Sunday, May 25, 2014

FAULKNERIANA

Speranza

        
Requiem for a Nun
RequiemForANun.jpg
First edition
AuthorWilliam Faulkner
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
PublisherRandom House
Publication date
1950
Pages286
Preceded byIntruder in the Dust
Followed byA Fable


Requiem for a Nun is a book written by William Faulkner in 1950.

Like many of Faulkner's works, Requiem experiments with narrative technique—the book is part novel, part play.

The protagonist is Temple Drake, a character introduced as a college student in Sanctuary, one of Faulkner's early novels.

In Requiem Temple, now married with a child, must learn to deal with her violent, turbulent past as related in Sanctuary.

The main narrative, which is presented in dramatic form, is interspersed with prose sections recounting the history of the fictional Yoknapatawpha County.

Requiem for a Nun is perhaps best known for one of Faulkner's most famous lines,

"The past is never dead. It's not even past."

This line is often paraphrased, as it was by then Senator Barack Obama in his speech "A More Perfect Union".[1][2]

In 2012, Faulkner Literary Rights LLC filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Sony Pictures Classics over a scene in the film Midnight in Paris, in which a time-traveling character says,

"The past is not dead! Actually, it's not even past. You know who said that? Faulkner. And he was right. And I met him, too. I ran into him at a dinner party."



The novel was dramatized for the theater in 1956 by Albert Camus, entitled Requiem pour une nonne.

Camus also wrote the preface to the 1957 French translation of the novel by Maurice Coindreau.

References[edit]

  1. Jump up ^ Horton, Scott (2008-03-24). "The Past Is Not Past. Or Is It?". No Comment (Harper's Online). Retrieved 2008-03-29. 
  2. Jump up ^ Obama, Barack (2008-03-18). "A More Perfect Union". barackobama.com. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 
  3. Jump up ^ Block, Alex Ben (2012-10-25). "Sony Sued Over William Faulkner Quote in 'Midnight in Paris'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-10-26. 


   

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