The Sound and the Fury

By: William Faulkner

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century is the story of a family of Southern aristocrats on the brink of personal and financial ruin.

The Sound and the Fury is the tragedy of the Compson family, featuring some of the most memorable characters in literature: beautiful, rebellious Caddy; the manchild Benjy; haunted, neurotic Quentin; Jason, the brutal cynic; and Dilsey, their black servant. Their lives fragmented and harrowed by history and legacy, the character’s voices and actions mesh to create what is arguably Faulkner’s masterpiece and one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.

“I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire.... I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it. Because no battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought. The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.” —from The Sound and the Fury

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(P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“I am in awe of Faulkner’s Benjy, James’s Maisie, Flaubert’s Emma, Melville’s Pip, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein—each of us can extend the list.... I am interested in what prompts and makes possible this process of entering what one is estranged from.” —Toni Morrison

incomparable

Such an amazing experiment in prose handled consummately by the brilliant narration. Not an easy read, but worth the experience!

Wonderful narrator

Great narrator. No words to describe how good this book is.
So I won’t try.

Beautifully written, but confusing story

Faulkner did an excellent job showcasing his evocative descriptions and use of multiple narrators, but it was hard to differentiate the present from the past, leading me confused.

A dense but thoughtful exploration of the mind.

Faulkner is brilliant, if slightly nuts. The book is narrated from four different perspectives, all utilizing different language and thought patterns, and rarely are the exact events very clear. He has no desire to hit anyone over the head with a "message" about Southern life or sexuality or life or death. But he weaves in themes of all of these, along with much more, in fascinating patterns. Even more, he explores the non-linear way in which human beings think and act, revealing motivations and thoughts that I am rarely aware of within myself. For that reason alone, I could highly recommend this book.

As good as it gets

This beautiful novel is an incredible challenge to read without the help of this talented performance. This is why I pay for audible!!

Confusing but Interesting

This book was a bit difficult to read, but worth every minute of your time.

The sound and the fury

Would you try another book from William Faulkner and/or Grover Gardner?

Yes

What do you think your next listen will be?

I don't know

Which scene was your favorite?

The scenes with Benjamin narrating

Was The Sound and the Fury worth the listening time?

No

Any additional comments?

I was disappointed because there is a whole addendum to the book that is not included in the audilbe version. The narration, however, is fantastic and I would definitely read another book narrated by Grover Gardner.

Not for everyone, but worth the work.

Truthfully, when I first started reading this book, I started and stopped multiple times because I could not understand what was happening. However, once the stream-of-consciousness style clicked in my mind, I was able to read this novel more smoothly. It has since become one of my favorite books, if not my absolute favorite. Faulkner weaves a remarkable story of familial destruction over the course of several years that the reader must piece together through three unreliable narrators while summing up these three accounts at the end with a fourth section that focuses around the true matriarch of the novel in the form of the black house servant, Dilsey. Faulkner's writing style is not for everyone, as he uses plenty of southern american vernacular and slang similar to Mark Twain, which can be even more difficult when it is infused into an experimental stream of consciousness style. However, Grover Gardner seems to have a firm grasp of this style and manner of speech, which makes this listening experience all the better.

Good Reader, sub par book

if your looking for a story that has no real beginning middle or end. this is for you.

Utterly Phenomenal

It’s amazing that Faulkner wrote several books, including this one, before anyone in the world of books understood what an exceptional writer he was. And then of course later came the Nobel Prize and so much other recognition.

It’s a very difficult, very complex book. And, unless one had the aid of a scene-by-scene account of the plot and character flow, it’s extremely hard to get to the bottom of what Faulkner has created.

If one can give it that much investment, one can appreciate it more deeply and more fully.

But, even if one can’t or won’t, there’s so much to appreciate. And if you’re willing to spend some significant time and care you can get much out of it.

The South experienced a deep and thorough fall from the beginning of the 19th century and on for 100 or more years, with serious repercussions for many years thereafter. Faulkner captures in this novel, and others, the many dimensions of that fall. But there’s life, too, and all it’s richness, in many diverse characters.

It’s powerful, complex, painful, rich, pitiful, deep, multi-dimensional. It has religious and spiritual elements. And so much more. I really think serious American students of our literature owe it to themselves to experience some Faulkner.

The narration was outstanding.

I strongly encourage your experience of it.