Light in August

By: William Faulkner

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Audible is pleased to present Light in August, by Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner.

An Oprah's Book Club Selection regarded as one of Faulkner's greatest and most accessible novels, Light in August is a timeless and riveting story of determination, tragedy, and hope. In Faulkner's iconic Yoknapatawpha County, race, sex, and religion collide around three memorable characters searching desperately for human connection and their own identities.

Audie Award-winning narrator Will Patton lends his voice to Light in August. Patton has narrated works by Ernest Hemingway, Don DeLillo, Pat Conroy, Denis Johson, Larry McMurtry, and James Lee Burke, and brings to this performance a keen understanding of Faulkner, an authentic feel for the South, and a virtuoso narrator's touch.

As an added bonus, when you purchase our Audible Modern Vanguard production of William Faulkner's book, you'll also receive an exclusive Jim Atlas interview. This interview – where James Atlas interviews James Lee Burke about the life and work of William Faulkner – begins as soon as the audiobook ends.

Be sure to check out Faulkner's The Wild Palms as well.

This production is part of our Audible Modern Vanguard line, a collection of important works from groundbreaking authors.

©1954, 1976 William Faulkner (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Nominee - Best Classic Audiobook, 2011

"For all his concern with the South, Faulkner was actually seeking out the nature of man. Thus we must turn to him for that continuity of moral purpose which made for the greatness of our classics." (Ralph Ellison)

"It's impossible to overstate the difficulties facing Will Patton as he undertakes a reading of this Faulkner classic. It's not simply the matter of conveying early-twentieth-century Southern backwoods dialects. That, a skilled mimic with an exceptional ear like Patton masters easily. But this novel's demands are so much more arduous, requiring a narrator to plumb the depths of despair, hopelessness, faith, rage, and yearning that go on for page after page without letup." ( AudioFile)

Absolutely brilliant

Riveting storytelling, thoroughly engaging, expertly read. Incredible characters and a powerful depiction of the American South — Made me hungry for more Faulkner

Sort of a dark nativity story twist

It's hard to describe just what the structure of this book is. Characters we think are central disappear for long stretches. Characters we think are peripheral come to have major roles. The central plot line appears to lead nowhere. I am left with the sense that the real plot lies outside of what is reported in the book, and can only be inferred from the general shapes outlined therein. Faulkner is probably the most successful experimental writer of the 20th century. One of the few where we feel the experimental elements serve the function of the story instead of the other way around. In this book, it is the fragmented way of telling the story, and the sense of an overarching purpose that cannot be directly stated. Nowadays, the fragmented chronology has become so common that we may not appreciate how revolutionary Faulkner's work really was. One thing Faulkner is always good at is at expressing the ambiguity in a character's words or actions. Rather than simply say what a gesture means, he will leave you with a multitude of interpretations just as you are left in real life wondering what a gesture truly meant. Just as our own gestures mean more than can be neatly summed up in a tidy soundbite explanation.

It's not giving anything away to say that there are numerous allusions to the nativity story in this book, though it can be easy to forget as the story twists away in different directions. It's a very dark twisted version of the nativity story all the same. I think the underlying meaning of the book lies somewhere in the contemplation of its elements as they relate to that archetypal story.

Will Patton does a terrific job of keeping all the characters straight and of evoking the period and the people.

What a story! Beautiful!

What made the experience of listening to Light in August the most enjoyable?

I have never read this book and decided to try some real literature and see if I liked it. I love Faulkner's way with words and the narration by Will Patton was superb. When I finished it, I looked it up on Wikipedia and didn't realize alll the biblical connotations to this story. However, I liked the story by itself, I don't need all of the deep meanings to it. The story stands tall without it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Byron Bunch. He was a lonely, disconnected man coasting thru life until he meets Lena. He learns to take a chance and stand up for what he believes in. Powerful stuff.

