Dalton Ames! Dalton Ames!

The Sound and The Fury is a great novel. It's harder than Chinese arithmetic, especially if you read it while drinking, as I did in the spring of 2001, but it's still a great book -- unlike Joyce's Ulysses, which is the literary equivalent of a spinal tap.

A few years ago I came across a website where the webmaster(?), Doug Shaw, a university professor, had posted reviews of the Modern Library's list of the Top 100 English-language Novels of the 20th Century. I was curious to read his take on some of my favorite books. I found his reviews insightful and, even though I sometimes disagreed with his overall opinion of a particular book, very humorous. I'm still waiting for his review of Lord Jim; that's how much I enjoyed his reviews.

Which brings us back to The Sound and The Fury. I'd put it behind only The Grapes of Wrath -- another novel that Shaw, if I remember correctly, was quite ambivalent towards -- as the greatest American novel ever written. Sure, it can be a pain in the ass at times; but so can my wife, and I love her dearly.

Shaw's review, which is somewhat on-the-fence, is worth a read for its humor alone. Maybe I'm making it seem funnier than some people will ultimately find it. But it still made me chuckle, reading it today.

An excerpt:

How to be a better writer than William Faulkner

If you are writing a story that jumps around a lot in time and space, do NOT give two different characters the same name.

If you are writing a story that jumps around a lot in time and space, with a very subjective narrative that doesn't clearly delineate who is who, do NOT name a female character Quentin.

If you insist on writing a story that jumps around a lot in time and space, with a very subjective narrative that doesn't clearly delineate who is who, that has a female character named Quentin, do NOT then give a different, male character the same name.

If you somehow think it is a good idea to write a story that jumps around a lot in time and space, with a very subjective narrative that doesn't clearly delineate who is who, that has a female character named Quentin, and a male character named Quentin, do NOT then give the retarded narrator of the first quarter of the book TWO different names like Maury and Benjy.

If you are a complete bastard and go and write a story that jumps around a lot in time and space, with a very subjective narrative that doesn't clearly delineate who is who, that has a female character named Quentin, and a male character named Quentin, and a retarded narrator of the first quarter of the book who is named Maury, and also named Benjy, do NOT, in the name of Somerset Maugham, do NOT then name the UNCLE Maury as well. What's wrong with you?

For the full review, visit http://www.dougshaw.com/Reviews/review6.html