I don't read all that much because I'm a little dislexic, which makes reading take a lot longer for me than it does for others. That's why I am more of a film fanatic than a literature fanatic. But there is one author whose work keeps me thoroughly interested, and that author is William Faulkner. In my opinion (and it is an opinion that is well informed; despite not reading often, I would consider myself well read. Instead of wasting time reading weak entertainment like John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and Micheal Chrichton, when I do read, I always make sure it is something that is highly regarded among literature experts), there is no better author than William Faulkner. His style surpasses everything else that I've read.
And I have read _The Reivers_. While it doesn't match up with the rest of his work (in fact, I consider it the least of all those that I've read, and I've read all of his bona fide masterpieces), it is still a thoroughly enjoyable novel. It does not match up because its narrative style is greatly diminished when compared to _The Sound and the Fury_ or _Absalom, Absalom!_. _The Reivers_ is also very anticlimactic, which ends up harming the rest of the novel.
Well, _The Reivers_, with its unimpressive style, is the perfect Faulkner novel for the big screen. And the film version actually improves on the ending, removing the anticlimactic scenes (in the novel, Boss shows up after the first heat of the race, and then the second heat is postponed while Boss negotiates Boon out of jail (in addition to smacking Corrie, he also beat the heck out of Butch, the sheriff (or "shurf" in pure Faulknerian)). Also, the film actually adds some very well written dialogue that was not in the novel.
The film does miss one important thing, though. It never feels as if much time has passed. In the novel, several scenes are carried out a lot longer. Basically, we experience everything that happens to Lucius, and by cutting out some scenes, we don't feel as if we've not slept much. There is more to the Mr. Binford scene, there is a lot more to do with Otis (his character was perhaps the most severely excised in the film version), and there is an enormous episode involving the transportation of Lightning, the horse, to Possum. The subtraction of all this material results in the feeling that the events in this film go by too quickly.
I give the film the same grade that I give the novel, an 7/10. While the film fixes the anticlimax, it also goes faster than it should.
And I have read _The Reivers_. While it doesn't match up with the rest of his work (in fact, I consider it the least of all those that I've read, and I've read all of his bona fide masterpieces), it is still a thoroughly enjoyable novel. It does not match up because its narrative style is greatly diminished when compared to _The Sound and the Fury_ or _Absalom, Absalom!_. _The Reivers_ is also very anticlimactic, which ends up harming the rest of the novel.
Well, _The Reivers_, with its unimpressive style, is the perfect Faulkner novel for the big screen. And the film version actually improves on the ending, removing the anticlimactic scenes (in the novel, Boss shows up after the first heat of the race, and then the second heat is postponed while Boss negotiates Boon out of jail (in addition to smacking Corrie, he also beat the heck out of Butch, the sheriff (or "shurf" in pure Faulknerian)). Also, the film actually adds some very well written dialogue that was not in the novel.
The film does miss one important thing, though. It never feels as if much time has passed. In the novel, several scenes are carried out a lot longer. Basically, we experience everything that happens to Lucius, and by cutting out some scenes, we don't feel as if we've not slept much. There is more to the Mr. Binford scene, there is a lot more to do with Otis (his character was perhaps the most severely excised in the film version), and there is an enormous episode involving the transportation of Lightning, the horse, to Possum. The subtraction of all this material results in the feeling that the events in this film go by too quickly.
I give the film the same grade that I give the novel, an 7/10. While the film fixes the anticlimax, it also goes faster than it should.