Äåòàëüíàÿ èíôîðìàöèÿ îá èçäàíèè

This book is not intended for the Faulkner specialist. It has been written for the general reader and for the student coming to Faulkner for the first time. Any sensible advice would insist that a reader start by encountering the fiction at first hand, undistraced by too much critical apparatus such as discussion of influences and sources or analysis of fictional techniques. Such matters have their importance, but they properly ought to come later on. In fact, for the reader who has become interested in Faulkner, there awaits a very considerable library of books and articles, a body of critical work that is growing by large increments every year that passes. A short, highly selective list of these will be found on pages 225−26,below.This little book limits itself to such considerations as theme, character, and plot, with some attention to the historical and fictional world in which the actions narrated take place.