Wash

by William Faulkner

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Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, 20th Century

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer. He is best known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in for Lafayette County where he spent most of his life. A Nobel laureate, Faulkner is one of the most celebrated writers of American literature and often is considered the greatest writer of Southern literature.
Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, and raised in Oxford, Mississippi. During World War I, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, but did not serve in combat. Returning to Oxford, he attended the University of Mississippi for three semesters before dropping out. He moved to New Orleans, where he wrote his first novel Soldiers' Pay (1925). He went back to Oxford and wrote Sartoris (1927), his first work set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. In 1929, he published The Sound and the Fury. The following year, he wrote As I Lay Dying. Later that decade, he wrote Light in August, Absalom, Absalom! and The Wild Palms. He also worked as a screenwriter, contributing to Howard Hawks's To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep, adapted from Raymond Chandler's novel. The former film, adapted from Ernest Hemingway's novel, is the only film with contributions by two Nobel laureates.
Faulkner's reputation grew following publication of Malcolm Cowley's The Portable Faulkner, and he was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his powerful and unique contribution to the modern American novel." He is the only Mississippi-born Nobel laureate. Two of his works, A Fable (1954) and The Reivers (1962), won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Faulkner died from a heart attack on July 6, 1962, following a fall from his horse the month before. Ralph Ellison called him "the greatest artist the South has produced".

Reviews

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

La novela como fracaso del cuento. El cuento como fracaso de la poesía. La poesía como fracaso del silencio. La narración como suspensión del tiempo. Un silencio estruendoso. La entrevista que abre el libro es un volcán literario. Vale tanto como el cuento mismo. El final del cuento, su epicentro, es imposible de olvidar. Un viejo arrebatado por la furia con la guadaña en alto contra la multitud furiosa. Un asesino suicida. Una venganza. Saturación de alegorías cristianas en versión Faulkner. La violencia como método de investigación de la condición humana. Hay algo tautológico en el método de Faulkner, como en Shakespeare, como en la tragedia según George Steiner. Lo terrible no es un desenlace, tampoco es previo. Es constante. Todo es apocalíptico, los axiomas, las reglas, cada figura. Wash Jones nunca tuvo opción de hacer algo distinto de lo que hizo.

[Kelsey Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story focuses on the differences between the rich Southern "aristocracy" and "poor white trash". If it seems familiar that's because a version of this short story was incorporated into his novel Absalom, Absalom! While Sutpen's whole world is essentially destroyed, Wash (who had nothing at the beginning of the war and has nothing at the end) is more or less unchanged. This short story focuses on the tensions between the two classes and the tragic impact it can have. In a world where the middle class is shrinking and the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider and wider, this story still seems very relevant.

[Pelidelasemana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estupendo documento para los fanáticos de William Faulkner, este breve libro contiene una entrevista con la reportera Jean Stein, en la que Faulkner habla sobre su proceso creativo, sobre los grandes retos detrás de la escritura de 'El ruido y la furia', y sobre algunas anécdotas de su vida como guionista en Hollywood y como regente de un burdel a inicios de su carrera.

La segunda mitad del libro es de especial interés, ya que contiene la escritura previa, en forma de cuento breve, de una de las escenas más desgarradoras de ¡Absalón, Absalón!, concerniente al pasaje en el que Wash Jones termina de forma brutal con el linaje Sutpen. Un poco más descriptivo y menos críptico que en la versión final, aunque también mucho menos logrado e impactante, el texto deja entrever la forma en la que Faulkner retrabajaba sus textos, eliminando lo innecesario y llevándolos al asombroso nivel de perfección que le conocemos.

[Juane Pizarro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faulkner es un genio, sus cuentos nunca decepcionan.

[Cristobal · Rating 4 out of 5]

El Bonus Track de Absalom, absalom! La mitad es una entrevista interesante con Faulkner y la otra mitad un cuento que comparte la trama del momento cumbre de la novela, con mucho más diálogo y mucho menos barroquismo que en en Absalom... Es algo así como "un cuento" de Rulfo, que daría pie a lo que después sería Pedro Páramo.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story recapping the aftermath of the Civil War and the social between the haves and have-nots.

[TopBob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intellectually delicious.... the mental frameworks of the characters and how they intersect are fascinating; Wash's fantasy and Sutpen's egotism converge for a truly stunning story.

[Paco Salvarregui · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patrón, de abelardo castillo, ya sé de dónde saliste