Thirteen Chapters
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Summary
*These Thirteen* is no longer printed or published as a separate volume and has become a collector's item. The book is divided into three parts, each differing in theme, characters, time, and place. Part One contains four stories—"Victory," "Ad Astra," "All the Dead Pilots," and "Crevasse"—mainly about the experiences and spiritual predicaments of soldiers on the European front in World War I, bearing the decadent and nihilistic temper of the "Lost Generation," with rather obscure language and strong symbolic overtones. Part Two contains six stories—"Red Leaves," "A Rose for Emily," "Honor," "Hair," "That Evening Sun," and "Dry September"—all set against Faulkner's classic material: Native American history, small-town life in the American South, and so on; characters recur across the stories, and the tales are often intertextual with the author's novels, in a more colloquial language. Part Three contains three stories—"Mistral," "Divorce in Naples," and "Carcassonne"—set in southern France and Italy; the first two have looser plots and a distinctive temperament, while the closing "Carcassonne" is more like a prose poem of fantasy, with an atmosphere of chaos and hazy meaning.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who hope to enter Faulkner's literary world and the Yoknapatawpha system gradually through short stories
- Researchers or writers interested in modernist techniques, especially narrative experimentation and psychological depth
- Serious literary readers who prefer deep, historically rich texts of moral complexity
- Readers interested in exploring the American Southern literary tradition and its cultural core
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking light entertainment or fast-paced plot-driven stories
- Readers impatient with nonlinear narration, complex character relationships, and extensive psychological description
Reading tips
- Need not be read in order; choose individual stories to savor deeply, allowing space for rumination and reflection
- Combine reading with Faulkner's biography and Southern US history to better understand the cultural context
- Watch for recurring themes across stories—family, land, memory, redemption—to grasp Faulkner's overall thought
About the publisher
Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House is a Chinese publisher specializing in literary publishing. Judging from the 808 titles in the database, its publishing areas cover world classics, foreign literature, social novels, folk literature and classic works, as well as modern and contemporary literature and prose. Representative titles include foreign literary translations such as Anna Karenina, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, In Praise of Shadows and The Complete Tragedies and Comedies of Shakespeare, alongside classic works by Lao She and Lu Xun such as Camel Xiangzi, Teahouse and Wandering. Its authors and translators include Leo Tolstoy, Cao Ying, Lao She, Yukio Mishima, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Zhu Shenghao. The press emphasizes the translation and introduction of classic texts and the compilation of native literary works, giving equal weight to Chinese and foreign literature. Owing to limited public information, its specific series and editorial policies are not elaborated here.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 第一部分
- 胜利
- 飞向群星
- 所有死去的飞行员
- 裂缝
- 第二部分
- 红叶
- 给艾米丽的一朵玫瑰
- 公道
- 头发
- 夕阳
- 干旱的九月
- 第三部分
- 密史脱拉
- 那不勒斯离婚
- 卡尔卡松
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About the author
William Faulkner (1897–1962) was an American novelist and poet, one of the most important writers in twentieth-century American literature and a leading figure of stream-of-consciousness fiction. Many of his works are set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, presenting the history, families, and individual fates of the American South through shifting time and multiple perspectives. His major works include The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and Absalom, Absalom!, known for their intricate structures and profound psychological depth. In 1949 Faulkner received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and his writing has had a lasting influence on later fiction. The collection currently holds 26 of his works.
Ye Zi (1910–1939), originally named Yu Zhaoming and Yu Helin, was a native of Yiyang, Hunan, and a modern Chinese writer as well as a member of the League of Left-Wing Writers. In 1933 he published the short story "Harvest" under the pen name Ye Zi; with a preface by Lu Xun recommending it, the work brought him literary fame. His other representative works include "Star," "A Night in a Mountain Village," and "Fire." His writing often draws on the peasant movements and hardships of his home region, with a solid, grounded style and a clear social concern and sense of the times. The library holds 37 of his works, which, besides original fiction such as "Harvest," also involve translations of foreign literature and miscellaneous prose. Public information on the details of his life is limited, so they are not elaborated here.
