The Reivers: Faulkener

UPDATE: EVENTS SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 25 AND APRIL 1 HAVE BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE CONCERNS OF COVID-19

Presented by Dr. J. Larry Allums

In 1962, just two weeks before he suffered a serious fall from his horse that led to his death, William Faulkner published his last novel, The Reivers, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The book begins with “Grandfather said,” and the narrative that follows, relatively straightforward for Faulkner, extends time both backward and forward as the narrator tells his grandson the story of his own grandfather’s key role in his, the narrator’s, coming-of-age. The story that emerges is pure comedy—Faulkner’s finest contribution to the genre—involving a stolen car, a trip to a Memphis whorehouse, and a horse race destined to determine several characters’ futures. Often relegated to a lesser position among Faulkner’s nineteen novels, The Reivers is to the contrary a fitting conclusion to an extraordinary artistic career—a glorious culmination comparable to Shakespeare’s final exit from the stage with The Tempest.

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