Light in August
- Downloads：4858
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-26 11:56:33
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：William Faulkner
- ISBN：0679732268
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
Light in August， a novel that contrasts stark tragedy with hopeful perseverance in the face of mortality， which features some of Faulkner’s most memorable characters: guileless， dauntless Lena Grove， in search of the father of her unborn child; Reverend Gail Hightower， a lonely outcast haunted by visions of Confederate glory; and Joe Christmas， a desperate， enigmatic drifter consumed by his mixed ancestry。
Reviews
Peter Szabo
，
At times unsettling， intriguing and quietly suspenseful， and always poetic in its rhythms and human voices。 Fascinating approach to storytelling through the eyes of several characters， many of whom play minor roles and some of whom are never even named but serve as witnesses to the main characters' journeys。 At times unsettling， intriguing and quietly suspenseful， and always poetic in its rhythms and human voices。 Fascinating approach to storytelling through the eyes of several characters， many of whom play minor roles and some of whom are never even named but serve as witnesses to the main characters' journeys。 。。。more
Mary Jo
，
It would take a college English course to unpack this book。 The plot revolves around race， religion and women’s status in the 1930’s。 However， still eerily relevant today。
Thomas James
，
Falkner knows how to write a story
Ingrid
，
some beautiful characterization through repetition and different points of view perceiving one same character， interesting cyclic history repeating itselfextensive passages of characters' background that were。。。 not engaging， difficult to understand， didn't add as much to the characters or book as I would hopemost engaging passages were present tense actionbeautiful and amusing ending some beautiful characterization through repetition and different points of view perceiving one same character， interesting cyclic history repeating itselfextensive passages of characters' background that were。。。 not engaging， difficult to understand， didn't add as much to the characters or book as I would hopemost engaging passages were present tense actionbeautiful and amusing ending 。。。more
Rhodes
，
This is awesome！ I was able to talk about the book after I read it。 You did well！ 。。。 If you have some great stories like this one， you can publish it on Novel Star， just submit your story to hardy@novelstar。top or joye@novelstar。top
Mary
，
I read this book because I wanted to hear Will Patton read it。 He was the perfect choice to read Faulkner。 He made every character come alive and he brought out the poetry in Faulkner's language。 I think I need to take a college-level course in Faulkner before I can write an adequate review。 Suffice it to say that I got lost in the cadence of the dialogue and carried away by Faulkner's descriptions of people， nature and what goes on inside people's minds。 He really got inside my own head。 This i I read this book because I wanted to hear Will Patton read it。 He was the perfect choice to read Faulkner。 He made every character come alive and he brought out the poetry in Faulkner's language。 I think I need to take a college-level course in Faulkner before I can write an adequate review。 Suffice it to say that I got lost in the cadence of the dialogue and carried away by Faulkner's descriptions of people， nature and what goes on inside people's minds。 He really got inside my own head。 This is definitely a book to be LISTENED to。 。。。more
Steve
，
2。5*
Jennifer Handford
，
Important read about racial relations in the South。
MS
，
"It seems like a man can just about bear anything。 He can even bear what he never done。 He can even bear the thinking how some things is just more than he can bear。 He can even bear it that if he could just give down and cry， he wouldn't do it。 He can even bear it to not look back， even when he knows that looking back or not looking back won't do him any good。"This is my first book from Faulkner， and after 50 pages I immediately went and bought each one of his books I could get my hands on。 His "It seems like a man can just about bear anything。 He can even bear what he never done。 He can even bear the thinking how some things is just more than he can bear。 He can even bear it that if he could just give down and cry， he wouldn't do it。 He can even bear it to not look back， even when he knows that looking back or not looking back won't do him any good。"This is my first book from Faulkner， and after 50 pages I immediately went and bought each one of his books I could get my hands on。 His style of writing is no doubt more difficult， and his stories more complex than Hemingway， whose books I have recently finished reading， and much better too。 But one reading can not do them justice， because the first time you only look for the What， and Faulkner is not much about the What of it， rather the How of it。 So I have to return to this， and his other books， once that I have read them all perhaps。 。。。more
