Faulkner brings together two disparate novellas and creates a distinct whole. The result is more than the sum of its parts. The narratives of "The Old Man" and "The Wild Palms" don't match up exactly, since they aren't directly related.

I would recommend this book to readers interested in Faulkner, since the novel is more commercial and more mainstream in its style.

"Wild Palms" also has the memorable quote: “Between grief and nothing I will take grief." This occurs with the bohemian couple on the run. The quote also appears in Jean-Luc Godard's classic New Wave film "Breathless," also about two bohemians on the run.

"Wild Palms" foreshadows modern American cinema, especially the ones featuring somewhat-interrelated storylines, everything fro Steven Soderburgh's "Traffic" to "Babel" and "Crash" (not the David Cronenberg one).

While more accessible to readers, Faulkner is also daring enough to let the reader decide how the two storylines fit together. It isn't explained, not should it be. Sometimes the reader has to make their own decisions and not have everything spelled out for them by The Author. These demands on the reader elevate the novel to something above the standard romantic potboiler. ( )

The Old Man is very well written, and it is a fantastic story. The Wild Palms, I didn't enjoy so much. Faulkner clearly didn't intend it, but if you ever reread this novel, read each story seperately. It's more enjoyable that way. ( )

This is actually two separate novellas (the other story being "The Old Man"), told in alternating chapters. According to the intro, the two novellas were intended by Faulkner to be printed together in this fashion, and they actually complement each other. I couldn't quite see that, but the style is not really distracting. No, what distracts is Faulkner's literary style, tending toward pompous verbosity. Here (in "The Wild Palms"), he even allows his obfuscatory verbage to infect the dialogue. If I were a character in this story, I'd be liable to yell "What on Earth are you talking about?". And it's really too bad, because both stories are pretty compelling. "The Wild Palms" is about a housewife and mother who impulsively leaves her husband for a medical intern, and their struggle to keep the demands of the world from pressing into their pure desire for each other. "The Old Man" is about a convict who inadvertently escapes while being called upon to lend aid during a Mississippi flood, and rescues a pregnant woman who becomes his dazed companion as he attempts to navigate floodwaters over several days. Both stories are powerful and well-plotted, but fatally marred by Faulkner's writing. The final sentence of "The Wild Palms", however, is a masterpiece of bleakly spare philosophy, and perfectly encapsulates the story. ( )

Two seemingly unrelated novellas in one book, one about a doctor-turned-bohemian and his adulterous affair with a woman who runs away with him, only to die from a botched abortion, the other about a convict's adventure as he saves a pregnant woman during a horrific flood in Mississippi (he gets ten additional years added to his sentence for his trouble). Well-written, enjoyable, but not a major work. I liked it a great deal. ( )