Sartoris / In Spanish

El propio William Faulkner recomendaba esta novela como aquella por la que debía empezar quien se acercara por primera vez a su obra. «He concebido la historia entera como un relámpago que iluminase de golpe un paisaje», declaró. En Sartoris, Faulkner disecciona una clase social en decadencia a partir de una familia heredera de las tradiciones aristocráticas del Sur.


ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

The specter of an heroic past is ever present in SARTORIS, casting its ironic light upon the novel's protagonists. Heirs to the aristocratic traditions of the Old South, they have been left with only romantic rhetoric, pride, and self-pity to face a world that no longer mirrors their self-image. Bayard Sartoris seeks refuge in compulsive acts of physical courage; Horace Benbow, in a bloodless aestheticism; and Narcissa Benbow, in a desperate clinging to appearances. But for them there is to be no escape--only ultimate futility, whether in the form of violent self-destruction, or a living death in a fragile world of dreams. A brilliant dissection of a decaying social class, and a vivid evocation of both the physical landscape and psychological climate of the South, SARTORIS introduces many of the key themes, places, and characters of the Faulkner canon. By itself, it stands as his first memorable projection of a vision that, as lawrance Thompson writes, "recognizes the inseparability of human weaknesses and strengths, of positives and negatives, of good and evil...what [Faulkner] later called 'the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself.' "