connoisseur series500

Aww c'mon, Mny! I want a Cliff Notes summary up front! No, seriously, everyone. Faulkner's books are so involved that a short plot summary does no harm whatsoever.

Nice giving key points of the book away!! Remind me not to read a thread on books or movies where you post!! It's OK, Shrugs, nothing has been ruined. Mny's commentary looks like it came directly from one of the websites he quoted Come on Mny! Nothing has been ruined. There's so much in the book that it isn't funny. Mny's short summary can only help you as it is actually very difficult to follow the plot upon first reading. It actually helps to get a little help up front before picking up the book. There is so much richness in there that knowing a basic outline of the plot does not hurt. No need to jump on Mny. This is a well known book and we haven't revealed much at all. I was just waiting for others to comment before really bringing up other detailed aspects of the book. BTW, feel free to reveal details about Absalom, Absalom. I will happily use whatever help up front before actually reading the book.

I've managed to accumulate six of the Three Sounds sessions, but it isn't easy. I can think of no other BN artist(s) where such a high proportion of their dates are out of print. It's very frustrating for us other "fanatics," Dan.

Not only have I read "Sound and the Fury," but I've read it around five times!! I once used it as one of the assigned novels when I taught an American Novel course in Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok when I worked there for three years. Imagine young proper Thai coeds reading that book when English is not their main language! I handled it by reading the book aloud sentence by sentence and tried to explicate every sentence along the way. Can you believe that? God, that book is a masterpiece. I don't know if the young Thai coeds identified with Cady at all. Her ways would appear so foreign to them (unless there was a secret naughty side!) I taught this course about 18 years ago, so I have forgotten much. I've got two bios of Faulkner, one by Blotner and the other by a guy named, Karl, I believe. I read the Blotner bio. "Sound and the Fury" is divided into four main sections. The first is told by Benjy in his idiot language; the second is a nihilistic and existential discourse by Quentin as he prepares to kill himself (I think.) The third section is both a shocking and humorous section told by Jason, and the final section is told by the black maid, Dilsey, who is the most rational and normal character. The story comes together in pieces and is repeated at times through the prism of the various characters. Brilliantly done. This brings up a point...I remember Jimmie Baldwin criticizing Faulkner's view of the Civil Rights Movement, but I cannot recall what he thought of Faulkner's books. I wonder what black Americans think of Faulkner's negro characters. He was a Southerner and held many Southern views, but he was also an accurate judge of character. Anyone know anything about that?

I know that Joe Xmas is a Faulkner fan. Any others out there? Faulkner was one of America's greatest writers. I find many of his works to be flawed, which should not be surprising given the chances he took in his writings. I have been disappointed by books like "Sanctuary," "As I lay Dying," which is a real bore, and much of his later stuff. On the other hand, "Sound and the Fury" is an undoubted masterpiece; and "Light in August," "Wild Palms/Old Man," and many of his stories are virtual masterpieces as well. I haven't read all of his work, but I've read much of it. One notable exception would be "Absalom, Absalom." Never read it and I think I was frightened away by its reputed difficulty. I've also read a biography of the great man. He was catankerous but what an artist! OK, your turn Joe. Tell us about your favorites.

BTW, I should also mention that even if you receive a call from a telemarketer who happens to be calling from one of the industries who are exempt from the Do Not Call List, such as long distance telephone companies, insurers, banks and credit unions, airlines, etc, you can STILL request to be placed on that company's own Do Not Call List, and that request has to be honored. Each company has its own Do Not Call List as well. It's more time consuming as you have to make this request for every company that calls you, but if you really don't want to be called, that's what you have to do. I get most of my calls from credit card people and long distance telephone companies. Please note that credit card people are not exempt from the list. Banks are and they rarely call (they don't have to: they've already got their target market trapped as customers!), so you should no longer get calls from those guys if you register for the list. I'll register myself, but will wait for the rush to cool off a bit first.

From this list of British people I voted for George Washington, who was easily one of our greatest presidents. Not only was he personally beyond reproach, but he set the tone for the presidency. He made sure that the office would not mimic royalty and was determined to step down after serving his time. He was a very average general but an outstanding politician and leader. A great great British err American!

Hmm, this subject again. I am not a telemarketer, but I do some prospecting by telemarketing. My industry is exempt from the Do Not Call List (I work for an insurance company), but quite frankly, I am not sure what good that will be, if people don't want any phone calls from salespeople. I am concerned about my job. I focused on calling small business owners as a prospecting tool. I might change careers. Simple as that. There's no way anyone will walk into my office and look for my services if I just sit there. And I'm sure not going to be knocking door to door. We'll have to see how all this shakes out, but I've been suffering from the bad economy as it is. I will probably sign up for the Do Not Call list myself as I am bombarded by professional telemarketers using computers. I get a call every morning around 9:30-10:00 and no one answers. My number is stuck in the craw of some computer. I urge everyone else also to register for this list. In my opinion, these professional telemarketers have ruined it for all of us who happen to use the telephone for sales. In my case, I am a local person who calls other local companies. I take one "no" for an answer and I'm always polite. Most people are polite also. I don't sound bored on the call because I am offering my services and not someone elses. That's the distinction between someone who is hired to telemarket and someone who isn't. Don't worry, JS. I won't be calling you. Nonresident Texas insurance licences are outrageous and I call people who have money! We'll see how things go, but I am indeed concerned at this stage.

