Phew! Perhaps, the most difficult novel I've read thus far! It is so difficult, not only that it uses stream-of-conciousness technique, but the narrators are changing every chapter: the three Compson brothers and an omniscient narrator in the last chapter.
The novel is about the decay of an aristocratic southern family after the civil war. It shows how time corroded the mores and morality of the once proud and mighty American South into a pitiful, decayed state.
The first chapter happened on a Black Saturday, April 7, 1928 and was narrated by the youngest Compson son, Benjy, a metally retarded. This is the most difficult chapter as Benjy's thoughts kept on changing.
The second chapter happened on the day Quentin, the eldest son, decided to commit suicide, June 2, 1910. This chapter is also difficult to read. To show the mental state of Quentin, Faulkner removed all PUNCTUATIONS in some pages!
The third and fourth chapters are easier compared to the first two chapters. The third chapter was narrated by Jason, the anti-semite and racist second Compson son, and happened on Black Friday, April 6, 1928, while the fourth chapter happened on Easter Sunday, April 8, 1928.
To add confusion to anyone's reading experience, there are characters in the novel with the same names: 2 Maurys; 2 Jasons, the father and the son; and 2 Quentins: one male and one female!
The title of the book is from Macbeth:
"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
Shadow was used so many times in the novel as a symbol for a futile life.
A very difficult novel to rummage into, but monumental just the same - for its scope and in the audacity of its narrative style!