Day 9

When Libby was a junior in high school she had to read Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner in English class. She loved the book. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say she loved Mr. Paccioni’s (spelling?) conversations about the novel. He was, after all, one of her favorite teachers. Regardless of the reason she enjoyed the book, she talked it up so much that I hoped I would get Paccione the following year—she was a year older than me—and read Absalom, Absalom.

I got Paccione. We did not read Absalom, Absalom. At least I don’t think we did. While Libby’s enthusiasm is deeply etched in my memory, my own experience is a bit more fuzzy. I associate high school with Sound and the Fury. But I can’t remember if I had to read it or if I read it out of my disappointment that the curriculum had changed. I also remember nothing about the novel except for my confusion. Faulkner’s novels are swirling masses of chaos on page after page. He wrote in stream of consciousness which means his sentences ran on in ways that didn’t always make sense. In short, he is not an easy author the read. Comprehending his work takes patience. I’ve read a few of his books, though I’m not a huge fan. Still, when I discovered that his house is in Mississippi, I wanted to see it.

Faulkner’s house is in Oxford. Disappointingly, there was no tour, just a self guided one. However, Kati asked the staff if there were any Civil War battles fought in the area. I have no idea why she would have the Civil War in her head. The man who worked there said there weren’t, but if she was interested in Faulkner and the Civil War, he highly recommended The Unvanquished which is a Civil War novel written by Faulkner. I stared at her in disbelief. I’m the one who is interested in both. But the guy assumed Kati was the nerd and so he continued talking to her. But I didn’t shy away from questions of my own.

Faulkner did not graduate high school. He was a terrible student. He did enroll to take a few class at The University of Mississippi, but he did poorly. Another staff member said he went to college only long enough to join a fraternity. The guy Kati was talking to said if he had actually gone to college and been a good student the professors would have cleaned up his writing. He never would have been permitted to write the way he did. His success was due to his commitment to breaking the standard rules of writing. That’s when G3 suddenly got interested in the conversation. He doesn’t like rules either. But I have to wonder, writing (the business) has changed so much since then, if Faulkner were writing today, would an agent even pick him up?

Faulkner lived in England for a spell. He tried Paris first, that was the hub of creative expats. It’s where Hemingway did much of his writing—and they were contemporaries. But Paris was too social. Faulkner was shy. He didn’t want to be seen or spoken to. He tried England because he wanted to see James Joyce, confirm that he really existed. If you’ve read both authors, it’s easy to see Joyce’s influence in Faulkner’s work. Faulkner did see him at a bar, but when his friend asked if he wanted to meet him he said absolutely not.

Faulkner enjoyed writing outside. He’d take his typewriter and table out and sit in an Adirondack chair to work. His favorite hobbies included reading and photography. He hated air conditioning and his wife only installed an a/c window unit the day after his funeral. Once he had an argument over technology with his daughter. Afterward, his wife bought their daughter a radio. It was the only one in his house. He used to tape outlines for his books on the walls when he was writing. Once he got fed up when an electric fan kept blowing them off the walls. So he wrote the outline directly on the walls instead. Something tells me Kati would not be happy if I did that.

The staff guy brought us into a room that is generally not open to the public. In the corner was a rotary telephone. He pointed to the wall and asked G3 if he knew what was written on the wall. G3 immediately answered phone numbers. The guy was impressed. Most kids—used to phones already programed with phone numbers—think the numbers are math problems. Faulkner didn’t write them. That was the work of the butler.

We drove around the Ole Miss campus. I was not impressed. G3 and I agreed that Duke is much nicer. The university was established in the mid 1800’s, not long before the Civil War. Mississippi citizens wanted a southern college because they didn’t like what their sons were learning up north. Northern ideas were too liberal and the boys would be better off staying closer to home. Not much has changed. The south is still rebelling against the “liberal agenda” of the north. The culture wars are are still playing out in regard to curriculum. Oxford was chosen as the location to build the new university because, well, it’s Oxford.

Since I never pass up an excuse to buy a book, we paid a visit to The Square bookstore which is located in the center of Oxford. There was an entire section of the store dedicated to Faulkner—books he wrote and books others have written about him. I picked up a copy of The Unvanquished. I may have to wait until I get home to read it. It might be a bit dense for light summer, road trip reading.

Years ago, when G3 was a toddler, we visited Mom and Dad in Mattituck. Over breakfast, while sitting at the dining room table, Dad and I started talking about politics—as we often did—and he told me I needed to read JFK’s book, Profiles in Courage. It highlights several politicians who briefly broke with their party because they voted for or acted with their conscience instead of following the part line. On the way to the beach, we stopped at the library and I checked out the book. If you haven’t read it, but you have an interest in history, I recommend it.

L. Q. C. Lamar was one of the men spotlighted by JFK. For this reason I felt compelled to walk the half mile—from the bookstore—to his house. It’s only open on the weekends, but I could still see the outside and walk around the grounds. Lamar was a member of Congress in the years leading up to the Civil War. When Lincoln was elected he advised against secession. However, when secession became a reality he withdrew from Congress and drafted Mississippi’s ordinance of secession.

In the war, he fought for the Confederates until he fell Ill. Then he served as a Confederate minister in Russia. When Lee surrendered to Grant, he was at Appomattox with them.

One might think his allegiance to the Confederacy might have sunk his political career but it didn’t. He was the first former Confederate from Mississippi elected to Congress. He gave a eulogy for Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner and he supported the Compromise of 1877 that gave Hayes the Presidency—for this, JFK wrote about him in Profiles in Courage. Lamar also voted in favor of a pension for General Grant which most southerners opposed. He supported voting rights for black people and believed in government spending for education so that black children could learn. (Other southerns hated him for this.) When Grover Cleveland was elected president, he appointed Lamar as Secretary of the Interior. In that post, he tried to protect Native American lands from being turned into homesteads.

As we neared Jackson, we got off the highway and detoured to the Natchez Trace Parkway. Several months ago, Kati came across a list on Facebook. “The Most Beautiful Places in America You Have To See Once in Your Life.” According to the list, the most beautiful wetland is the Cypress Swamp which is on the Natchez Trace. Seeing it was worth the detour. Cypress and Tupelo trees grow like a small army in the swamp. We crossed a wooden footbridge and the trees towered over us on both sides. The volume of water would kill most other trees. Alligators live in the swamp, but we didn’t see any.

The drive along the Trace is really pretty. It’s also peaceful. It’s alway far more pleasant when there is no traffic and there are no trucks.