Turnabout

by William Faulkner

Genres: Short Stories

50 pages, Unknown Binding

Published March 5, 1932

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

[Connie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

In spite of his youth and tendency to turn dangerous events into games, a young man shows extreme bravery during World War I around the English Channel. The story had some exciting moments, but it seemed unrealistic in matters of military procedure.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it hard to take an interest in any of Faulkner’s war stories. But they do illustrate the fact that Faulkner seems to have needed to master very plain narrative storytelling before moving on to more complex themes and more striking metaphor and imagery. I’m not very knowledgeable about Faulkner but it’s hard to believe he was also making a serious attempt at poetry early in his career. The poetic talent doesn’t show up in the war stories. One does suspect that the whole country was naturally obsessed with the First World War and so all serious authors must have been obliged to try their hand at interpreting it.

[Sohail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Faulkner did not go to war, but when returned to his hometown, he wore the military clothing that he had bought and boasted about his heroic adventures as an officer.

Faulkner shouldn't have written about war as an insider—he knew nothing about it, and the fiction is just as empty as his officer's clothing when he wore it.

[Yudit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever story and a fun read.

[Lloyd Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bravery and valor in war comes from many directions, most of which are completely unexpected!
4 stars

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

WWI tale involving a young Naval officer and his heroic and dangerous acts as small torpedo skiff pilot.