Congrats and good luck, Bill! :rsmile:

Very perceptive comment. Describes me as well.

Yesterday I had a friend over and I put on the tune, "My Funny Valentine" from GROOVIN AT SMALL'S PARADISE, and I asked my friend to tell me if he found it as beautiful as I did. I think he was a bit overwhelmed and couldn't come to any kind of immediate decision. Jimmy's playing on that tune is transcendental. I'll remember it even after I'm dead.

Jimmy is the King! I'm listening to "The Master" over and over and over again. Can't stop listening to it. What a genius. He and Burrell work so well together it's amazing.

Great topic, Rooster. Right now I'm grooving to Jimmy Smith, "The Master," and really enjoying it. Hill seems so far away. I rank him in my personal top 10. I like him because.... --He composes and plays with a remarkable degree of individuality. --He doesn't have the technique of many others (such as Cecil Taylor) but his compositions are so honest. --His family came from Haiti and I was born in the Caribbean. --To me, he represents much of Chicago jazz. --His stuff is complex but it grows upon you the more you listen. He is challenging but worth it. No fakery.

That dog better hope that the snake was'nt hungry. It was, Chris and now doggie is gone! Check out mny's description of the events.

Christ, JL, you are indeed in a big pickle! I recommend calling for an artillery strike by the local national guard. Make sure you're out of the apartment first of course!

It's a bulls-eye burned into the furniture as a result of one of Charlie Parker's cigarette butts.

And your neighbor's dog wanted a piece of that? He must have been suffering from doggy dementia.

That was one big dumb dog!

!!! I would imagine that the dog owner was pretty upset. What did you do, pay him off with your life's savings? It's amazing that the city didn't force you to shut down your pet hobbies. That guy who was looking after your place must have been asleep or something. I mean surely a dog doesn't go quietly. Must have been lots of yelping and stuff. Your lucky the snake didn't swallow the apple tree while he was at it!

Interesting story, Noj.

No, I believe he was some kind of middleman himself, but he sold to other middlemen. He did not get the big $$$. He didn't trap any snakes in Thailand, but when a cobra was discovered in his village, he was the guy they called! He came out with his hook and bagged it. Don't know what he did with the common cobra.

I've got a stereo in three rooms and a cd player in the car. My one regret in life is that I don't have a profession which allows me to have a stereo on while working. Oh, how I envy those cabinet makers and muffler shop people!

Wow, some of those boas are beautiful, Mnytime. (Well, as far as a snake can be called "beautiful" anyway.) That's one bigtime snake collector there. My friend in Thailand bought his mice at the "weekend market." He didn't have that kind of volume, and I don't believe he had anything in those incredible price ranges; but he apparently made a good living from his trade. I've often wondered what happened to him. He quit the snake business because he began to encounter trouble at airport customs desks when he carried his snakes out of Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok. He felt that the international trafficking of snakes wasn't as easy as it used to be. He went into diving school with the idea of teaching people deepwater diving. This guy was strange. You know what they say about snake people, don't you Mnytime?

I knew a guy in Bangkok who was as crazy as Mnytime in terms of his reptile collecting. He actually bred and sold exotic snakes. One of the big sellers was the albino cobra. He had a whole bunch of those. I went over to his place once to see what it was like, and I visited his snake rooms. He had the cages piled up on each other in rows. I began walking down one of those rows and suddenly was startled by a loud HISSSSSS! My hair stood up on my head. One of his albino cobras had hissed me in his cage as I was walking by. I never grew up with snakes and had no pathological fear of them, but when I heard that sound I was in immediate kinship with everyone who has feared snakes since birth. I realized that there is a natural instinct of fear for snakes in humans. Man that is a frightening sound! The snake dealer was bitten once by some kind of viper and he had to be rushed to Bangkok's Snake Farm Hospital for some kind of anti-venom. Mnytime said he had to take some as well. My understanding is that you can't take too much of that stuff as it can be dangerous. I remember the snake dealer telling me that Australia was full of poisonous snakes. Seems to me that Australia has every poisonous little animal. Their spiders are deadly; their snakes; there are is even a little pocket sized octopus that is supposedly deadly. Glad I don't live there! I visited Sydney once, but didn't run into anything. We'll have to ask our friend, Kenny Weir to tell us his stories. Kenny? Let's hear everyone's fish stories as well. I've got a bunch. More later....

Fortunately for me, there are no snakes in Jamaica. Island lore attributes the mongoose as the reason. The mongoose was introduced into the island from India. The idea was to help control the snake population in the sugar cane fields. Apparently, the mongoose killed every damned snake and the island then starting working on the chickens. When I was in my father's car as a kid driving the Jamaican roads at night, we would frequently see a flash as a mongoose ran across the road. At other times during certain seasons, the road would be covered with toads. They would pop under the car tires. It was impossible to avoid them. Sometimes large land crabs would be in the roads as well. There were plenty of interesting roadkills in Jamaica. The only encounter I ever had with a dangerous snake was in that same house in Thailand. I was sitting down under the house as usual when I noticed a snake not far away. It didn't look that big so I grabbed my umbrella and walked up to it. I jabbed it gently and it started to move laterally away from me. As it did so, a certain coloration manifested itself near the snake's head. The next day I told my story to a friend at work and he told me that it was a dangerous krait. He said I was crazy to have provoked it like I had. I told him that if the snake were to make a move for me, I would have let out the umbrella and thwap!! Fortunately, I didn't get the opportunity to test my technique.