William T。
，
One of his masterpiecesThis is probably not one of Faulkner’s greatest novels， but it would be most other writers’ crowning achievement。 For stylistic innovation and sheer storytelling， it is hard to equal。 And as an exploration of what racism did to whites and blacks alike in the postbellum south it is scathingly honest。
Sebastián Micco
，
"Es verosímil la afirmación de que William Faulkner es el primer novelista de nuestro tiempo" - Borge Luis Jorges "Es verosímil la afirmación de que William Faulkner es el primer novelista de nuestro tiempo" - Borge Luis Jorges 。。。more
Bright Ocean
，
đọc lâu rồi， lúc đó không thích kiểu nhàm quá。 Nhưng giờ nghĩ lại mới thấy tài hoa quá， kết cấu hoàn hảo， cốt truyện không thừa mà thấm đẫm nhân văn。 Đa nghĩa。 Kỹ thuật thì tuyệt đỉnh。 Tất nhiên chưa thể bằng The Sound and the Fury và Absalom được rồi。Để hôm nào rảnh rỗi đọc lại。
Jdamaskinos
，
Unable to finish
Perry
，
Started with some similar notes to As I Lay Dying， then seemed like it kept spinning out。 I wonder what Faulkner's editor thought of it。 Did he have an editor？ I look forward to digging into some research and thinking about the race aspects。 Started with some similar notes to As I Lay Dying， then seemed like it kept spinning out。 I wonder what Faulkner's editor thought of it。 Did he have an editor？ I look forward to digging into some research and thinking about the race aspects。 。。。more
Erik
，
Life in Mississippi in the early 1930s， so you can probably guess with the subject matter entails。 As a Canadian living in the 21st century who has never been to Mississippi， I will refrain from commenting。 What I will say is that this is a great， epic novel that I hope to have the strength to reread some day。 There is a lot in here to absorb。My one criticism is that it simply goes on too long。 There are at least 150 pages here that you can remove quite easily and it would be a better book for i Life in Mississippi in the early 1930s， so you can probably guess with the subject matter entails。 As a Canadian living in the 21st century who has never been to Mississippi， I will refrain from commenting。 What I will say is that this is a great， epic novel that I hope to have the strength to reread some day。 There is a lot in here to absorb。My one criticism is that it simply goes on too long。 There are at least 150 pages here that you can remove quite easily and it would be a better book for it。 But maybe that's just me。 。。。more
Iván Ramírez Osorio
，
El talento de Faulkner。。。。
Casey
，
Great book and， as I have read some others claiming， possibly a good starting point with Faulkner for those wishing to read him for the first time。 I may actually prefer the more narratively straightforward Faulkner than some—I also loved Intruder in the Dust， for example， while I found The Sound and the Fury harder to get into because my favorite versions of Faulkner's really beautiful， dense prose come very late in the novel， as it increasingly moves into "clearer" stream of consciousness and， Great book and， as I have read some others claiming， possibly a good starting point with Faulkner for those wishing to read him for the first time。 I may actually prefer the more narratively straightforward Faulkner than some—I also loved Intruder in the Dust， for example， while I found The Sound and the Fury harder to get into because my favorite versions of Faulkner's really beautiful， dense prose come very late in the novel， as it increasingly moves into "clearer" stream of consciousness and， finally， the third-person narrative。 I think this book is well-balanced between its three characters， thematically—the role of doubles， doubling， mirror-images， ghosts， etc offers a unity amongst the different narrative threads that I think some critics of its structure have missed。 That being said， I did want more time with Lena Grove。 She's one of my new favorite Faulkner characters and I felt the novel would have benefited from providing her with more real estate on the page， if simply because I enjoyed her presence and storyline so much。 。。。more
Aleida López Giménez
，
