William Faulkner at the University of Virginia

His place as one of the great writers of the 20th century firmly established, William Faulkner accepted an invitation in 1957 from U.Va.'s English department to come to the University as writer-in-residence. Faulkner's appointment was cause for excitement among students and faculty, though the winner of the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature initially caught Virginians off guard.

After Faulkner arrived on Grounds, his "observations on 'Virginia snobs' caused somewhat of a sensation," wrote Virginius Dabney in Mr. Jefferson's University. "He liked the state, he said, 'because Virginians are all snobs and I like snobs.'"

For full article, go to http://www.uvamagazine.org/site/c.esJNK1PIJrH/b.4103475//

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• Virginia
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• 1957
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• Residence

[Marcolopolis5]

Absalom, Absalom!

[Asguarde]

The Sound and the Fury seems to be considered the best he's written. If you're having trouble getting through the books, I suggest reading it once real quick to get the gist of the story and focusing harder the second time through.

[bettinadrew]

Sound and Fury not best because the three disparate sections do not come together as a whole and too frustrating to start with because of the point of view. Interesting primarily as a modernist artifact and for breakdown of Southern family under weight of culture. Absalom, Absalom best, but Light in August outstanding. Personally, I love Snopes trilogy.

[nelrish24]

waw

[DennisfromDC]

I don't care what any asshole says, UVA is just as good as any Harvard or Yale.

[cfortnerXYZ]

@kwcarter04 Absalom was the first Faulkner I read. It was not an assignment and I had no idea what to expect. I was rivetted from first line through the last. I read it in one night and had nightmares for the next month. I still live where much of what informed Absalom is quite real. When you live in an epiphany nothing is unenlightened.

[drmbowen]

He was first writer-in-residence in 1956 (not 57)

[LiveBrite]

God always loves u

[Imnothecrazyone]

Imagine being so revered that people give interviews about how they were in the same lecture hall as you. I can't.

[bewat7]

Don't start with "The Sound and the Fury." Would you start your math education with calculus? Start with a simpler work -- "The Hamlet," perhaps "As I Lay Dying," or my favorite, "Light in August." Give yourself time.  Faulkner was once asked what people should do if they couldn't understand his work, even after reading it four times. He answered, "Read it five times."

[pmulbrecht]

Thomas Sutpen sucked... in a big, moribund, postbellum way... man, he sucked.

[lolalongneck]

Yes, a great writer who illuminated the importance of the heart...his books continue to amaze and enlighten me.