Have you listened to any of Will Patton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first time, if he is the actor,(which I think he is) I enjoyed his performance in Armageddon but nothing compares with his brilliant reading of this book. He got all the nuances right and made all of the characters live and breathe for me.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Too long, so no. I enjoy taking my time and cherishing a book, getting the time to muse over each chapter and anticipate what is coming next. This is one of those books and I don't regret at all the week it took me to listen.

Any additional comments?

Absolutely loved this book. One of my favorites!

Awesome .

Embarrassed to say that at more than 70 years of literacy this is my first William Faulkner book. OMG, what a wonderful story by a super gifted writer and story teller. The narrative and production quality only enhanced it. I'm already beginning my second Faulkner book. "A Fable."

Amazing view into life 100 years ago.

What made the experience of listening to Light in August the most enjoyable?

The vocabulary of the author. I understood the intent of each sentence, but marvelled at the literary level of the written word. Not something you would here in everyday life now.

What did you like best about this story?

The depth of the characters and how they converged in life

What about Will Patton’s performance did you like?

The pace, the vocal manipulation and tonal flexibility in converying each character

If you could take any character from Light in August out to dinner, who would it be and why?

pass on that one

Any additional comments?

Very insightful of human value and perspective from this era.

Another Excellent Faulkner Novel

Joe Christmas's epitaph would read:

Reprobate died unsaved
or

child turned to evil for lack of love

let the reader decide

An Author in Search of Wise Men

This is my third Faulkner work, having recent read "The Sound and the Fury" and "As I Lay Dying" in conjunction with the Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th.Century.

Faulkner isn't easy to digest. As a Southern Gothicist with a Modernist bent, Faulkner dabbled in stream of consciousness writing in some places but deep character examination in others. While "Sound" and "Dying" may be better known works, "Light in August" is certainly arguably his best work, perhaps because Sound and Dying were such break out works. Light In August feels more mature and more structured then the previous two and certainly less tedious.

Centered on Lena Grove, a pregnant teenager who sets off from Alabama seven months pregnant in search of the roguish millwright that impregnated her and promised to send for them, Lena has a quality that makes people want to help her though she not one to ask for help and readily takes the offered assistance. This helps her make her way by foot and wagon across two states to the town where she believes her paramour to have taken residence. She arrives at a time when a house fire and murder have occurred which may involve her intended. Her helplessness attracts Byron Bunch, another millwright and the polar opposite of the charismatic young man who impregnated her despite warnings from an older man who knows what Byron is in for.

Faulkner's depiction of Southern Blacks and lower class whites is pretty stereotypical which, though sometimes extremely unsettling, is indicative of the mid-war period of its writing. These characters are vivid to Faulkner because they are his lower Mississippi friends, family and neighbors who live out the racial and cultural tension Faulkner depicts.

Though moderately successful when released it did get critical praise, with many critics citing the Christian allegory of the story, specifically interesting as Faulkner wasn't a particularly religious man. The selection of Will Patton as reader was a perfect choice.

An important work, but agonizing

A very compelling story. The reader was incredible. Much of the writing is extremely poetic and lyrical. However, its also agonizingly repetitive and tedious at times. It wasn't a delicious read. You didn't yearn to get back to it. I found I had to force myself to listen; because it was a good story and an important writer, I wanted to finish it and that is what propelled me to the end. It's a masterful work and worth the slog. At the end there are some liner notes by a Faulkner protege and scholar. I think he laid the praise on a bit thick but he did offer some interesting insights into the author which I appreciated too.

Masterpiece

How do I review a masterpiece? It just is. The story, the writing, the words flowing, carrying you along with the characters.
How do you improve on a masterpiece? Have Will Patton read it to you.

Good book, depressing characters

Any additional comments?

I wanted to read a Faulkner book and this was on sale. The story was interesting, but a bit depressing. I finished the book and was happy when it was over. In the end, every action has a reaction, for the good or for the bad. This is what I walked away with. Racism and hatred hurts everyone in the end. Faulkner's writing is like poetry and this kept me going till the end.