I was blessed to receive as a gift one of the few books by William Faulkner I haven't read, New Orleans Sketches. Faulkner is one of my favorite authors. My sister recently visited New Orleans and, while there, visited one of Faulkner's former homes from when he authored his first novel, A Soldier's Pay. If I ever make my way to New Orleans, I'll certainly do the same. While she was there, she grabbed this book for me as a birthday present. I ended up reading it in just two days. I couldn't really put it down. It was that interesting and that good.
New Orleans Sketches includes a series of short fiction works that were published prior to Faulkner becoming a novelist. They are early Faulkner, which makes them relevant for those who know the later novels, but it is still Faulkner, which means they are very well written. These date back to the early twenties.
Faulkner isn't really an easy read...you have to take it slow and pay attention. You also have to be comfortable with not necessarily catching everything that he weaves into his stories. It was a short book of short stories, though, so that, combined with how long it has been since I read Faulkner, helped me to get through it quickly.
In one of his stories, Faulkner remarks that "Mankind is never as complex as we would like to believe ourselves to be." That remark gave me some pause, though, because he generally has complex stories with well-developed characters...'not complex' rarely describes a Faulkner novel, even if the plot itself is straightforward. To be fair, he didn't say people weren't complex but only that they wanted to believe they were more complex than they were. If that's true, I'm personally also guilty of that. Either way, the statement gave me enough to ponder that I'm still thinking about it the next day after finishing the book. That's one of the amazing things Faulkner delivers. His stories resonate and stick with you. I'm still thinking about some of the ones I read at this point twenty years ago, and am thinking about them fondly.
The other experience that Faulkner is adept at delivering is a tone of compassion and empathy that flows through his narratives. He understands that people naturally want love and dignity and his characters are no different...there's a poignant acceptance of that and of humanity in his tone that I simply adore. It adds to the depth and brilliance of his work in a way few authors are able to. To this day I don't understand necessarily how he crafts and delivers that tone, but it is there and it is both inspiring and occasionally haunting.
The book also has a pretty informative and intriguing prologue, which centers on Faulkner's life at the time these works were published....his life, his travels, his jobs, his relationships.... As much as I love his work, I knew surprisingly little about William Faulkner as a person. It was neat to learn more about the man behind the writing.
I have to share one more quote from this book, though I flagged quite a few more. "Suns rise and set; ages of man rise and joy and battle and weep, and pass away." I can't elaborate on that except to say that it is inherently true....reflective....wise....
I thoroughly enjoyed reading New Orleans Sketches, and it spurred me to undertake reading or rereading, as applicable, a number of Faulkner's novels in the near future. I'm excited.