William Faulkner reads from As I Lay Dying

William Faulkner reads from As I Lay Dying

William Faulkner was a Nobel Prize winning novelist of the American South who wrote challenging prose and created the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. He is best known for such novels as 'The Sound and the Fury' and 'As I Lay Dying.' American writer William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, in 1897. Much of his early work was poetry, but he became famous for his novels set in the American South, frequently in his fabricated Yoknapatawpha County, with works that included The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying and Absalom, Absalom! His controversial 1931 novel Sanctuary was turned into two films, 1933's The Story of Temple Drake as well as a later 1961 project. Faulkner was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature and ultimately won two Pulitzers and two National Book Awards as well. He died on July 6, 1962.

As I Lay Dying is a 1930 novel, in the genre of Southern Gothic, by American author William Faulkner. Faulkner said that he wrote the novel from midnight to 4:00 AM over the course of six weeks and that he did not change a word of it.

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[harrisonmccartney]

It's always amazing how a writer's natural speaking voice becomes reflected in their writing. Had Faulkner not actually hailed from the South, but was say a New Yorker with a thick Brooklyn accent, it's highly unlikely his literature would have ever captured the same Southern Gothic cadence which it's known for, even if he tried his best to live amongst its people and soak up what the land was like; if he was not of the land, he'd never be able to write truly about it.

[roscoefoofoo]

Yes, everyone, it's Faulkner himself. And if you slow this to down to 0.75 speed (use that little gear wheel at the screen's bottom right), you'll hear all the rhythms and pauses compressed in Faulkner's voice and embedded in his prose. His brilliant mind races along, but it's all there--if you slow it down a mite.

[becks_r]

I love his voice. He’s got this Transatlantic Southern accent that is just perfect for reading.

[mal]

It’s as though he’s reading from memory. Not many could deliver the dialogue as the author himself has.

[christopherturpin]

This is a fine treasure which I’m grateful to have heard.

[dylanbreglio]

It starts up at the first chapter where Tull is the narrator, or page 29 in my book. Then it skips ahead to the chapter right after Peabody is the main character, or pg 47. He also reads the chapter after that, by Vardaman, and then the final chapter he reads is the next chapter narrated by Vardaman, which is pg 65.

[yesindeed]

I can’t help but read the book in his voice now

[Jubilo]

"It's fixin' to rain..."

[nothingmatters]

People have been looking for the great American novel. This is it.

[strikingdiscussion]

Nice to see an author rushing through their own work lol

[cherylcarroll]

Isn't this from the UVA recordings organized by Stephen Railton? Please give credit where credit is due.

[myemailaccount]

Is this really Faulkner reading? I'm thinking it's an actor.

[malamati]

Wretched reading. Like most writers, he has no feeling at all for timing, pause, emphasis...nothing. Really pathetic.