Una disecció brutal， crua i atrapant de la vida al sud dels Estats Units als anys 1920。 El personatge de Joe Christmas lliga les històries de moltes altres vides tristes i solitàries， marcades per les profundes ferides de la Guerra Civil i l’esclavitud。 Christmas mateix esdevé una mena d’experiment de tot això， ja que la seva crisi d’identitat es compon d’allò que Faulkner exposa en aquesta complexíssima novel·la: la raça， la misogínia i el fanatisme religiós。 A banda d’aquestes intel·ligents ob Una disecció brutal， crua i atrapant de la vida al sud dels Estats Units als anys 1920。 El personatge de Joe Christmas lliga les històries de moltes altres vides tristes i solitàries， marcades per les profundes ferides de la Guerra Civil i l’esclavitud。 Christmas mateix esdevé una mena d’experiment de tot això， ja que la seva crisi d’identitat es compon d’allò que Faulkner exposa en aquesta complexíssima novel·la: la raça， la misogínia i el fanatisme religiós。 A banda d’aquestes intel·ligents observacions i les descripcions que ja són d’una altra lliga， també hi ha lloc per a la trama pròpiament novel·lesca （no fos cas que ens avorríssim！） 。。。more
Ross Hogan
，
I read this because I’m a huge Cormac McCarthy fan and I wanted to get an idea of who he largely based his style off of。 I enjoyed the story but this is definitely not a casual read， at least for me。 Three stars because I found myself looking at page numbers and being sad about how many there were left， which is mainly based on my attention span and the environment I’m in。 In all fairness it was an easier read than Blood Meridian by a long shot。
Жор
，
Мислех си， че вече съм прочел най-доброто от Фокнър във "Врява и безумство" и "Докато лежах и умирах"， но "Светлина през август" просто ме помете。"Само си помисли спокойно: "Значи， това е то любовта。 Разбирам。 И по този въпрос не съм бил прав。" Мислеше си， както си бе мислил преди， както щеше да мисли после и както всеки друг мъж си мисли: колко фалшива се оказва и най-задълбочената книга， когато се приложи в живота。" Мислех си， че вече съм прочел най-доброто от Фокнър във "Врява и безумство" и "Докато лежах и умирах"， но "Светлина през август" просто ме помете。"Само си помисли спокойно: "Значи， това е то любовта。 Разбирам。 И по този въпрос не съм бил прав。" Мислеше си， както си бе мислил преди， както щеше да мисли после и както всеки друг мъж си мисли: колко фалшива се оказва и най-задълбочената книга， когато се приложи в живота。" 。。。more
Anaya
，
Faulkner definitely has a very unique style in his writing。 I thought his style of telling people's histories out of order was a cool stylistic choice despite being very confusing。 I probably wouldn't have read this book on my own because it's the classic English class read where not that much actually happens plot-wise that is unique or interesting but it has a lot of great symbolism and covers racial issues at the time。 Joe Christmas in general was a pretty messed up guy and frankly weirded me Faulkner definitely has a very unique style in his writing。 I thought his style of telling people's histories out of order was a cool stylistic choice despite being very confusing。 I probably wouldn't have read this book on my own because it's the classic English class read where not that much actually happens plot-wise that is unique or interesting but it has a lot of great symbolism and covers racial issues at the time。 Joe Christmas in general was a pretty messed up guy and frankly weirded me out but his story of being forever caught between his black and white sides did make the story more fascinating。 。。。more
Shah Ali
，
Great book！ Very engrossing， complex characters。 I can deeply feel their hatred， desperation， loneliness and prejudice as their motives and consciousness is written in a compelling， engaging manner。 In addition， Faulkner did really well to show how systemic mistreatment and misguided parenting can damage an individual's perspective。The book didnt necessarily blow my mind away like The Sound and The Fury did， but it's still a solid 4-4。5 for me！ Great book！ Very engrossing， complex characters。 I can deeply feel their hatred， desperation， loneliness and prejudice as their motives and consciousness is written in a compelling， engaging manner。 In addition， Faulkner did really well to show how systemic mistreatment and misguided parenting can damage an individual's perspective。The book didnt necessarily blow my mind away like The Sound and The Fury did， but it's still a solid 4-4。5 for me！ 。。。more
Craig R。 Lincoln
，
Important and， as Faulkner mastered， challenging to read。
merixien
，
