The Tall Men

by William Faulkner

Genres: Short Stories, American, Southern

Unknown Binding

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

[Tamoghna Biswas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much political, and simultaneously moralistic and grounded. Has a gothic mood that justifies the morose events that happen in the course of the story. Relevant still on this date and time, but never gets preachy.

[Lloyd Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want a glimpse of what integrity looks like, read this story about a farming family who has lived in Jefferson MS since before the Civil War. Five stars, which means essential reading.

[Sohail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading the works of the masters is good for learning about literature when they are good. It's even better when they are bad, because one can only learn the subtleties by learning from the mistakes of the masters.

The Tall Men is a sentimental short story that reminds me of Two Soldiers. But this time around, instead of glorifying patriotism, the author has tried to glorify the patriotism of the people who don't give a damn about the government, but are quick to go to war when the country needs them. Even the less than creative title reeks of that kind of appealing to the masses. It is not fully in favor of Anarchism or Individualism, however, but a certain kind of mythical tough-guy culture that's more akin to what you'd find in fiction than reality. Oh, I forget myself; it is fiction.

[Stanzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story about the impact of the AAA and WPA on the rural South.

[Adam Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5. A story written at the onset of World War II, when if you wanted to make money off a story it better be sentimental and patriotic. None of that 20s and 30s post WWI disillusionment. The masters had bills to pay too.

[Lou]

Class

[Lydia Batchelor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't tell you a thing about this short story. Sorry to my lit teacher.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe Faulkner understood himself more than most other writers. So when he said he turned to novels only after failing at poetry and short stories, I believe him. This story just seems to lack subtlety and complexity.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story centering around the love of family and patriotic duty when a city government man arrives in a small town to arrest two young men who failed to register for Selective Service.