The Sound and the Fury

The Sound and the FuryThe Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Review by Sam Sørensen

“Because Father said clocks slay time. He said time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.”

At the risk of being cliché for recommending a classic novel, hear me out! This novel truly proves captivatingly timeless. The novel explores the Compson family, consumed by their reputation, in Mississippi over the span of three decades. Time is not linear—it’s relative—and Faulkner mixes narrative styles. Faulkner breaks the book into four chapters; the first three describe reality from the perspective of each Compson brother: Benjy, Quentin, and Jason. Benjy establishes reality as simple and unbiased, due to a mental handicap. Quentin struggles with intelligence and a tormenting depression. Jason relays his straightforward, no nonsense mentality; he is consumed by his drive for affluence. The last presents a third person point of view, and all of them focus on relationships with their sister, Caddy. The intricacies of each personality, so carefully crafted, all work together flawlessly to create this tragically stunning novel.

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About the reviewer: Sam Sørensen has worked for TPL as a circulation assistant since 2013. She usually only enjoys classic literature if it’s one of her boys: Walt Whitman, James Joyce, or William Faulkner.

Sense & Sensibility

Sense and SensibilitySense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

Review by Kate Shaw

I am an Austenite. Plain and simple. There is nothing that Ms. Austen wrote that I actively dislike (though admittedly Emma is not my favorite). Her first novel, Sense and Sensibility is nothing short of magical. This charming tale explores the lives of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood as they navigate the world of early 1800s England. The sisters are recently impoverished by the death of their wealthy father, his money and estate being inherited by a son from a previous marriage.

Along with their mother and youngest sister, Elinor and Marianne are forced to relocate to a small home provided mostly through the charity of a distant cousin, their elder half-brother being a man easily manipulated by a snobbish wife. Sense & Sensibility explores the sisters’ relationship with each other, their circumstances, and a few suitors along the way. Marianne is a slave to her emotions, unable to hide her feelings, often bringing undue attention to herself by behaving in a manner that was considered unladylike for a single lady. Elinor, by contrast, is a slave to the dictates of her time, leaving her guarded and unwilling to share her deepest feelings even with her sister. Continue reading