Books by John D. Hart

ABSALOM, ABSALOM! is often considered to be Faulkner's greatest book, and one of his most compelling explorations of race, gender, and the burdens of the past. The plot revolves around the character of Thomas Sutpen, son of poor whites in Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County. Densely written and notoriously "difficult," the novel explores the question of why Sutpen's son, Henry, killed Charles Bon, his friend and classmate, and the suitor of his sister, Judith. The action shifts from the early 19th century, when this event took place, to the "present" (1909-1910), when Quentin Compson, a student at Harvard, becomes obsessed with discovering the truth about his ancestor Sutpen--and hence about his family's past--and the relevance of that truth to the present.

PYLON, one of Faulkner's minor novels, is set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, and centers on a group of airmen who are in town for the festivities. It was published in 1935.

SANCTUARY is Faulkner's most notorious novel; its sensational subject matter was particularly disturbing to the inhabitants of his home town of Oxford, Mississippi, many of whom felt Faulkner presented a distorted picture of their community. The novel tells the story of Temple Drake, an Alabama debutante who falls under the influence of a sinister bootlegger named Popeye. In the introduction to "Sanctuary" (one of the few introductions he wrote), Faulkner admits that the book was "a cheap idea, because it was deliberately conceived to make money." (SANCTUARY was in fact his only best-seller.) Faulkner liked to boast that he wrote the novel in three weeks, but he also revised it extensively before final publication.

SANCTUARY is Faulkner's most notorious novel; its sensational subject matter was particularly disturbing to the inhabitants of his home town of Oxford, Mississippi, many of whom felt Faulkner presented a distorted picture of their community. The novel tells the story of Temple Drake, an Alabama debutante who falls under the influence of a sinister bootlegger named Popeye. In the introduction to "Sanctuary" (one of the few introductions he wrote), Faulkner admits that the book was "a cheap idea, because it was deliberately conceived to make money." (SANCTUARY was in fact his only best-seller.) Faulkner liked to boast that he wrote the novel in three weeks, but he also revised it extensively before final publication. REQUIEM FOR A NUN is a sequel to the earlier SANCTUARY, and continues the story of Temple Drake eight years later. Now married to Gowan Stevens, Temple tries to save the life of a nurse who is accused of murdering Temple and Gowan's child. Most of the novel is presented in the form of a play. Each act begins with an essay giving the background of the events and a history of the mythical Yoknapatawpha County, as well as a consideration of the ways in which the past affects the present--Faulkner's perennial theme.