What do you think?
Rate this book
Becoming Faulkner: The Art and Life of William Faulkner
William Faulkner was the greatest American novelist of the twentieth century, yet he lived a life marked by a pervasive sense of failure. Throughout his career, he remained haunted by his inability to master a series of personal and professional challenges: his less-than-heroic military career; the loss of his brother in an airplane crash; a disappointing stint as a Hollywood screenwriter; and a destructive bout with alcoholism. In this imaginative biography, Philip Weinstein--a leading authority on the great novelist--targets Faulkner's embattled sense of self as central to both his life and his work. Weinstein shows how Faulkner's troubled interactions with time, place, and history--with antebellum practices and racial division--take on their fullest meanings in his fiction. Exploring the resonance of his own unpreparedness, Faulkner invented a singular language that captured human consciousness under stress as never before. Becoming Faulkner joins Faulkner's life and art in a bold new way, giving readers a full vantage from which to better understand this twentieth-century literary genius.
Weinstein shows how Faulkner's troubled interactions with time, place, and history--with antebellum practices and southern heritage--form a pattern that played out over the course of his entire life. At the same time, these incidents take on their fullest meanings in his fiction. It was in meditating on his failures, his own unreadiness, Weinstein argues, that Faulkner came up with his singular language, one that captured human consciousness under stress as never before. His fruitless striving catapulted American literature to a new level of sophistication.
Narrating the events that comprised Faulkner's life, biographers have long struggled to depict his personal complexity, the paradoxes that shaped his decisions and dogged his relationships. But without a consideration of the writing as well, the troubles in the life fail to reveal their deeper resonance. By skillfully analyzing the work while tracing the events, Weinstein achieves a full portrait, revealing struggles that animate his life and shadows that complicate his work. Becoming Faulkner thus conjoins Faulkner's life and art in a bold new way, giving readers a full vantage from which to better understand this twentieth-century literary genius.
235 pages, Hardcover
First published November 20, 2009
17 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 19, 2017
“Like many Mississippians, I shied away from Faulkner, who was at once remote and right there in your own backyard, the powerful resident alien.”
Barry Hannah
I cannot agree more with Barry Hannah's take on our Faulkner insecurities. I tried twice before I was 30 to read The Sound and the Fury and thought perhaps Faulkner was insane. Mind you, I did not study literature more than a class in university.
Philip Weinstein writes The Art and Life of William Faulkner in a flowing style that kept me interested, at times captivated, which is refreshing in this day and age of excess academic double-speak by such professors. Professor Weinstein explores Faulkner's drive, his defects, the early works, the masterpieces and the drought and failures in his art and his life.
The book was tremendously helpful in my efforts at reading and actually comprehending "The Sound and the Fury," "Absalom, Absalom!," and "As I Lay Dying." It also explained the back stories for "Sanctuary," the most bizarre "Wild Palms," and the Snopes trilogy, as well as for some of the lively characters imagined by Faulkner.
I highly recommend this for any readers who love Faulkner or you Southerners afraid to read him--you won't admit it, but you know who you are.
“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.”
Wm. Faulkner
I cannot agree more with Barry Hannah's take on our Faulkner insecurities. I tried twice before I was 30 to read The Sound and the Fury and thought perhaps Faulkner was insane. Mind you, I did not study literature more than a class in university.
Philip Weinstein writes The Art and Life of William Faulkner in a flowing style that kept me interested, at times captivated, which is refreshing in this day and age of excess academic double-speak by such professors. Professor Weinstein explores Faulkner's drive, his defects, the early works, the masterpieces and the drought and failures in his art and his life.
The book was tremendously helpful in my efforts at reading and actually comprehending "The Sound and the Fury," "Absalom, Absalom!," and "As I Lay Dying." It also explained the back stories for "Sanctuary," the most bizarre "Wild Palms," and the Snopes trilogy, as well as for some of the lively characters imagined by Faulkner.
I highly recommend this for any readers who love Faulkner or you Southerners afraid to read him--you won't admit it, but you know who you are.
“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.”
Wm. Faulkner
February 7, 2017
See below for my thoughts after having completed the book.
After 30%:
Ugh, this is giving me immense grief. This is a mini literature seminar with a teacher you detest but himself thinks he knows all.
