A Faulkner Reader

The black volume on the left belonged to my stepparents.  They'd apparently bought it in 1959.  Whether or not they actually read it I don't know.  I used to be the one to dust the shelves in the study and started with Jane Eyre when I was about 10.  Later on, I discovered Boris Pasternak, Erich Maria Remarque, William Faulkner and more.  This book is one of barely two handfuls I brought with me when I moved to The Neth.  Had I looked more closely, I would have noticed that it already contained the original complete version of The Sound and the Fury and thus hadn't had to buy the recently published pocketbook you see on the right.  Anyway, the first time I became conscious of Faulkner was when we took up the short story A Rose for Emily in secondary school (it's also in the Reader).  Recently I learned that he was Gabriel Garcia Marquez' chief inspiration for stories such as Leaf Storm.  Both won the Nobel -- Faulkner in 1949, Marquez in 1982.

Faulkner's tales make me sad and sorry, in general, but what a gateway to understanding human nature they are!

As for the rest of the day ... went to work, worked, went back home.  A grey and chilly day it has been, but thankfully dry.  I have the flu so it'll be a reasonably early night again.