Getting back to the classics isn’t always easy, but this summer there’s some encouragement available. Our own billionaire and worldwide celebrity, Oprah Winfrey, has put three novels by William Faulkner on her Book Club list. Don’t miss the opportunity to check out one of the greatest writers in the English language.

1) As I Lay Dying: This tale of a woman’s family attempting, at all costs, to fulfill her dying wishes is not only a moving story. Its format, in which 59 first-person narratives make up the entire book, was very experimental for its time. And it only took Faulkner seven weeks!

2) The Sound and the Fury: Unlike As I Lay Dying, this novel begins with a funeral, seen through the perspective of children sent outside because they cannot comprehend the meaning of the event. Their stories, along with the rest of their family, slowly unravel in this multigenerational tour de force.

3) Light in August: Belying the title, Light in August is no fluffy romance-but then, what Faulkner novel is? A dark, complex story of racial tension, lingering Puritan morals, and intertwined small-town lives in the South, Light in August confronts aspects of the human psyche usually left unexamined.

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