- I don't like how the book is organized - by diffuse themes, not chronologically.
- I don't like the language of the author - he mimics Faulkner's own lines, but he is no Faulkner!
- I don't appreciate the book's repetitiveness - of lines, of ideas and interpretations.
I am looking for a biography about the man William Faulkner and information about his life. From these facts I will myself think, ponder and draw conclusions about his writing. I am not looking for one man's, Weinstein's, explanations of what Faulkner's lines mean. A discussion of different possibilities, that I am fine with, but this is not what is delivered.
It comes down to this. Do you want everything explained to you or do you want to be given the facts and draw your own conclusions from varying possibilities? Do you prefer a lecture or a discussion of ideas? I want to think myself, and I prefer a discussion over a lecture.
Give me the strength, the patience to go on. It is a short book. Grab the flecks of information it contains from the unorganized jumble presented. This is what I am telling myself.
**************
After completion:
I did not enjoy reading this book until I got to the very end, that is to say until I read the epilogue! The epilogue is very good. Yet I cannot rate a book by the content of the epilogue! Being in a generous mood, I have raised my planned one star rating to two.
My complaints stated above at the 30% mark did not change. Please read them.
I found the organization not conductive to learning. The book does not move forward chronologically. It jumps back and forth in time and between different topics. What is presented is less a biography and more a detailed analysis/explanation of each of Faulkner’s works. The author wants to show how Faulkner’s life strongly influenced his writing. We are given the author’s personal views of the man and of Faulkner’s writing. There is no substantial proof for what he says and there is little exposition of other views.
Everything Faulkner has written is analyzed. At times it is almost like reading a Reader’s Digest version of a book. Or Spark Notes. If you have recently read the novel under discussion, one might easily be bored. At other times when not just one book is discussed but several are compared, references are made to specific characters, expressions or events and one can be easily confused. For this reason I would primarily recommend the book to Faulknerian aficionados! It is for those who want in-depth explanations for the meaning behind Faulkner’s lines, for explanations of why the books jump in time and for analyses of how the books reflect Faulkner own life experiences. The books are discussed in relation to specific topics - race, sex, guilt, love, our need to make decisions based on inadequate knowledge and repeatedly time. The reader is not offered alternative explanations, but rather the author states his views. I found his reasoning sometimes possible and sometimes inconclusive. Rarely can one claim there to be any proof. We are dealing with suppositions. Along the way, as the books are being analyzed, the reader is given information about events in Faulkner’s life. It is for this reason I state that Becoming Faulkner is less a biography than an analysis of Faulkner’s books.
I didn’t like this organization and I was looking primarily for biographical information rather than book analyses. Jumping from topic to topic meant that too often information was repeated.
Then there is the author’s writing style, his choice of words. I found it melodramatic and exaggerated rather than clear, and too wordy. The author took words from Faulkner’s quotes and repeated them over and over again in his own lines. It annoyed me that lines were labelled as Balzacian, Flaubertian, Nabokovian, Keatsian…. Maybe you like that. I don’t. I want to know what exactly is being inferred.
Now a word about the epilogue. That which was oblique and confusing in the central portion of the book is clearly summarized and clarified in the epilogue. I wish the entire book had been written this clearly! Also, fascinating and for the first time Faulkner’s positive personality traits are focused upon. Why did the author save these all to the end?! At least they were eventually mentioned; better late than never. For me this is a very strange way of organizing a book.
Even if the book is quite a challenge to read, by the end you do have a good idea of the man Faulkner and the events of his life. One is delivered a thorough analysis of Philip Weinstein’s views on Faulkner’s writing. One might agree with the conclusions drawn, but it might be best to hear other views too. They are not presented here.
The audiobook is narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. I felt it was read in a tone that exactly mirrored the author’s intent, in other words very well done………even if I didn’t happen to agree with all that said. I think a narration should fit the lines of the author, and this does.
After 30%:
Ugh, this is giving me immense grief. This is a mini literature seminar with a teacher you detest but himself thinks he knows all.
- I don't like how the book is organized - by diffuse themes, not chronologically.
- I don't like the language of the author - he mimics Faulkner's own lines, but he is no Faulkner!
