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Mosquitoes (1996)

Mosquitoes (1996)

Book Info

Genre
Rating
3.16 of 5 Votes: 1
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ISBN
0871401673 (ISBN13: 9780871401670)
Language
English
Publisher
liveright

About book Mosquitoes (1996)

A largely overlooked semi-masterpieceThis was one of the easiest and most pleasant books by William Faulkner that I have ever read. It contains the typically unforgettable, i.e. singular Faulknerian characters, is influenced heavily by Joyce's emphasis on sexual themes, and features some of the most devastatingly sardonic humour in it I have ever come across. In parts, it is also rather blatantly misogynistic. The storyline of Mosquitoes centres around a yacht expedition of various artists, cads and fast women that goes wrong but which allows these characters to engage in various forms of debauchery or excess. One big difference between Joyce and Faulkner though is that Faulkner is very subtle in his sexual allusions here and elsewhere. He hints at people possibly getting it on (or off) and I think there was a lesbian scene here too which is very cool for a book written back then.Mosquitoes also contains a large number of quotable observations on life which reminded me at times of Proust's wry commentary on Parisian salon life. This does not rank among his true masterpieces such as Absalom! Absalom! or Light in August or my personal favourite Flags in the Dust just to name a few but it is highly recommended especially for those who have been turned off by Faulkner's more difficult and impenetrable work. I was amazed that the Kindle version cost only $1. A true bargain!

I'm giving this book a five star rating because at first and superficial glance it will make me look smart because I liked a book by Falkner finally. I'm supposed to because I live in New Orleans, right?I don't know if it was a bad book because it took me five months to read as all the characters were so hateful and unbearable to be around for long periods of time or if it was a good book because Faulkner got me engaged enough to want to torture and kill all of the sniveling pieces on that boat.I'm glad it's over. I'm sorry that I'm supposed to like these books, I bring nothing with me from it save this:- philosophers, artists, writers, sculptures and the elite educated need to get day jobs. They are annoying and spoiled otherwise.- it felt like the milk toast answer to the Harlem Renaissance.- I want some milk and toast.

Do You like book Mosquitoes (1996)?

Though slagged as Faulkner's worse novel by the all knowing academia, I actually found it to be a good read. It was far, far superior to Faulkner's first, Soldier's Pay. This reads much more like Faulkner in his prime. More a novel of ideas than anything else, it introduces us to some of his future favorite words like... "fecund." Sadly, "ratiocination" and "apotheosis" have yet to surface. As Faulkner himself references, this may perhaps be his ode to Balzac. And as another Facebook review noted, this does have the feel of Melville's The Confidence Man, if not in spiraling obfuscation, in its setting.
—Esteban Gordon

This novel has so much . . . potential. There are beautiful images abounding, and fascinating insights into artistic philosophy. That being said, without much of a plot to hold it together and with a fair dash of prose experiments on Faulkner's part, Mosquitoes is a supremely difficult read. It's almost as if the reader is alternately drowning and then coming up for air each time Faulkner offers a reprieve in the form of one of his more skillful passages (the foray into New Orleans' swamps is replete with gorgeous imagery). My best recommendation would be a purchase of the book and a re-read (and another, and another) in between your other 'to-reads' . . . it seems that this method would net a better appreciation of this early Faulkner.
—Ann Santori

'You don't commit suicide when you are disappointed in love. You write a book.'Mosquitoes is a unique novel of William Faulkner. His serpentine style wasn't fully formed at the time he wrote the novel: sometimes, the novel even read like Hemingway, both because of the subject matter (artistes) and the terseness of Bill's writing style. It wasn't a difficult read (especially when compared to Absalom, Absalom! or The Sound and the Fury), but it was a novel that was boring and uneventful for the most part. There were certainly high points in the novel, however, and I gave it three stars because I still have more fondness towards it than I do towards A Fable. No one would certainly think of this as a good Faulkner novel. It was, however, certainly a better read than Pylon or A Fable was for me. Fable was simply confusing and extremely bloated. Read as a testament to Faulkner's evolution as a writer, though, the novel is enlightening. Themes that would pervade his later work such as time and grief already appear in this work. Sadness and the passage of time is a permanent entity in Faulkner's world. 'Only an idiot has no grief; only a fool would forget it. What else is there in the world sharp enough to stick to your guts?'
—Michael David

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