Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Which of William Faulkner's 19 novels is YOUR personal favorite?

Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner was born on this day, Sept. 25, in 1897 near Oxford, Mississippi.

Faulkner, who died of a heart attack at the age of 64 in 1962, published 19 novels, scores of short stories and a number of poems during his career. Faulkner is generally considered to be one of the greatest Southern writers ever, right up there with Truman Capote, Harper Lee, Mark Twain and Tennessee Williams.

What follows is a complete list of his novels in order of publication.

- Soldier’s Pay (1926)

- Mosquitoes (1927)

- Sartoris (1929)

- The Sound and the Fury (1929)

- As I Lay Dying (1930)

- Sanctuary (1931)

- Light in August (1932)

- Pylon (1935)

- Absalom, Absalom! (1936)

- The Unvanquished (1938)

- The Wild Palms (1939)

- The Hamlet (1940)

- Go Down, Moses and Other Stories (1942)

- Intruder in the Dust (1948)

- Requiem for a Nun (1951)

- A Fable (1954)

- The Town (1957)

- The Mansion (1959)

- The Reivers (1962)

Some of Faulkner’s books are ranked among the best books ever published, and, as you might have imagined, his books often find their way onto recommended reading lists and other “best of” lists. What follows is a run-down of just a few of those lists.

Two of his books won Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction – “A Fable” (1955) and “The Reivers” (1963).

In 1998, the Modern Library included “The Sound and the Fury,” “As I Lay Dying” and “Light in August” on its list of “100 Best English Language Novels of the 20th Century.”

“Sanctuary,” “The Unvanquished,” “Go Down, Moses,” “Intruder in the Dust,” “The Sound and the Fury,” “Absalom, Absalom!” and “As I Lay Dying” were named to the James Agee Film Project’s “A Southern List: 125 Great Southern Books.”

“As I Lay Dying,” “The Bear,” “Light in August,” “The Sound and the Fury” and “Absalom, Absalom!” were named to the AP Literature Recommended Reading List.

“As I Lay Dying,” “Light in August” and “The Sound and the Fury” were named to Oprah Winfrey’s famous Oprah’s Book Club.

“As I Lay Dying” and “The Sound and the Fury” were also named to The College Board’s list of “101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers.”

The editors at the Book-of-the-Month-Club picked “The Sound and the Fury” and “Light in August” for a best-of list they called “The Well-Stocked Bookcase.”

“Absalom, Absalom!” and “The Sound and the Fury” were also named to the Norwegian Book Club’s 2002 list of “The Top 100 Books of All Time.”

Easton Press also included “The Sound and the Fury” in its famous series of books called the “100 Greatest Books Ever Written.”

Earlier this year, the Library of Congress also included “The Sound and the Fury” in its list of “88 Books That Shaped America.”

In March of 2011, Esquire magazine included “As I Lay Dying” on its list of “75 Books Every Man Should Read.”

In the end, how many of Faulkner’s books have you read? Which is your personal favorite? Why? Let us know in the comments section below.

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