Intruder in the Dust

By: William Faulkner

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Intruder in the Dust is at once an engrossing murder mystery and an unflinching portrait of racial injustice. Set in Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County, it is the story of Lucas Beauchamp, a black man wrongly arrested for the murder of Vinson Gowrie, a white man. Confronted by the threat of lynching, Lucas sets out to prove his innocence, aided by a white lawyer, Gavin Stephens, and his young nephew, Chick Mallison.

©1948 Random House, Inc.; 1975 Jill Faulker Summers (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Like listening to poetry

Faulkner has an unique insight into the American South. As a Southern myself, it is awesome to think about things in his books. and they stick with me. Intruder in the Dust is no different. He express ideas about segregation and integration that I will have to ponder. His dispoctions of gender and race relations are also right on.

Fiction can sometimes tell the truth best

Intruder in the Dust is To Kill a Mockingbird before To Kill a Mockingbird. It's mystery and coming-of-age tale rolled into one. It's like the song "Sweet Home Alabama" as a response to the song "Southern Man." It rightfully places the responsibility for righting the wrongs of slavery on Southern Whites and represents their perspective so that I understand it better now than ever before. As with any other community, solutions need to come from within the community, not from outsiders. It also acknowledges the problems with that perspective, not least of which is that some who should be full members of that community are still treated as outsiders. Who is "our own," it asks? Is it determined by blood, region, color, country? And in the book one sees an equally complicated picture of Chick, a good young man who is also a little racist, who does good things that are almost always the right things despite his racist attitudes. Let's be honest, this should be the goal of every well-intentioned White person. We can't actually claim that we have no racist ideas, but we can resist them and certainly act against them and never stop. And of course, there are the moments of staggering insight here too -- perhaps what I love the most in good fiction. I will not soon forget this book.

Faulkner is always brilliant

William Faulkner published Intruder in the Dust in 1948, and in it he intentionally denounced the racism of the American South. As always, the writing is sharp and concise, and the story is smart and biting, pointing out the hypocrisy of the systemic racism around him. Faulkner writes tragic, dark, sad stories with moments of humor that surprise. And, although I enjoyed this book, it wasn't as brilliant as either The Sound and the Fury or As I Lay Dying, which both included more wit and dark humor, as well as intriguing points of view and perfect use of second person writing.

The story begins with vivid and beautiful description of 1940s Mississippi. It is a place fighting change. No longer is the world agrarian, and the Southern aristocracy with its roots in large plantations are finding themselves in the midst of change. But, although modern technological advances are replacing the old system, racism still has its grips on the community. The black population is still expected to defer to their white neighbors. They still take all the blame for anything that goes wrong. They are seen as lesser than.

Our main character is Lucas Beauchamp -- the proud, responsible, and often defiant black man who he also featured in Go Down, Moses. Lucas doesn't act in the ways that his society demands. He is seen as too proud, arrogant and impudent. But it is clear from the first page that Faulkner sees his character as intelligent and heroic.

Unfortunately Lucas is not accused of murdering a white man. And Faulkner allows us to be part of the rescue mission -- following the people who are attempting to protect Lucas from the mob of white men who seek to lynch the innocent man, and with the three people in town who are working to prove that he didn't commit the crime.

A true classic

This is one of my favorite books, although many do not consider it one of Faulkner's best. Faulkner was gifted with the ability to write memorable quotes of dialogue, and there are some gems here. Reading Faulkner always requires concentration, but it's worth the effort. In this story he takes a very simple plot, occurring over a very short time frame, and creates a fascinating work by exploring what the characters think about themselves and their community. One note of caution: the book is full of a few words that have become racial hot buttons. The story is set in the South in the 1950's. These words don't bother me - I'm not afraid of words, and they are true to the setting of the story - but it's something a reader who is unfamiliar with Faulkner should be aware of.

meh

The story is alright, some reasonably interesting twists although the author can be a bit repetitive at times. The narrator seems to build up almost every sentence with volume and excitement to some sort of climax that really never comes. I comes off as preachy, I found my self tuning out uncle Gavin's long speeches.

Masterpiece

Wonderfully written, beautifully read. My first Faulkner, I don’t understand why it took me so long to come in contact with such a stupendous art work. To be savored, like the best and rarest of wines.

Not his best, but hey, it's still Faulkner.

Scratched the classic-southern-gothic itch alright. Something about it seemed a little like a formulaic noir detective novel though. However there were some awesome scenes scattered amongst the less imaginitive stuff.

Faulkner’s Style requires some Flexibility from the Reader, but a good book

Well, I guess the title says it all. Faulkner has a tendency to spend paragraphs explaining something like Saturday morning chaos, but the plot line of the book and the mystery aspect made this an interesting read. It takes some patience to get through all the descriptions, but it’s worth it (I think, at least) in end. The characters have some wit and human elements as well, which makes it more interesting.

Great reader

Best to read, or read and listen hybrid as Faulkner is a wizard with words.

Excellent characterization, fine suspense

Faulkner's style is not easy, so anyone who reads him or listens to him should expect to work a bit. However, there are major rewards for the effort.

The central character in this story, a proud mixed-race man who is charged with murder and assumed to be guilty because he is Afro-american in the South many years ago, is one of the most satisfyingly depicted black male characters in all of American literature. Faulkner's expertise in drawing this man, Lucas Beauchamp, and in depicting his dialect, his speech patterns, is beyond reproach. As you listen, you will see this man in your imagination as clearly as you see yourself in a mirror.

The plot is that of a mystery being solved. Lucas sits patiently in jail as the white roughnecks in the community plot to take him out and lynch him....Lucas is patient and confident because he knows he did not murder the dead white man, and he knows a way to prove it, and he manages to set in motion certain actions that will bring the truth to light...if the actions can be completed (by two boys, one white, one black) before the lynch mob gets Lucas out of jail for the rope and gasoline party they have in mind.

You will wonder after enjoying this fine story if the author of To Kill a Mockingbird was inspired by the tale. Intruder preceded Mockingbird by several years, and the themes and story line and characters are closer to each other than I would be comfortable with had I written Mockingbird.

Intruder is one of Faulkner's most accessible books. You will not be disappointed.