William Faulkner best books, ranked

William Faulkner — 3 titles in the rankings, first published between 1929 and 1936. They average 7.8 — level with the catalogue as a whole. 2 of the series have a reading order worth keeping to.

Editor’s note Nobel Prize-winning Mississippi novelist who set most of his work in the invented Yoknapatawpha County and broke chronology and narration apart to show how the past lives inside the present. As I Lay Dying, the most read, follows a poor family hauling their mother’s coffin to her hometown, told by fifteen voices; The Sound and the Fury opens inside the mind of an intellectually disabled man. Both are demanding and rate modestly. Absalom, Absalom!, his tale of a planter’s doomed dynasty, rates highest.

Ranked titles

3 books

Average score

7.8

Total ratings

793

First published

1929–1936

Affiliate link: buying through it supports BookRank at no extra cost to you.