An edition of Soldiers' pay (1926)

Soldiers' pay

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Soldiers' pay
William Faulkner, William Faul ...
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Last edited by MARC Bot
July 23, 2024 | History
An edition of Soldiers' pay (1926)

Soldiers' pay

  • 10 Want to read
  • 2 Currently reading
  • 1 Have read

Soldiers’ Pay is William Faulkner’s first published novel. It begins with a train journey on which two American soldiers, Joe Gilligan and Julian Lowe, are returning from the First World War. They meet a scarred, lethargic, and withdrawn fighter pilot, Donald Mahon, who was presumed dead by his family. The novel continues to focus on Mahon and his slow deterioration, and the various romantic complications that arise upon his return home.

Faulkner drew inspiration for this novel from his own experience of the First World War. In the spring of 1918, he moved from his hometown, Oxford, Mississippi, to Yale and worked as an accountant until meeting a Canadian Royal Air Force pilot who encouraged him to join the R.A.F. He then traveled to Toronto, pretended to be British (he affected a British accent and forged letters from British officers and a made-up Reverend), and joined the R.A.F. in the hopes of becoming a hero. But the war ended before he was able to complete his flight training, and, like Julian Lowe, he never witnessed actual combat. Upon returning to Mississippi, he began fabricating various heroic stories about his time in the air force (like narrowly surviving a plane crash with broken legs and metal plates under the skin), and proudly strode around Oxford in his uniform.

Faulkner was encouraged to write Soldiers’ Pay by his close friend and fellow writer Sherwood Anderson, whom Faulkner met in New Orleans. Anderson wrote in his Memoirs that he went “personally to Horace Liveright”—Soldiers’ Pay was originally published by Boni & Liveright—“to plead for the book.”

Though the novel was a commercial failure at the time of its publication, Faulkner’s subsequent fame has ensured its long-term success.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
319

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Soldiers’ Pay
Soldiers’ Pay
2022, Standard Ebooks
in English
Cover of: Soldier's Pay
Soldier's Pay
October 5, 2000, Vintage
Cover of: Soldiers' pay
Soldiers' pay
1985, Washington Square Press
Cover of: Soldier's pay
Soldier's pay
1976, Penguin
in English
Cover of: Soldiers' pay
Soldiers' pay
1970, Penguin Books
in English
Cover of: Soldiers' pay
Soldiers' pay
1954, Liveright
in English
Cover of: Soldiers' pay
Soldiers' pay
1937, The Sun Dial Press inc.
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Published in
Garden City, N.Y

Classifications

Library of Congress
PZ3.F272 So5, PS3511.A86 So5

The Physical Object

Pagination
319, [1] p. p.
Number of pages
319

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL6353035M
LCCN
37011251
OCLC/WorldCat
4756252
Library Thing
29397

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
July 23, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
September 15, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
August 4, 2010 Edited by IdentifierBot added LibraryThing ID
October 18, 2009 Edited by WorkBot add edition to work page
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user Imported from Scriblio MARC record