- I don't appreciate the book's repetitiveness - of lines, of ideas and interpretations.
I am looking for a biography about the man William Faulkner and information about his life. From these facts I will myself think, ponder and draw conclusions about his writing. I am not looking for one man's, Weinstein's, explanations of what Faulkner's lines mean. A discussion of different possibilities, that I am fine with, but this is not what is delivered.
It comes down to this. Do you want everything explained to you or do you want to be given the facts and draw your own conclusions from varying possibilities? Do you prefer a lecture or a discussion of ideas? I want to think myself, and I prefer a discussion over a lecture.
Give me the strength, the patience to go on. It is a short book. Grab the flecks of information it contains from the unorganized jumble presented. This is what I am telling myself.
**************
After completion:
I did not enjoy reading this book until I got to the very end, that is to say until I read the epilogue! The epilogue is very good. Yet I cannot rate a book by the content of the epilogue! Being in a generous mood, I have raised my planned one star rating to two.
My complaints stated above at the 30% mark did not change. Please read them.
I found the organization not conductive to learning. The book does not move forward chronologically. It jumps back and forth in time and between different topics. What is presented is less a biography and more a detailed analysis/explanation of each of Faulkner’s works. The author wants to show how Faulkner’s life strongly influenced his writing. We are given the author’s personal views of the man and of Faulkner’s writing. There is no substantial proof for what he says and there is little exposition of other views.
Everything Faulkner has written is analyzed. At times it is almost like reading a Reader’s Digest version of a book. Or Spark Notes. If you have recently read the novel under discussion, one might easily be bored. At other times when not just one book is discussed but several are compared, references are made to specific characters, expressions or events and one can be easily confused. For this reason I would primarily recommend the book to Faulknerian aficionados! It is for those who want in-depth explanations for the meaning behind Faulkner’s lines, for explanations of why the books jump in time and for analyses of how the books reflect Faulkner own life experiences. The books are discussed in relation to specific topics - race, sex, guilt, love, our need to make decisions based on inadequate knowledge and repeatedly time. The reader is not offered alternative explanations, but rather the author states his views. I found his reasoning sometimes possible and sometimes inconclusive. Rarely can one claim there to be any proof. We are dealing with suppositions. Along the way, as the books are being analyzed, the reader is given information about events in Faulkner’s life. It is for this reason I state that Becoming Faulkner is less a biography than an analysis of Faulkner’s books.
I didn’t like this organization and I was looking primarily for biographical information rather than book analyses. Jumping from topic to topic meant that too often information was repeated.
Then there is the author’s writing style, his choice of words. I found it melodramatic and exaggerated rather than clear, and too wordy. The author took words from Faulkner’s quotes and repeated them over and over again in his own lines. It annoyed me that lines were labelled as Balzacian, Flaubertian, Nabokovian, Keatsian…. Maybe you like that. I don’t. I want to know what exactly is being inferred.
Now a word about the epilogue. That which was oblique and confusing in the central portion of the book is clearly summarized and clarified in the epilogue. I wish the entire book had been written this clearly! Also, fascinating and for the first time Faulkner’s positive personality traits are focused upon. Why did the author save these all to the end?! At least they were eventually mentioned; better late than never. For me this is a very strange way of organizing a book.
Even if the book is quite a challenge to read, by the end you do have a good idea of the man Faulkner and the events of his life. One is delivered a thorough analysis of Philip Weinstein’s views on Faulkner’s writing. One might agree with the conclusions drawn, but it might be best to hear other views too. They are not presented here.
The audiobook is narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. I felt it was read in a tone that exactly mirrored the author’s intent, in other words very well done………even if I didn’t happen to agree with all that said. I think a narration should fit the lines of the author, and this does.
May 29, 2023
Williamo Faulknerio kūryba atrodo labiau jaudinanti nei jo gyvenimas :)
Žmogus gyveno šeimoje, turėjusioje ambiciją tapti dinastija, bet netapusioje (tas motyvas atpažįstamas „Absalom, Absalom”). Gyveno susigūžęs, karo didvyrio brolio šešėlyje, apsimelavęs, kamuojamas nevisavertiškumo.
