I'm only off by nine days ... Faulkner thought that Light in August was pretty distinctive as an effect - and, of course, as a title. This was his house, Rowan Oak - just on the edge of Oxford, and with a history that clearly haunted his novels: the grandiose and aspirational quality of Greek Revival architecture, the edge of decay and menace, and the kitchen/smoke house that had been the quarters for the enslaved workers of the original family who lived on this property. The University of Mississippi - who own it - are doing a great job not just of restoring it, but of hunting down the history of the enslaved people who built it, and the connections between its bricks - made from clay from the property - and bricks used to build the university - and hence the whole relationship of the university to enslaved labour.
When it came to Faulkner's own occupancy of it, however, not only does it reveal him to have been a complete jerk - he built his study over his wide's rose garden when she was out of town. He wouldn't, apparently, install a/c - his wife made that happen the day after he died. I just couldn't help think how their furniture looked awfully like the stuff that I'm fining it hard to get rid of in Wimbledon.
Oh, yes, I'm at a conference/worskhop. It's very satisfying to bully one of one's former students into the swimming pool during the after-party ...
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