| Old School -
Considering Faulkner is responsible for the greatest book ever written - "Absalom Absalom," which is also the most perfectly structured, the most memorable and dense ("dense" as in each new reading reveals new layers of meaning) - and considering the fact that he's responsible for several more of the greatest books ever written, I think it'd be safe to say that Faulkner is rather decidedly NOT overrated. And considering how carefully considered most of his works are, and how perfect his prose, and how dense his thematic concerns, I'd say your analysis of his writing style ("he vomited whatever from his fevered brain") also fails to stand up under scrutiny. Remember, disliking a book - and it's perfectly fine to dislike Faulkner - doesn't mean that whatever pejoratives you throw at it are accurate. The fact that you fall for the "he was an alcoholic who just threw whatever onto the page" line means that you haven't really spent any time with his work - you haven't seen how carefully controlled his narrative actually is, and how his structure and narrative style tie so intricately into the themes of his work.
That is, what might appear to the casual reader one of his novels to be "word vomit" is actually highly controlled narrative styling - and the little details he "throws in" are actually very significant to the overall meaning of his work. That isn't snobbery - I don't criticize anyone for not caring enough to study Faulkner, as he certainly isn't appealing to everyone, even some literature professors. But the "he just wrote whatever" line is objectively false, and evidence of a shallow understanding of his work and writing style. |
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