The Hamlet

Rating:
Summary: It's a slow go, but well worth it
Review: Three-and-a-half stars. There is nothing about The Hamlet that will surprise fans of Faulkner's work: it is a dense novel written in the author's trademark style--mind-bending prose that often leaves one wondering what in the world just happened. But it's worth it, because The Hamlet is the springboard for Faulkner's impressive Snopes trilogy. What happens in this book sets the stage for the more entertaining (and more accessible) The Town and The Mansion. Flem Snopes emerges as a force to be reckoned with, and the manic antics of his redneck relatives propels the narrative forward with enough momentum that the reader, at novel's close, is curious to learn what happens when the diabolical genius of Flem Snopes is loosed on Jefferson. Read it: but keep in mind that it all gets more interesting in the books that follow.

Rating:
Summary: A Faulknerian from California
Review: To ask "honest fans of literature" to admit that William Faulkner was "an overrated hack" is the same as asking jazz lovers to proclaim that Miles Davis was a "phoney." Ridiculous.