Collected Stories of William Faulkner

At one point I was reading two long difficult books at the time I was reading this long difficult collection. I got overwhelmed by it all. I was tired at the end here.

What's the most important thing a reader need to know before reading this book? hmm. Probably that it's not Faulkner's best stuff. He wrote a lot of stories, many very sophisticated. But I never felt the sense of invention brought to completion here in these as I have in his novels. These are often light or feel light. They often read as sketches or wishful fantasies romanticizing Native Americans or the trauma of World War I pilots. They often feel like magazine entertainment. What you will gain is some insight in the Faulkner's Mississippi, his Yoknapatawpha county show more history that he carried here back to Choctaw natives. You will sample many of his narrative and character voices. And, if you make it to the end, you will finally find some of diversity of styles Faulkner dabbled with along the way. There is a lot of Mississippi here. But he's interesting when he leaves the state.

Nine hundred pages of Faulkner stories is a lot. It's unfortunate the book doesn't come with composition dates, because Faulkner's writing evolved over time and it would be helpful to track what he was wrote when. Whether in the 1920's, when he was aggressively experimenting with form and developing a style, or the 1930's when desperate for cash, writing in Hollywood and at home, or the 1940's when he seemed to have settled into a confident style, perhaps less ambitious. (My main lesson reading Faulkner is the closer to the year 1929, the better)

Instead, the stories are grouped thematically - The Country, The Village, The Wilderness, The Wasteland, The Middle Ground and Beyond. If you read through from beginning to end, you begin with more juvenile stories, told through the eyes of children, that make up the Country section. The Village is more adult social commentary. The Wilderness is means Native American stories, The Wasteland are World War I stories that are probably written in the 1920's, and where we finally leave Mississippi. The Middle Ground is at last a refreshing set of stories, as each story strikes new territory, and much if it unfamiliar from Faulkner's novels. This was the first section I felt the book offered me something really new about the author. The last section, Beyond, has, I think, some of the most sophisticated stories in the collection. My only problem was I was exhausted by the time I got to them, and too tired to see the way wind or other strains were woven into these narratives with unspoken key points. The Beyond section is where I started finally googling explanations. I should have done that sooner.

I would not advise anyone to begin Faulkner here. (Consider starting with The Unvanquished, or just dive right into the wonderful As I lay Dying.) I might be careless in suggesting this 1951 National Book Award winner is really only a book for Faulkner completists, but I do suggest that.

2025
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This collection of stories dates to 1950, that is, it is unchanged since it was first issued at that date. Faulkner's stories are indispensable. Some overlap with the more episodic novels, like Go Down, Moses. Having collected many of Faulkner's novels in the Library of America series, I'm wondering what prevents Library of America from finally issuing a definitive collection of the stories, which is still likely to be based on this 1950 collection [edited to add: and Library of America has finally done so, in 2023]. People who say they have never been able to read a Faulkner novel--so they have tried reading some stories--are at a disadvantage, in my opinion. You have to read some of the novels to get his mythic worldview situated in show more the Old South. Faulkner famously said that for many people in the South, the past is "not even past." show less

I tried - and failed - to read a Faulkner novel, so thought his short stories would be a more accessible introduction to his work. Be advised, this is a pretty mammoth tome: 42 stories over 900 pages, and by no means all the stories are easily comprehensible. I found myself numerous times on Google, trying to check out the interpretation of a particular tale.
Faulkner writes in a 'blokey' style: his stories feature war, American Indians, the racial divide, drink, revenge. I don't ever see myself reading anything else by him, but I absolutely appreciate the quality of his writing. The final story, for example, 'Carcassonne', describing rats:

"It was dark, a darkness filled with a fairy pattering of small feet, stealthy and intent. show more Sometimes the cold patter of them on his face waked him in the night, and at his movement they scurried invisibly like an abrupt disintegration of dead leaves in a wind, in whispering arpeggios of minute sound, leaving a thin but definite effluvium of furtiveness and voracity."

My favourite stories were : 'Two Soldiers', narrated by a child whose beloved elder brother is off to War; 'Red Leaves' (once I figured what's going on) where two American Indians are in pursuit of a slave, who is destined to die with his dead master; 'Turnabout' (where two arrogant American soldiers come to realise the courage of the young English marine who they initially despise). I also liked 'Elly' and 'Carcassonne' (I may not have correctly understood the latter, but it's intensely moving.)

Would give this 3.5. I'm glad I've finished it, but glad too that I read it show less

This collection of Faulkner's short fiction is divided into geographical settings, starting in the familiar land of Yoknapatawpha County and extending outward to encompass the rest of the country and beyond, with the final section involving elements outside of this world. I personally found the stories in the first few sections the most compelling. They involve many of the characters and settings familiar from his novels and provide us with a variety of viewpoints of life in the county. Of the latter stories, many involve military service and utilize unexplained lingo and events I was unfamiliar with, so that may have colored my perception. A few favorites for their unique narration and/or unexpected plot: "A Rose for Emily", "Dry show more September", "Elly", "That Will Be Fine", "Turnabout" and "Beyond". show less

Some of his stories are real gems with fascinating characters and quirky plots. Others made no sense to me. The group of stories set in Italy were especially difficult to comprehend.

I was blown away by this collection. I've never come across a better collection of stories than this one. His WWI stories, I don't particularly care for, but I was mesmerized by almost everything in this book. Faulkner is my ultimate hero.

3443. Collected Stories of William Faulkner (read May 11, 2001) I saw that I had read every National Book Award fiction winner from the institution of the award in 1950 till 1968 except this book. So I thought I would read this since it was at the library. There are 42 stories and I found it a chore to read one after another for 900 pages. Some of the stories are very good, but some are poor and dull. Many have the defect common in modern-day short stories--not telling what happened and kind of leaving the reader up in the air. "A Rose for Emily"--which I believe has been anthologized quite a bit is, I thought, probably the best story in the book, if I had to choose one.