1929-aisiais vedė jaunystės mylimąją, kuri dešimt metų buvo ištekėjusi už kito vyro. Tai smarkiai paveikė Faulknerio gyvenimą ir per kelerius metus jis parašė labiausiai atpažįstamus savo kūrinius. Tarp jų ir „Kai aš gulėjau mirties patale”, kuris (kol kas) mane sužavėjo labiausiai.
Pelnęs pripažinimą, Faulkneris įniko gert. Gėrė, gėrė, gėrė, rašė, gėrė, rašė, gėrė, gėrė, gėrė, rašė Holivudui, gėrė, gėrė, gėrė, pykosi su žmona, gėrė, pykosi su meiluže, gėrė, gydėsi, gėrė, gydėsi, gavo Nobelį ir mirė, vieneriais metais pergyvenęs kitą savo kartos didžiūną Hemingway.
Maždaug tokia istorija. Tai atitinka jo paties kurtą įvaizdį. Paklaustas, kaip norėtų būti prisimenamas, Faulkneris sakė: jis rašė knygas ir mirė.
P.S. Patiko, kad šios biografijos autorius net apie Faulknerio asmeninio gyvenimo įvykius pasakoja per tų įvykių atspindžius jo kūryboje.
Žmogus gyveno šeimoje, turėjusioje ambiciją tapti dinastija, bet netapusioje (tas motyvas atpažįstamas „Absalom, Absalom”). Gyveno susigūžęs, karo didvyrio brolio šešėlyje, apsimelavęs, kamuojamas nevisavertiškumo.
1929-aisiais vedė jaunystės mylimąją, kuri dešimt metų buvo ištekėjusi už kito vyro. Tai smarkiai paveikė Faulknerio gyvenimą ir per kelerius metus jis parašė labiausiai atpažįstamus savo kūrinius. Tarp jų ir „Kai aš gulėjau mirties patale”, kuris (kol kas) mane sužavėjo labiausiai.
Pelnęs pripažinimą, Faulkneris įniko gert. Gėrė, gėrė, gėrė, rašė, gėrė, rašė, gėrė, gėrė, gėrė, rašė Holivudui, gėrė, gėrė, gėrė, pykosi su žmona, gėrė, pykosi su meiluže, gėrė, gydėsi, gėrė, gydėsi, gavo Nobelį ir mirė, vieneriais metais pergyvenęs kitą savo kartos didžiūną Hemingway.
Maždaug tokia istorija. Tai atitinka jo paties kurtą įvaizdį. Paklaustas, kaip norėtų būti prisimenamas, Faulkneris sakė: jis rašė knygas ir mirė.
P.S. Patiko, kad šios biografijos autorius net apie Faulknerio asmeninio gyvenimo įvykius pasakoja per tų įvykių atspindžius jo kūryboje.
November 17, 2016
Well, I thought this was a wonderful book.
Weinstein's writing style appeals to me greatly. It was literary and poetic, and meandered back and forth as he sought, successfully in my opinion, to link Faulkner's life and writing with each other.
I think this would be an engaging, thought provoking book, even for anyone who has read nothing or little by Faulkner. In my case, I am coming to the end of my Faulkner challenge for this year, 5 books read and 1 to go! I found reading this book to be a fabulous near-culmination of that challenge.
Weinstein doesn't seek to justify or judge Faulkner. Instead, he is very successful in enlightening the reader about many aspects relating to Faulkner, his life and his works.
Highly recommended.
Weinstein's writing style appeals to me greatly. It was literary and poetic, and meandered back and forth as he sought, successfully in my opinion, to link Faulkner's life and writing with each other.
I think this would be an engaging, thought provoking book, even for anyone who has read nothing or little by Faulkner. In my case, I am coming to the end of my Faulkner challenge for this year, 5 books read and 1 to go! I found reading this book to be a fabulous near-culmination of that challenge.
Weinstein doesn't seek to justify or judge Faulkner. Instead, he is very successful in enlightening the reader about many aspects relating to Faulkner, his life and his works.
Highly recommended.
October 18, 2012
Quite good. Could be 5 stars if you've read all of his early masterpieces. Four stars because there are more than the occasional spoilers. In fact, as I have not yet read Absalom, Absalom!, I found myself skipping a small (3 pages?) section that completely outlined and discussed the entire plot.
