light gazing, ışığa bakmak

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

"Floralis Generica", an amazing flower sculpture by Eduardo Catalano in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo by whatisee, a very cool blog.

I have recently read A Rose for Emily, a short story by William Faulkner. The online text is here, use it and enjoy a small (in size) masterpiece. The story is grim and certainly strange, full of clues, mistery and a good dose of voyeurism. The outcome is the expected surprise, sorry for the contradiction. The writing is magnificent, the density, detail and smooth richness of the text. These are just a bunch of adjectives, a category of words I find difficult to use because they always sound so artificial. For a first class review and summary of "A Rose for Emily", go here (a review by Eric Knickerbocker) and forget about all other so-called reviews and analysis, summaries and study guides. This text has got everything you need.

For me, the most impressive narrative device is the unusual point of view: the collective voices of the town people, neighbors of Miss Emily, a voice that has been so often responsible for deaths and convictions without trial. Very disturbing, as if we ourselves were constantly being judged by these anonymous people that seem to think they have the right of determining the value of our lives.

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