The Mansion

By: William Faulkner

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

The Mansion tells of Mink Snopes, whose archaic sense of honor brings about the downfall of his cousin Flem. "For all his concern with the South, Faulkner was actually seeking out the nature of man," noted Ralph Ellison. "Thus we must turn to him for that continuity of moral purpose which made for the greatness of our classics."

As an added bonus, when you purchase our Audible Modern Vanguard production of William Faulkner's book, you'll also receive an exclusive Jim Atlas interview. This interview – where James Atlas interviews James Lee Burke about the life and work of William Faulkner – begins as soon as the audiobook ends.

This production is part of our Audible Modern Vanguard line, a collection of important works from groundbreaking authors.©1959 William Faulkner (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Mink Cometh

Where does The Mansion rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very solid reading. The ending of a 20th century classic American trilogy of novels, of course.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Mansion?

Glimpses into Mink's interior monolog are simultaenously touching, horrifying and revolting.

Which character – as performed by Joe Barrett – was your favorite?

Barrett did a wonderful job with Mink's voice, and his Flem was chilling. I didn't love his interpretation of Linda's deaf woman voice, but it was an okay choice and Barrett was consistent. Really a very, very good reading.

If you could rename The Mansion, what would you call it?

The entire Snopes trilogy should be read or listened to as one book, The Hamlet, The Town, The Mansion.

Any additional comments?

Faulkner closes the books on the wonderful characters he's created in the previous two books: Gavin, Linda, Flem, Ratliff, Chick, and Mink. After two books, he delivers a solid and engrossing finale. It is possible to listen to this as a stand alone, for there is enough recounting to bring one up to speed. I did not find this redundant, as some do, because Faulkner always finds a slightly different angle to view it from. For instance, we get a recap of The Sound and the Fury that tells that incredibly complex and tragic tale from an amusing and detached angle that let's you have even one more look at one of the great books in English.

Lyrical

Page after page of this amazing book sing and mourn the depth and truth of our human story.

Awesome

Great narration, Great writing, certainly a challenge, Worth the time and effort, highly recommend this.

Magnificent

What to say. The prose is like listening to poetry. He captures the Southern mindset like few others. Here he weaves a story by going back and forth between people and times. A must listen.

Like music

Faulkner once again takes up the story of the Snopes family, putting the “grind” into “grinding poverty” as he describes the sad, brutal farm life of Mink Snopes. When Mink falls asleep one evening in the middle of a half-plowed field, you can feel it in your bones. And when he picks up a shotgun to put things right, you know why even when you know he's wrong. The Snopeses are kind of like a cancer, if cancer were a chronic but not fatal disease that you keep cutting away at but it always grows back a little. The novel takes place over several decades and moves back and forth in time as it shifts from one viewpoint to another.

The book can supposedly be read as a stand-alone entry in the Yoknapatawpha County series. But as the story moves beyond the initial action involving Mink to include Lawyer, Eula Varner, and even the Compsons from The Sound and the Fury, I remembered only enough to be confused. I ended up with the feeling that I'm going to have to re-listen to all three books to fully appreciate the connections. I planned to do that anyway, for sheer pleasure, because the language is truly beautiful and Joe Barrett’s narration is like a folk song. But I hadn't expected to have to do it just to keep the story straight. My advice would be, if you're planning to read all three books — and you should — don't wait as long as I did between each one. Start the next one while the details of the previous one are still fresh.

Joe Barrett was born to read Faulkner. His voice seems to glide effortlessly in and over the musical, rhythmic prose of the novel like a sailboat. Each character has a voice just different enough to be instantly recognizable. One thing Barrett is especially good at is capturing Faulkner's humor — because as lowdown and hard bitten and tragic as much of the novel is, it is also deeply and boneshakingly funny.

There remains one central unresolved mystery for me. I can't for the life of me understand why Gavin doesn't just say yes.

Faulkner Snopes trlogy

it is wonderful, funny and sad at the same time. a marvelous writer and an experience.