I had never read anything by William Faulkner in high school. It seemed as though everyone else had to read As I Lay Dying in their English class but for some reason, my teacher chose not to include it for us. Go figure. So Light in August has been my first read of his. And I am aware that many say that he is, if not the greatest American writer, then certainly the greatest American writer from the south. And of the works that I've read from my lists, I seem to have recently chosen many writers who represent some of the writers who are most often named in any "best of" southern writers discussion and who provide a very distinct portrait of the south in the 20th century (Faulkner, Robert Penn Warren, Carson McCullers, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, and, begrudgingly to me, Erskine Caldwell). So I honestly didn't know what to expect from the book, but, 1) I did have high expectations, and 2) I may have gone in with a little bit of southern lit saturation, because I do feel like I've read a lot of it lately (although looking back at what I've read lately, it hasn't really been all that much).
Light in August tells the story of 3 main characters. First, Lena, a pregnant unwed young woman, who travels to Jefferson, Mississippi from Alabama in a quiet, dogged determination to find the father of her unborn child, convinced that he is an honest man and that he really intended to come back and marry her (spoiler alert: he is a big turd and he had no such intention). Second, Joe Christmas, a man who had arrived in Jefferson as a bit of a drifter and who no one knew much about, but the reader learns much about his history, and his mixed race background and the violence and difficulties that have plagued him as a result. Third, Gail Hightower, a former disgraced reverend, who has a very bitter streak against the people of Jefferson for his ousting from the church. There are multiple other important supporting characters, in particular, Byron, who falls in love with Lena and who may or may not do the right thing by her in regards to reuniting her with her baby daddy; Brown, Lena's baby daddy; and Joe Christmas' whack-a-do grandparents by birth who he has never met.
In the story, a murder occurs, and some very serious issues around race come to the forefront. Which isn't surprising, given that the novel was written and set in the early 1930s. While I was reading the book, I found myself very curious what Faulkner's sentiments were about racism, given that he was raised hearing stories in his family about the Ku Klux Klan. And while the sentiments of the book definitely don't condone it, they definitely didn't come down that hard against it either. And while there are a great MANY essays you can find out there about Faulkner's writings and their overall impact on race, it's less easy to find historical essays about his personal feelings about race. But it is clear that his writings themselves really seem to speak for themselves when it comes to how far he was willing to go to put issues of race out there for public discussion, certainly given that this work in particular was written in the 30s. A mixed race man having consensual sex with a white woman in her plantation home (a white woman who devotes her time to helping improve the lives of blacks in the south, incidentally) who goes on to murder her, and yet, who the reader still feels quite sympathetic towards as the rest of the events of the story unfold? Yes, I'd say there are a lot of layers there indeed.
I was expecting the actual writing to be more dense or more complicated or more flowery or more "extra" (as the kids these days would say). Or just more something, I guess. And again, I think that's because I came in with the expectation noted above. I expected to just be blown out of the water. And I don't think I necessarily was. I thought the book was wonderful, and again, it absolutely makes a statement about race given the time that it was written, and it also explored the concept of personal identity. I am very much looking forward to the other Faulkner works that I have on my list, because I suspect that they are going to be very different. And I'm kind of really looking forward to that.
Up next for a break from my reading lists during my 4th of July vacation week is Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, a book that I had purchased on a random book store whim a couple years ago and just haven't gotten around to reading yet. When I traveled to Thailand earlier this year, on our airline, we had many movie options to chose from, and the film version of this book was one of those options. So I had to do my best, when I would glance over to someone's seatback and see Julianne Moore and Ken Watanabe, to avert my eyes so as not to ruin the book and/or movie for myself before getting around to reading and/or watching. So I have the entire week off and expect to do nothing but sit on my fanny and read. So expect a quick run through this one!
218 left to read!