Weinstein does give us the high points of Faulkner's life. He was the oldest of 4 children, he dropped out of school when he was 15, he married his childhood sweetheart but not until 10 years after she'd married and divorced someone else. That sort of thing.
Weinstein also discusses the relationship between Faulkner the man and Faulkner the writer and the novels and short stories. This is exactly why I wanted to read the biography and I got it. I lack formal schooling beyond high school (except for some business courses) and this is what I need to help fill in the gaps in my education.
I was already looking forward to reading more Faulkner and this is definitely a help for my quest.
Weinstein does give us the high points of Faulkner's life. He was the oldest of 4 children, he dropped out of school when he was 15, he married his childhood sweetheart but not until 10 years after she'd married and divorced someone else. That sort of thing.
Weinstein also discusses the relationship between Faulkner the man and Faulkner the writer and the novels and short stories. This is exactly why I wanted to read the biography and I got it. I lack formal schooling beyond high school (except for some business courses) and this is what I need to help fill in the gaps in my education.
I was already looking forward to reading more Faulkner and this is definitely a help for my quest.
June 17, 2017
I am new to literary biography, if that is how you refer to this work. I have read most of Faulkner’s novels, which helped, since much of what Weinstein covered were themes across groups of Faulkner’s novels. I felt I learned quite a bit and this book provided me some perspective on Faulkner’s work, but I can’t say I enjoyed it that much. I found the literary analysis a bit overdone and pretentious even while finding some value in it. I enjoyed more the segments of biography and how Faulkner’s life affected his novels and his themes. I haven’t read enough of this type of work to know if it is the genre or the execution that left me unsatisfied and a bit bored. Reading about Faulkner’s and other authors’ lives does make you wonder if often gifts of this type come with significant troubles in dealing with life’s normal challenges.
August 8, 2012
Winner of the 2011 C. Hugh Holman Award for the best and most significant book in Southern Literary Studies of the year!
"Philip Weinstein...has written a deeply felt, spellbinding, lyrically written tale of Faulkner's art and life, how each bred and interpenetrated the other, a dynamic dialectic of doom and hope, sex and sensibility, Southern myth and personal agonies." --Providence Journal
"Weinstein acknowledges that although Faulkner would have protested this glimpse into his tormented private world, he also would have recognized the portrait as true. What more can one ask of a biographer?...Highly recommended." --Library Journal
"BECOMING FAULKNER attempts, quite successfully, to locate the origins of the work in the author's developing psyche...What I like...is [Weinstein's] willingness not to tie things up too neatly. In a sense he takes his cue from Faulkner himself...Serious readers of Faulkner will be grateful to Weinstein for what he tells us about [writing's] strange, often painful process." --The American Scholar
"Intricately weaving together the intense struggles that Faulkner confronted in a life fraught with personal and cultural conflicts with the works of genius he produced both out of, and in the face of, those conflicts, BECOMING FAULKNER is brave, bold, and brilliant. Weinstein's unorthodox approach to Faulkner's life and art delivers a stunningly original grasp of both. A landmark book in Faulkner Studies." --Carolyn Porter, University of California, Berkeley
"Faulkner has a reputation of being a writer difficult to read and understand, yet in this wonderfully illuminating book, Philip Weinstein shows us a way in...Everyone who reads fiction, as well as all Faulkner lovers, will not want to miss this remarkable book." --Carol Gilligan, author of IN A DIFFERENT VOICE and KYRA
July 14, 2021
I came to this book because I had the chance to take a nine-session seminar with Phil Weinstein (thank you, Zoom! thank you, Vineyard Haven Public Library!). It was challenging as hell -- we read Sound and the Fury, Light in August, and Absalom, Absalom! -- but I learned so much and appreciated and respected Phil's approach. So I got his book out of the library. I loved it. I liked the way it was organized, in part because it gave me a chance to hear more of the author's takes on the books I was newly familiar with. I only knew a little about Faulkner's bio, and I'm still amazed that a guy who was so messed up on alcohol could write these books. So I recommend this book especially to readers who are new to Faulkner, and maybe those who are thinking of reading Faulkner for the first time.
