le_lobey's reviews
344 reviews

Joe Christmas is a tragic decentered subject. Gail Hightower plays in many ways a proto-millenial role mourning the lost futures of his life and his land. The oft-revisited trauma inflicted by a troubled patriarch cleansed in a narrative of masterful construction through the redemptive figure of Lena, whose determination and faith make her the strongest character I've encountered in a very long time.

Faulkner can summon the most despicable characters and still lead you to understand and sympathize with them. He gets how History operates coterminously on macro- and microscopic levels, and his prose is unparalleled in its beauty and brutality.