The "Great Works" of Literature

squeakyduck

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Bleak house is one of the most boring novels I've ever read in my life. Although it was my first proper introduction to Dickens I found that his love of setting the scene put me to sleep.

But, I do believe each to their own. What I love others could hate!

Brendog wrote: »

Ulysses

I hated Joyce when I first read Ulysses but now I'm writing a thesis on him! He is my favorite author. If you do decide to take the Ulysses plunge I strongly recommend either Kileen's Ulysses unbound or Kiberd's Ulysses and us.

I did find Ulysses very hard going, the first time round; and only on my third reading of it decided to google translate the French! :rolleyes: If you read the synopsis when you are finished the chapter the whole thing makes a lot more sense!It's a book that you learn something different from each time you read it! But, I've never read and understood the whole thing cover to cover!

What is Finnegans Wake like? I'm considering reading it when I have more free time!

MarchDub

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

That's fair enough. Though, in my defence, the bigotry in The Sound in the Fury isn't anywhere near as bad as that of the KKK. The racism amounts to the man of the house begrudging the "******" servants the food and shelter he gives them and treating them in a demeaning manner.

What novels of Faulkner have you read, out of curiosity? Do they contain characters that would be as racist as the KKK?

The issue with the KKK [and Faulkner's bigoted characters] is this - incredible as it might seem the KKK were not marginal or out of step with the mainstream thinking in the south prior to the civil rights laws so what would seem to us to be extreme bigotry was acceptable "normal" behaviour. Membership in the KKK was very widespread - and local doctors, lawyers, police, businessmen were all involved. All levels of southern society were involved. I will try too explain why this was.

The southern states had strict "Jim Crow" segregation laws so that black citizens lived in a totally separate world to the whites. They went to separate schools, separate restaurants, separate churches, even drank from separate drinking water fountains. They had to sit in the back of buses in designated seats. The races were not allowed by law to mix in any way and even a white person who violated these laws and say entered a black restaurant could be arrested and brought into court for suspected attempt of "contamination" i.e. mixing with the black race and then going back to the white world.

The KKK were seen as staunch supporters of these laws and were widely regarded in the south as rightful enforcers of the segregation laws. They literally got away with murder as no white jury would ever convict them. Even their version of Christianity supported the segregation laws. The basic fear was intermarriage and this was unlawful - the Miscegenation laws took care of this. Ironically, the Catholic Church were regarded as too liberal and were also targeted as "enemies" for allowing mixed race marriages - although priests had to travel north with the couple in order to perform the ceremony.

So - I know this is a long post - the bigotry as expressed in say Absolam, Absolam! [which deals with the issue of mixed race marriage] was a symptom of a larger belief in total segregation. What I am trying to say is that there was no "mild" bigotry - And Faulkner's bigoted characters would be right in step with the local KKK.