Where's the southern part?

Well, I started reading Lunch at the Picadilly and I have to say, I'm not really enjoying it. For one thing it just doesn't seem to be very southern in flavor - definitely not as identifiable as the Faulkner I read before. I am not sure that I want to keep reading - maybe the time should go to finding another Southern read to replace it? I am going to give it another try tonight and maybe it will hook me.

Finished Faulkner!

Well, I stayed up late and finished As I Lay Dying. I really enjoyed the book and it ended with a trademark quirk. Some of the the end was a bit disconcerting - Darl getting arrested for arson I never saw coming and poor Dewey Dell and her quest for a solution to her "problem". Anse comes out the best of the lot in the end - another classisc instance of God providing for him! LOL I have to say I'm become a Faulkner fan and I never thought I'd say that!

This is my first completed read for the Southern Reading Challenge - now it's a debate between Queen of the Turtle Derby by Julia Harris or Lunch at the Picadilly by Clyde Edgerton. I think Lunch is going to win!

Maggie, thanks for the TAB hint - it worked!

For some reason, Blogger is not letting me put titles in tonight so I'll just leave that be.

I was going to title this post "As I Lay Dying" because that's what I'm reading right now. I must say it's different from The Rievers, the only other Faulkner novel I've read but I am really enjoying it. Faulkner has such a unique style of writing yet you get a fully formed picture of the characters and the land. The Bundren family is certainly an interesting clan and I'm finding the story flows despite the fact that each chapter is told from a different person's point of view and is sometimes only one sentence or just a stream of consiousness narrative.

I love this passage from Tull, the Bundren's neighbor's POV, which takes place on the porch outside the Bundren house after Addie has died and the preacher has come to hold a service. The men are outside talking:

"What's Anse so itching to take her to Jefferson for anyway?" Houston says.
"He promised her," I say, "she wanted it". She come from there. Her mind was sent on it."
"And Anse is set on it, too," Quick says.
"Ay," Uncle Billy says. "It's likea man that's let everything slide all his life to get set on something that will make the most trouble for everybody he knows."
"Well, it'll take the Lord to get her over that river now, " Peabody says. "Anse cant do it."
"And I reckon He will," Quick says. "He's took care of Anse a long time, now."
"It's a fact," Littlejohn says.
"Too long to quit now," Armistid says.
"I reckon He's like everybody else around here," Uncle Billy says. "He's done it so long now He cant quit."

Progress Update

Well, I've finished Silent Spring by Rachel Carson which was quite a sobering book to read. It deals with the impact of pesticides and their effects on both nature and potentially people. The scarey thing is that it was written in the 60s and I wonder if we're not seeing the results of all those pesticides now.

As of July 1, I know of 6 people who have been diagnosed with cancer since Christmas. That is pretty frightening. I think Rachel Carson's message is as relevant today as it was 4o plus years ago and corresponds to all of the concern over global warming. We can't mess with nature and not expect to have something happen.

Now I'm on to As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner - my first Southern Reading Challenge book. I'm enjoying it so far.

Summer Reading Challenge Update

Well, I managed to finish two of my Challenge books in June - The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Neither of these was particularly uplifting reading but I am glad I read both. Next up is As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner which is a double entry - for the Summer Reading Challenge and for the Southern Reading Challenge.