Dear Campus Colleagues,
The Southern Lit Alliance will offer a free book club discussion of William Faulkner’s readable third novel, Flags in the Dust (1929), on Tuesday, October 11, at 6 PM in the Arts Building at 301 E. 11th Street on the second floor. The discussion will be led by UTC English professor Aaron Shaheen.
Space for the free, in-person event is limited, so please use the link below to register:
https://secure.qgiv.com/for/6tdwmt/event/856268/
Originally published under the title Sartoris, Flags in the Dust is the first novel set in Faulkner’s mythical Yoknapatawpha Country, Mississippi. Fair warning: it’s a heartbreaker, as it describes the misery of young Bayard Sartoris, who volunteered as a fighter pilot alongside his twin brother Johnny in the First World War and had the ghastly misfortune of watching Johnny die in aerial combat. Now home from the war and shell-shocked by what he has experienced, Bayard seeks to escape not only his survivor’s guilt, but also a tortured family history that has placed a deadly premium on military derring-do. Its themes anticipate Faulkner’s other novel from that year, his breakout (but far less readable) The Sound and the Fury. Now restored to its original title and to how Faulkner intended before his editors had their way with it, Flags in the Dust holds endless possibilities for discussion.
The novel is available at any online retailer.