Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
New York Vintage 1978
Description
This novel won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 195. An allegorical story of World War I, set in the trenches in France and dealing ostensibly with a mutiny in a French regiment, it was originally considered a sharp departure for Faulkner. Recently it has come to be recognized as one of his major works and an essential part of the Faulkner "oeuvre." Faulkner himself fought in the war, and his descriptions of it "rise to magnificence," according to "The New York Times," and include, in Malcolm Cowley's words, "some of the most powerful scenes he ever conceived."
Media reviews
It’s dense, filled with virtuoso writing, but getting a handle on what’s going on is like trying to lift a giant block of hazelnut jelly.
User reviews
LibraryThing member BeaverMeyer
I've read all of Faulkner's novels and stories. I saved this for last, hoping that by reading all his other works I'd be prepared to tackle this. But by jings, this thing was too much for even me. I slogged through the whole thing, but I didn't take much away from it. There are some moments of
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brilliance tucked away. A part of his Nobel Prize speech is tucked away in here, but it's one of his only books I won't reread. Show Less
LibraryThing member mausergem
A Fable is William Faulkner’s later books which he took ten years to write. Its set in World war 1. A regimen mutinies and decides not to fight, which brings the entire war to a halt. It is found out that the mutiny was orchestrated by a corporal and twelve of his followers. The entire regimen is
The chief commander of the armies, a man of high birth, is the father of the corporal. The chief commander implores the corporal to flee and promises to help him. The corporal in defiance chooses death rather than betrayal of his cause.
Conceptually the story is interesting but Faulkner has’nt done adequate justice to it. Long sentences and tangent story lines make the original story loose its momentum. The author could have told the same story using half the words more effectively.
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arrested and brought to the headquarters and await their punishment.The chief commander of the armies, a man of high birth, is the father of the corporal. The chief commander implores the corporal to flee and promises to help him. The corporal in defiance chooses death rather than betrayal of his cause.
Conceptually the story is interesting but Faulkner has’nt done adequate justice to it. Long sentences and tangent story lines make the original story loose its momentum. The author could have told the same story using half the words more effectively.
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LibraryThing member isomdm
Tough to follow the plot.
LibraryThing member Schmerguls
On May 26, 1956, I said of this book: "Details a stoppage of fighting in France in 1918. We have not yet met the prototype of Christ. Or is prototype the right word? I guess not." On May 27 I said: "A Fable is very good, and the Faulkner power is astounding. i don't pretend it is all clear, but the
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picture painted and the story told moves and excites me. The parallels to Christ are a little astonishing to me, and to avoid being offended one must not identicalize the corporal and Christ." On June 3 I said: "Finished A Fable. The corporal's body was blown out of its grave by a shell and later was placed as France's Unknown Soldier. The story was absorbing, but of course the meaning misses me. I see the symbolism, the parallels, but what of it? I am not enlightened." Show Less
LibraryThing member margaretfield
amazing, difficult, wonderful. A fable about WWI and what happens when some troops on both sides refuse to fight
Awards
National Book Award (Finalist — Fiction — 1955)
Pulitzer Prize (Winner — Fiction — 1955)
Language
Original publication date
1954
ISBN
0394724135 / 9780394724133