Light in August

I'm pretty sure Faulkner is my favorite mid-20th century American writer, in any genre. My first exposure to his writing was in my 12th grade AP English course; we read As I Lay Dying and Absolam! Absolam!, and I absolutely loved the tragic tale of the Sutpen clan. Faulkner has an absolute gift for creating strong and unusual characters with odd problems who are inextricably entwined in a godawfully convoluted set of relationships, all of which is laid bare bit by bit over the course of the novel, with each surprising and tawdry revelation holding the promise of changing how you feel about the characters.

What I dislike about Light in August is the backstory. Or perhaps backstories. The novel begins with Lena Grove, who, on her own qualities and because of the nature of her predicament, is absolutely fascinating. As she approaches Jefferson, her story merges with those of the other "outsiders" of the town of Jefferson, culminating with the murder and burning of the house. It's absolutely beautiful and terrible, and everything is moving along just dandily, and then the narrative is simply cut off to tell the woeful backstory of Joe Christmas (jeez, with that of murder victim thrown in for free!). When we pick up again in the present, the novel rights itself, but why burden an otherwise good book with a salvage operation? I feel as if everything I learned during Christmas's backstory could have been transmitted more skillfully with much less verbiage. The good parts are still really good, though.