The Sound and the Fury

First published in 1929, William Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" was not an immediate commercial or critical success. It was not until the publication of Faulkner's sixth novel, "Sanctuary", that readers broadly discovered his earlier works. Noted for its creative use of various narrative styles, including stream of consciousness, "The Sound and the Fury" follows the lives of the once-prosperous white family, the Compsons. Principally told throughout Easter weekend in 1928, the novel relates the numerous tragedies of the family, including an incestuous pregnancy and suicide. Because of its unconventional narrative style, "The Sound and the Fury" puts off many new readers. Its frequent changes in setting and time, combined with its loose sentence structure, make the work a challenging read. Notwithstanding the narrative complexity of the novel, or possibly because of it, "The Sound and the Fury" has widely come to be considered a masterpiece of modernist literature.