#46 in Contemporary fiction
The Sound and the Fury
- 359
- Pages
- about 7 h
- Reading time
- Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century
- 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction
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About the book
The Sound and the Fury is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, published in 1929. Faulkner's fourth novel, it is the second to be set in Yoknapatawpha County and the first featuring the Compson family, both of which would reappear in his later fiction. The novel's highly experimental style, including its use of stream of consciousness and multiple different unreliable narrators, are hallmarks of modernist literature. Its bleak and candid portrait of Southern life in the early 20th century is paradigmatic of the Southern Gothic genre.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.5 across 348 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 65% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Contemporary fiction average of 7.6. That is how 7.6 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.8 | 8 | 2% |
| Hardcover | 7.5 | 340 | 98% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“Just finished this book for the second time...my did I get much more out of it this time than when I was 17 years old! Still continually amazed at the level to which Faulkner can immerse himself into a literary character. I made the comment in a book club that his treatment of Benjy, Quentin (son), and Jason was like an actor preparing for a movie role. There was very little, if any, stylistic carry-over from one section to the next, which made the reader feel like he/she was in the head of the individual narrating that particular section. This time, I picked up more on the racial themes as …”
“Some lives, like the grammar, punctuation, timeline, or coherence (or some combination thereof), fracture until there are few things remaining except wisps of happiness bygone. They bask in the mellow and go away like the light in the door. For the other lives, they cling to what they know and survive through all that has been unfairly done to them. "The Sound and the Fury" is a story of struggle and what comes from that. Like I says, you can persevere or wither. Just keep an eye on the time. ”
Frequently asked
What is The Sound and the Fury rated?
7.6 out of 10, from 348 reader ratings across 2 independent sources.
Is The Sound and the Fury worth reading?
Readers give it 7.6/10 from 348 ratings, which puts it ahead of 17 % of the Contemporary fiction shelf.
How long does it take to read The Sound and the Fury?
About 7 hours at an average reading pace — 359 pages.
Where does The Sound and the Fury rank?
#46 in Contemporary fiction on the current snapshot.
How long is The Sound and the Fury?
It has 359 pages — longer than 72% of the ranked books in Contemporary fiction.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Contemporary fiction — and a score of 7.6, the closest to this book.
