Collected Stories

By: William Faulkner

Narrated by: Various

“I’m a failed poet. Maybe every novelist wants to write poetry first, finds he can’t and then tries the short story which is the most demanding form after poetry. And failing that, only then does he take up novel writing.” —William Faulkner

Winner of the National Book Award

Forty-two stories make up this magisterial collection by the writer who stands at the pinnacle of modern American fiction. Compressing an epic expanse of vision into hard and wounding narratives, Faulkner’s stories evoke the intimate textures of place, the deep strata of history and legend, and all the fear, brutality, and tenderness of the human condition. These tales are set not only in Yoknapatawpha County, but in Beverly Hills and in France during World War I. They are populated by such characters as the Faulknerian archetypes Flem Snopes and Quentin Compson, as well as by ordinary men and women who emerge so sharply and indelibly in these pages that they dwarf the protagonists of most novels.

©1976 Jill Faulkner Summers; (P)2005 Random House, Inc.
Copyright renewed

Critic reviews

“No man ever put more of his heart and soul into the written word than did William Faulkner. If you want to know all you can about that heart and soul, the fiction where he put it is still right there.” —Eudora Welty

“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 greatness of our classics.” —Ralph Ellison

Difficult to Understand

I liked the readers' performances. I Din't like the fact that I couldn't understand a handful of them.

Faulkner stories great (narration awful in parts)

I love reading William Faulkner, though at times his work is difficult to follow on audio and it, of course, can be spoiled by a bad narrator, just like any other book narrated by Scott Brick.

If one listens to an audiobook in which the narration is heartfelt and the narrator can actually act in narrating, it's such a wonderful experience. A recent example for me is "Last Days of California" by Mary Miller (like Faulkner, a Mississippian), narrated by Andi Arndt. Ms. Arndt apparently put in a tremendous effort, to sound Southern, young and to act as in teen angst and in constant banter between 2 teen sisters. She made the whole thing so real that I got lost in it like a good movie.

Scott Brick's narration gives a soap feel and at times slides into adult-film grade acting. He overdramatizes a word in each sentence (usually the last one) and at times emphasizes every 2d or 3d syllable in every other or 2d or 3d sentence in a paragraph (with no real pattern, perhaps on an ad hoc, random basis). And, you can't help but notice his adulation with his voice; this effect on the (this) listener absolutely ruins the audiobook. I have wondered more than once if he has his latest narration piped into speakers throughout his house and poolside.

I have had to return books I purchased because his smarmy narration was worse to me than listening to 3 kids scraping rulers repeatedly over a chalkboard.

I had already rated this audiobook long ago, but just decided to add the review because I have recently come across books I would have loved but dropped like any other Brick. From reviews I've read, I'm not alone in my chagrin. I'm hoping enough noise will make a difference in audio-casting for prime books.

Works for Me

Thanks so much to reader who left the complete TOC for this collection.
That said, I can love listening to Faulkner the same way I listen to Wagner. I just let it wash over me.

A magician

These short stories are simply beautiful, and the narrators are very talented and well read.

many great stories, and some not so great ones.

This massive collection covers a large portion of William Faulkner's short story output. This means that there are many brilliant stories ("Barn Burning," Dry September," "Elly"), and some lesser lights. I don't know if anyone is really waiting for a sequel to, say, "The Leg.". Interestingly, a large percentage of the stories, including many of the best ones, were written in a brief window of time. from the very late 1920s to the early 1930s. Anyway, if you're Faulkner fan, this is a great read. If your opinion is a bit more mixed, you might want to start with the shorter collection "These 13."

As far as the performances go, there are many different narrators. Most are good, and some much better than that. Still, over the course of so many stories, some could have used another take or two.