Experimental feature: Order Flags in the Dust: The complete text of Faulkner's third novel, which appeared in a cut version as Sartoris from the UK, Canada, Germany or France by clicking an appropriate flag below.

               

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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780394712390
ISBN: 0394712390
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 448
Publication Date: 1974-09-12
Publisher: Vintage
Product Release Date: 1974-09-12
Studio: Vintage

The complete text of Faulkner's third novel, published for the first time in 1973, appeared with his reluctant consent in a much cut version in 1929 as SARTORIS.

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Trying, but worth reading
Review: After being delighted by Soldier's Pay, Faulkner's first novel, and thoroughly entertained by Mosquitoes, his second, I moved on to Flags in the Dust with high hopes. Like the other books, it has hypnotizing, lush descriptions of the Deep South and obliquely rendered, fascinating characters. Much of it rings true and makes you really feel as if you are there is this bygone era. But I had problems being very interested in young Bayard, the handsome, hell-raising, irresponsible, moody, manly, drunken, self-destructive main character. The book seems to romanticize and glorify Bayard at the same time it is minutely describing his selfish, hurtful behavior. While Faulkner seems to partly explain Bayard's defects as a result of trauma over his brother John's death during WW1, it seems to me that Bayard would have been much the same regardless. As such, I didn't find him a very interesting character -- he reminded me of scores of other very similarly portrayed handsome, hellbent, brooding, self-absorbed young "heroes" in movies and books. So I took my consolation and pleasure from the much more interesting-to-me supporting characters such as Aunt Jenny and old Bayard and black Simon and young Bayard's wife Narcissa and old doctor Loosh Peabody.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Thoughts upon completing a quarter of "Sartoris"
Review: I love those works of art which bridge two eras; in music the early Schoenberg in "Death and Transfiguration", and all of Mahler; "Sartoris" is a literary example. Here you can see the developing Faulkner stylistically acknowledging some 19th century mentors in the exquisite descriptive chapters which open the book. A beautifully appropriate style in which to convey nostalgia for that period. It is rather heartbreaking that F. stopped writing like this, but I suppose he had to move on... I have not read the uncut version entitled "Flags in the Dust" but have a feeling, based on some reviews here, that the novel might be more enjoyable as "Sartoris"; from what I have read so far, it is not verbose at all, but really a gemlike work indicative of his debt to the great masters Zola, Flaubert, Eliot, Bronte, etc...like some recently recut old movies I've seen recently, sometimes it's just better the first time around.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The only Faulkner I truly enjoyed
Review: I'm going to go out on a limb here, and express my feelings about Flags in the Dust using simple English. I took a course on Faulkner, and this was the novel I absolutely loved reading. I was frustratingly mystified by Sound and the Fury(particularly by all the accolades it has received), disgusted and disturbed by The Light in August, and had at least some admiration for Absalom, Absalom. Several reviewers describe this as "young" Faulkner or "developing" Faulkner - well, for me, this is Faulkner before the copious self-conscious devices - and seems far more genuine than his other novels. There it is - now I can only await the flood of "non-helpful" votes. It was worth it though.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Faulkner's "Flags" Tastes Better Than It Looks
Review: Before I read this book, I kept hearing what a horrible novel it was. However, it isn't horrible; it's just not nearly as fantastic as some of his other works. It's still definitely worth the read, though.

If you can make it through sentences that seem to never end and some repitition, you will find a great story of love, guilt, and Southern life. This book opens with the Sartoris family, and several young men (Bayard Sartoris and others) returning home from World War I, and the impressions war left upon them. Thrown in with a little bit of incest, love notes, and a daredevil, this book provides a good combination of mushiness (sp?), humor, and sorrow.

However, while some have said not to read this book as your first Faulkner, I disagree. And here's why: reading this book after you have read some of his other works really makes you look at this book in a more negative way, since his other works have been so great. Just remember, if this is your first Faulkner read, many of his other works are MUCH BETTER, so if you read this first and don't like it, there are MUCH BETTER ones out there. As far as reading goes, it's a pretty easy read (although you might have to keep track of all the Johns and Bayards), at least in comparison to some of his other books. Also, if you plan on reading other Faulkner books, this one is a MUST, since it introduces you to the Benbrows, Snopes, and the Sartorises-all characters that are found in some of his other novels.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Good Writing
Review: Though not as complex and difficult as some of his more famous works, Flags in the Dust provides some outstanding writing. It may benefit some to read The Unvanquished prior to this book as it gives some background on the Sartoris family, the main focus of Flags. Many of Faulkner's descriptions in this book are uncanny. I would have only given this book four stars, but his two-page description of the mule was alone worth one more star.

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