easy imo) and then build up from there if you're that kind of person. I've always recommended to those kinds of people that want to ease their way up to go Light in August, As I Lay Dying, TSATF, and then A, A. Once you've read A, A, you can pretty much tackle anything else in his bibliography no problem, maybe except A Fable because that book is kicking my ass right now and is a whole different kind of difficult.

[Idazle]

Excellent video! My first Faulkner was Flags in the Dust, as I decided I would read more than one Faulkner and wanted to read them chronologically, as they were published. The second was The Sound and the Fury, whose first two chapters I found even more challenging than Ulysses, followed by As I Lay Dying. Then I threw myself into Absalom, which I abandoned when I was one third through. It makes sense to start reading his short stories with A Rose for Emily, since it's the only Faulkner short story I've ever enjoyed :-) My problem with some of Faulkner's work is that sometimes his English syntax doesn't make any sense to me. The Spanish translations are a disaster.

[emmagutierrez]

Thank you for the recommendations! I love short stories and I've just read A Rose for Emily, which is excellent. So now I'm going for As I Lay Dying.
Greetings from France

[miguel]

I started with "As I lay dying", when I was young, and I thought to myself, that I was readying a tragedy of Greek proportions. And the lyricism in his writing. I was caught! It is like thinking that he was the source, the inspiration of the Latin-American literary "Boom". And also, what a delight was to read "Knight's Gambit". Incredible. I do not know why this collection of tales are not more talked about.