Sunday, April 03, 2011
Light in August
by William Faulkner
Faulkner is a deep writer tackling such topic as race, religion, and existentialism. He delves into all these important themes in "Light in August".
The story begins with a young pregnant girl, Lana Grove, walking several hundred miles in search for her baby’s father, Lucas Burch who ran out on them. Lana’s story is overlapped by two other story lines, that of Reverend Hightower and of the troubled story of Joe Christmas.
The most compelling account is the latter, where Joe Christmas struggles with his inner demons spurned by his clouded identity. He skirts the line between white and black and feels rejected by both races. The treatment of blacks in the south is painful to read about, the language referring to them equally painful. He is a tragic character who meets a predictable end.
Reverend Hightower is caught in his past. He has been removed as the church but refuses to leave the place of his grandfather’s glorious past. He is the springboard for Byron Bunch’s attempts to win Lana’s love.
I liked this book. I like how uncomfortable I felt reading about Joe Christmas’ past. I liked Lana undauntedly pursued Lucas Burch. I liked how, even as good as Byron Bunch was to Lana, he did not win her. And I liked how Reverend Hightower clumsily attempted to recapture the present.
Faulkner is a fantastic writer and this is a fantastic book.
Faulkner is a deep writer tackling such topic as race, religion, and existentialism. He delves into all these important themes in "Light in August".
The story begins with a young pregnant girl, Lana Grove, walking several hundred miles in search for her baby’s father, Lucas Burch who ran out on them. Lana’s story is overlapped by two other story lines, that of Reverend Hightower and of the troubled story of Joe Christmas.
The most compelling account is the latter, where Joe Christmas struggles with his inner demons spurned by his clouded identity. He skirts the line between white and black and feels rejected by both races. The treatment of blacks in the south is painful to read about, the language referring to them equally painful. He is a tragic character who meets a predictable end.
Reverend Hightower is caught in his past. He has been removed as the church but refuses to leave the place of his grandfather’s glorious past. He is the springboard for Byron Bunch’s attempts to win Lana’s love.
I liked this book. I like how uncomfortable I felt reading about Joe Christmas’ past. I liked Lana undauntedly pursued Lucas Burch. I liked how, even as good as Byron Bunch was to Lana, he did not win her. And I liked how Reverend Hightower clumsily attempted to recapture the present.
Faulkner is a fantastic writer and this is a fantastic book.