Ağustos Işığı， yazarın istikrarlı bir çatı oluşturmaktan kaçındığı， en kaotik ve özel kitaplarından birisi sanırım。 Bu durumun cevabını da ilk cümlesinde saklıyor。 Kitap Lena’nın; “Alabama’dan geldim: Bayağı uzak。”cümlesi ile başlıyor。 Zira Faulkner bu kitaba 1931 yılında doğup， bir hafta sonra ölen kızı Alabama’nın acısının ardından başlıyor。 Kendisinin de ifade ettiği gibi aklında Lena karakteri kazınmışken bir trans haliyle yazıyor。 Zaten kitaptaki iyi ve kötü; ölüm ve hayat çatışmasının iyil Ağustos Işığı， yazarın istikrarlı bir çatı oluşturmaktan kaçındığı， en kaotik ve özel kitaplarından birisi sanırım。 Bu durumun cevabını da ilk cümlesinde saklıyor。 Kitap Lena’nın; “Alabama’dan geldim: Bayağı uzak。”cümlesi ile başlıyor。 Zira Faulkner bu kitaba 1931 yılında doğup， bir hafta sonra ölen kızı Alabama’nın acısının ardından başlıyor。 Kendisinin de ifade ettiği gibi aklında Lena karakteri kazınmışken bir trans haliyle yazıyor。 Zaten kitaptaki iyi ve kötü; ölüm ve hayat çatışmasının iyilik imgesi cesur ve dayanıklı Lena Grove karakteri ile temsil ediyor。 Tabii ki de bu aile trajedisi kitaba da etki ediyor ve oldukça derin psikolojik analizlerin ve sorguların iç içe geçtiği， kaotik ve zorlu bir anlatı ortaya çıkıyor。 Aslında kitabın ana temasını sınırlandırmak çok zor。 Ama genel olarak öne çıkarılan birinci tema tabii ki ırkçılık。 Yoknapatawha’daki Jefferson kasabasında; Hightower， Joe Christmas ve Durden gibi belli ırksal ve cinsel klişelerle kimliklendirilmiş karakterlerin， her iki anlamda da “siyah ve beyaz arasındaki” bitmeyen mücadelesini anlatıyor。 Joe’nun “zenci kanı” taşıdığına dair çıkan bir söylenti， sonrasında bu söylentinin dönüştüğü bir saplantının ardından karakterin hayali bir ırksal göç içine girmesi ve bu kimlik krizinin altında yatan toplumsal ve tarihi nedenler kitabın büyük bir kısmına yayılıyor。 Bu temaya - bir noktada ırk vb konulardan dışlanmanın topal sonucu olarak- bireysel izolasyon eşlik ediyor。 Zira kitap sosyal kabul göremeyen ya da terk edilmiş yalnız karakterlerle dolu。 Bütün bu kaosun içerisinde， iyiliğin - ve bir noktada aslında kitabın isminde yer alan “ışık” kavramının - sembolü olan ve ilk bakışta mutlak kurban görünen Lena Grove’un hikayesi hiçbir dış olaydan etkilenmeden düz bir çizgide akıyor。 Faulkner'ın Güney’in dönüşümünde ve kötülüğün yayılmasında dinin destekleyici bir etkisi olduğuna dair eleştirisini bu kitabında da görebiliyorsunuz。 Açıkcası kitapta oldukça fazla İncil göndermesi bulunuyor。 Bunlardan en belirgini de kendi kimliğini ararken kaybolan， kötü doğmadığı halde kötülüğe maruz kalmaktan kötüleşen ve üst düzey bir trajedinin içine düşen Joe “Christmas”。 Bir bakıma 19-20。yy’ın Güney’ine gelen alternatif İsa anlatısı。Bütün bu atıfları， kimlik krizleriyle dolu büyük varoluşsal sorunları， trajedileri， anlatım tekniği ve kaotik dünyası ile okuması oldukça yorucu， ve içerdiği karanlık tarihe dair izleriyle kendinizi kötü hissetmenize sebep olacak， yoğun kitaplardan。 Herkese tavsiye etmem ancak Ses ve Öfke ile Abşalom！ Abşalom！’u mutlaka okumak istiyorsanız öncesinde Yenilmeyenler ve Ağustos Işığı’nı okumanızda fayda var。“Onu kendi isteğiyle bütün insanların yardımının ötesine sürükleyen， kara bir ormandan çıkarıp hayatın daha yürek durmadan bittiği ve ölümün istek ve isteğin doyumu olduğu o coşkunluğa sürükleyen de kara kandı。”4，5/5 。。。more
Kathy Kattenburg
，
Not an easy read， but easier than most other Faulkner novels， if the commentaries I have read are accurate。 Faulkner ably conveys the way racial hatred pervaded everyday life -- how it poisoned and corrupted even the most mundane interactions。 Just the use of the N word alone， as an utterly normal， routine way for whites to refer to people who in the polite （polite！） parlance of the time were called Negroes， felt like a physical assault every time it appeared。 Which makes me very curious about h Not an easy read， but easier than most other Faulkner novels， if the commentaries I have read are accurate。 Faulkner ably conveys the way racial hatred pervaded everyday life -- how it poisoned and corrupted even the most mundane interactions。 Just the use of the N word alone， as an utterly normal， routine way for whites to refer to people who in the polite （polite！） parlance of the time were called Negroes， felt like a physical assault every time it appeared。 Which makes me very curious about how a book like this would have felt like to readers in 1932 -- the year it was published -- as opposed to how it feels to read it today。 。。。more
Sarah Jameson
，
Powerful writing about the burdens of the past， identity and isolation。
Avi Woontner
，
spectacular writing， complex and insightful characters， story， and subjects。 And yet， I found the structure and the approach overall to be more frustrating than engrossing。
Jose Cisneros
，
4。5 ⭐️ Que manera de narrar， ufff！
Erika
，
I really love Faulkner。 And so this four star rating is comparing this novel to others by Faulkner。 Compared to novels generally it would be five stars。 Truly brilliant novel。 Everyone should work through Faulkner at some point in their life。 My favorite though is Absolom， Absolom。
Don Morgan
，
Well written saga with much tragedy。 It’s a very readable book since Faulkner’s use of southern slang or such is easier to follow than in Sound and The Fury。
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Light in August
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Light in August&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Light in August&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0