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

Appreciating Faulkner

Listening to Grover Gardner's reading of TSATF gave me a greater appreciation for Faulkner's language than ever before. The characters came alive for me in ways they haven't through my reading.
Although the initial section narrated by Benjy is difficult to follow, a second listening to it made it quite clear. Faulkner has written a fascinating description of the unraveling of what we today call a dysfuntional family. The characters are revealed to us through the differing perspectives of the three Compson brothers and in particular their feelings for their sister Caddie. The device of switching back and forth in time gives the reader a greater understanding of family dynamics than would a straight forward telling of Caddie's story.

Confusing at first, but persevere.

The first couple hours are very difficult to get through due to the first narrator's viewpoint. I recommend consulting an online summary of the book before you start listening, otherwise you could be lost, like I was. As the book shifts to the perspective of the other three narrators it gets better, and enjoyable, even though I found Jason's narration despicable because of his pettiness and meanness. The reader did an excellent job with the dialects and accents.

Good, but no Ulysses

The Sound and the Fury starts with a non-chronological stream of consciousness narrative from the point of view of a mentally challenged young boy. This part is a bit hard to follow the first time through and it really helps to read a synopsis (like the Wikipedia entry) before reading this section. Several printed version use italics to indicate the temporal shifts, which are hard to catch in the audio version. At times the prose rise to the level of greatness, but this is not so for of most of the writing. I found the stream of consciousness writing in the first section much less effective (and less enjoyable) than the narration in James Joyce’s Ulysses (which predated The Sound and the Fury by nearly a decade). Here the stream of consciousness, at times, seems inconsistent with the mental capabilities of character, and is subtly broken when the story demands clarity.

Other sections use other narration styles and are more story like. The novel tells a story that rings true, but is unpleasant and unaffirming. This is a story of the slow decay of an upper class southern family and includes demeaning portrayals of black servants, anti-Semitism, and other politically incorrect material.

This novel has some moments of excellent writing, and has some elements that were (almost) revolutionary at the time of publication, yet I found this overall a good, not great read.

This version does not include the appendix covering the fictional family’s history that is included in many later print versions.

Grover Gardner’s narration (as usual) is excellent, particularly considering the challenging material.

Too disjointed for me

Is there anything you would change about this book?

It would have helped to have a clearer understanding from the start of who each character is and how they relate to each other. I felt like I was trying to figure out who was who evern late in the book.

Has The Sound and the Fury turned you off from other books in this genre?

No.

Which character ??? as performed by Grover Gardner ??? was your favorite?

Benjamin

Could you see The Sound and the Fury being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I could see it as a movie, which might make it easier to follow.

Loved it!

The narrator did a great job with all the different character voices really helped me to understand the narrative.

Brlliant!

I have to admit TSATF is not an easy read/listen, and I had to replay entire sections multiple times. But it was worth it! Faulkner really is the American Shakespeare. The writing is magical, mystical, and illuminating. I loved this book so much I bought a collection of essays about TSATF. Can't recommend the book highly enough, and the narrator was superb.

Outstanding

Very few portray the Old South like Faulkner. Be it race relation, family relationships, class. or culture. Since I am a son of the South, it seems like I know and understand his characters. A must read

Great narrator, good story, terrible ending

If it wasn’t for this narrator I don’t know if I would have finished this book. The first part is very confusing, stream of consciousness. By the middle you can ,mostly, follow the story. Finally you understand what’s happening and then it just ends. No conclusion. Very disappointing.

Good intro to Faulkner

I think having The Sound and the Fury read to me helped immensely with my understanding of this complex story by Faulkner. Because it is written in an unconventional way, Gardner's reading made clear immediately what Faulkner was attempting to accomplish. I think I would have been confused had I been strictly reading the text.

A lot of Rambling

Sat through it twice to make sense of Benjamin and Quinns accounts. You literally have to reread the book to be able to piece it together. Don't think I got it all and ran our of patience. Jason's character was impressivlely scripted in southern dialect. Faulkner's phrasing and wording is astounding.