July 3, 2017
Others have complained of Weinstein's redundancy, and the reiteration of phrases and material did bother me at first. But how can you write like Hemingway & evoke Faulkner? Especially when you're teasing out support for your thesis by quoting from the man's work. There are just a few themes in this book, but they play out over the course of Faulkner's life.
If you're not a fan of biographical criticism, then this isn't your cup of tea. For me, Weinstein sheds light both on the man and on the work; he doesn't revere or sully him, but he's clearly a fan. So he does get Faulkneresque at times, for which I felt I must forgive him. I found it satisfying, and it gave me guidance on which Faulkner works might be worth my while next.
If you're not a fan of biographical criticism, then this isn't your cup of tea. For me, Weinstein sheds light both on the man and on the work; he doesn't revere or sully him, but he's clearly a fan. So he does get Faulkneresque at times, for which I felt I must forgive him. I found it satisfying, and it gave me guidance on which Faulkner works might be worth my while next.
March 9, 2018
Very weak presentation. The author is clueless about Faulkner and the South he writes about. Very much as waste of time.
July 10, 2021
Some parts were interesting but I was not happy about all the plots to Faulkner's novels being given away.
February 1, 2017
Having read all of Faulkner's novels and nearly all of his short stories, as well as the exhaustive Blotner biography, I wanted to find a book that delves more into the creative side of Faulkner's work.
This is that book. Concise in its examination of the major novels (usually about 10 pages each), but also a deep examination of his mind and spirit, this academic was hard to put down, and that is a high praise indeed for an intellectually framed book. While it does cover the affairs and the acute alcoholism, it doesn't do so at the expense of his imagination. A must read for Faulkner fans, and a good guide for those with a genuine interest at this truly exceptional novelist.
This is that book. Concise in its examination of the major novels (usually about 10 pages each), but also a deep examination of his mind and spirit, this academic was hard to put down, and that is a high praise indeed for an intellectually framed book. While it does cover the affairs and the acute alcoholism, it doesn't do so at the expense of his imagination. A must read for Faulkner fans, and a good guide for those with a genuine interest at this truly exceptional novelist.
February 24, 2016
The author sees the messiness of Faulkner's life "as the fertilizing loam for his novelistic soaring." Faulkner expresses what children experience, but it never left him. His technique of interior monologue--especially in The Sound and the Fury--expresses deeply the troubles that accumulate through living. For me, the analysis of technique become insightful and appalling as I acknowledge my inner messages.
I recommend highly Weinstein's accounts of Faulkner's art and life for significant literary and existential understanding.
I recommend highly Weinstein's accounts of Faulkner's art and life for significant literary and existential understanding.
November 11, 2010
I found this critical biography highly readable and it reminded me both of why I liked Faulkner so much and why I stopped reading him -- besides the fact that I'd read everything at least once anyway. Iwouldn't recommend it to anybody who hasn't read Faulkner, though maybe to some who have read him and don't get him.
January 24, 2017
great. not so much biography as "bigraphical criticism". Faulkner is one of the greatest authors; and so it was good that Weinstein doesn't fail to show the weakness of Faulkner's weaker work when compared to his own greater work, too.
June 15, 2010
This is certainly a book for a Faulknerian but is not for you if you have not read most of his books.
Read
December 12, 2010This book is really aimed at people who've devoured Faulkner and want more. Unfortunately ... that's not me.
I am a Faulkner newbie, who was looking for a readable biography. Whoops!
I am a Faulkner newbie, who was looking for a readable biography. Whoops!
August 9, 2011
all I can say is that I've read everything I can get my hands on about Faulkner, this book is at the top of my list....his life told as a page turner
April 8, 2013
An awesome biography that demonstrates how intertwined Faulkner's art and personal life were. Terrific and insightful read!
November 13, 2012
I never read biographies. This is more of a critical look at Faulkner's works mixed with some factoids. I approve of this. READ THE SOUND AND THE FURY! Seriously, it's the greatest.
September 5, 2015
Excellent biography/study of Faulkner.
Read
May 31, 2016Read by ACRL Member of the Week Callie Wiygul Branstiter. Learn more about Callie on the ACRL Insider Blog.
September 6, 2014
an invaluable book for anyone trying to gain. a betteer understanding of faulkner's art.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews