Letters: Jul. 24, 1964

Through Faulkner's Eyes

Sir: The cover story on William Faulkner [July 17] is a beautiful job—the clearest, fairest, most concise explanation of Faulkner's philosophy and purpose in life that I have ever read. We were proud here at Random House to be his publisher, and I personally considered his friendship a compliment beyond measure. Incidentally, every one of Faulkner's books is now either back in print—for good—or in the course of production.

BENNETT CERF

President

Random House, Inc. New York City

Sir: How provocative and useful for TIME to investigate today's South by analyzing Faulkner's work and not that of some sociological survey. We are taught that one does understand a time by evaluating its literature, and in this case it's completely true.

JOHN HESS

Executive Editor

Meredith Press

New York City

Sir: Perhaps, in Faulkner's words, and with the assistance of TIME, "man will not merely endure: he will prevail." It is through the perceptive insight of stories like this that William Faulkner's dream will come true.

JAMES C. ISRAELSON

Denver

Sir: Because of my fondness for Faulkner, I especially appreciated your analysis of the caustic situation in the South. It is a good lesson, before we castigate the South, to look at it through the eyes of Faulkner—objectively and critically, yet with understanding and compassion.

KATHRYN M. LAWRENCE

Alexandria, Va.

Sir: May I suggest that Horace Judson relinquish his job with TIME to take a professorship in English, teaching the honors program. His keen insight as a critic of Faulkner resulted in one of the best estimates of that writer I've ever read. It is a masterpiece.

SISTER MARY LAWRENCE, V.H.M.

The Academy of the Visitation

St. Louis

Sir: The immediacy that both Faulkner and the race problem have for Southerners constrains us from reading Faulkner as a polemic for the 1964 "civil rights" bill. Indeed, you have read into Faulkner a conclusion that a thorough study does not warrant. I find in Faulkner a neurotic impasse between the direction of conscience and intellect, versus the guidance of sentiment, tradition, and the uncommon similarity of experience Southerners live with.

WILL WORTHINGTON

Jackson, Miss.

Sir: Admittedly William Faulkner had much to say about the racial issue and did much to clarify the historical and psychological patterns that motivate racist activity in the South. However, it is a gross mistake to leave the impression that his fame rests on this fact. A thousand years from now, when other issues dominate the mass media of the day, William Faulkner will still be recognized (along with Shakespeare, Milton and others) as a giant among literary artists. William Faulkner used the myth of the South to embody universal answers to universal questions—not to explain the racial situation in the South.

LYNN STEWART

Fulton, N.Y.