The Reivers: A Reminiscence (1992) - Plot & Excerpts
“It was too late. Maybe yesterday, while I was still a child, but not now. I knew too much, had seen too much, I was a child no longer now; innocence and childhood were forever lost, forever gone from me.” Lucius Priest is almost proud of his innocence, an innocence that is easy to maintain as long as he stays in Yoknapatawpha County Mississippi, but when two family retainers by the name of Boon Hogganbeck and Ned McCaslin decide to go on an adventure and convince him to be a part of their ludicrous scheme his veil of innocence, in short order, is in tatters. Winton Flyer detailIt all starts with the death of one grandfather which puts most of the family on a train to attend the funeral including the other grandfather who happens to own the conveyance that provides the impetus for four days of mayhem. This automobile which was bought only because grandfather or Boss as he is called by employees and family alike decided he needed to own one. It is a Winton Flyer and in 1905 automobiles in this section of Mississippi or Missippi, as the characters of this novel refer to their fair state, are rare. Even a short ride in a car provides much excitement, enjoyment, and fear. A word of caution if you are riding in the rear watch yourself when the Boss turns his head to relieve himself of some juicy brown tobacco spit. Steve McQueen plays Boon Hogganbeck in the 1969 movie.Of the three Amigos that get involved in this hair brained idea Lucius is by far the youngest, but miles ahead of the other two in intelligence. After they steal the car and head for Memphis he has many moments of doubt in which he wished he were older and better able to handle the responsibility of being...well...bad. ”I realised this too now all my life that who dealt with Boon dealt with a child and had not merely to cope with but even anticipate its unpredictable vagaries; not the folly of Boon’s lack of the simplest rudiments of common sense, but the shame of my failure to anticipate, assume he would lack them, saying, crying to Whoever it is you indict in such crises Don’t You realise I aint but eleven years old? How do You expect me to do all this at just eleven years old? Dont you see you are putting on me more than I can handle?”Before this adventure even leaves town I’m already thinking that Lucius better stress the fact that he is only eleven when The Boss catches up with this madcap trio.Roads aren’t made for automobiles yet and before they’ve gotten very far they find themselves bogged down in a mud hole. Now amongst the people they know when you get in trouble, like say getting stuck in a mud hole, your neighbors offer a helping hand. The farmer that stakes out this mud hole in the road with a pair of mules is more of an entrepreneur. He extracts six hard earned dollars from Boon before he will put his mules to work getting them sucked back up onto dry land. Lucius learns a first lesson about how the world works outside his home county. And they are off!BONUS This book is laden with fascinating historical facts about how to care and keep an automobile in 1905. After many trials and tribulations of which even Don Quixote would have decided to turn around and go back home to his books of chivalry and romance, they arrive in Memphis. They are staying at a boarding house of a lady friend of Boon and there is something really different about this place that leaves Lucius a bit confused and on the verge of even more revelations. ”It was like any other hall, with a stairway going up, only at once I smelled something; the whole house smelled that way. I had never smelled it before. I didn’t dislike it; I was just surprised. I mean, as soon as I smelled it, it was like a smell I had been waiting all my life to smell.”I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve never been in a bawdy house, a whore house, on a bunny ranch or even in the flophouse of a lady of the evening so at 45 ...damn... I mean 46. Lucius Priest is way ahead of me at the age of 11. He’s not all that happy about it.”I wanted my mother. Because you should be prepared for experience, knowledge, knowing: not bludgeoned unaware in the dark as by a highwayman or footpad. I was just eleven, remember. There are things, circumstances, conditions in the world which should not be there but are, and you cant escape them and indeed, you wouldnt try to escape them even if you had the choice, since they too are a part of Motion, of participating in life, being alive. But they should arrive with grace, decency. I was having to learn too much too fast, unassisted; I had nowhere to put it, no receptacle, pigeonhole prepared yet to accept it without pain and lacerations.” Rupert Crosse won an Oscar for his portrayal of Ned McCaslin.Now Ned trades the Winton Flyer for a horse named Coppermine and the whole rest of the novel is spent with trying to undo what even the two less intelligent members of the group realize is a situation that might lead to more trouble than they can handle. There are horse races, sardine doping, pugnuckling, a knife fight, brawls with sheriffs, whores reforming at inopportune moments, rail hopping, gold tooth theft, and in the midst of it all is Lucius Priest watching his innocence soar away into a blue sky never to be seen again. He is a man in all but size by the end of this novel. Because this book is written in a straightforward manner with none of the experimental writing that adds “weight” to his other novels critics have said and will continue to say that this is a lesser novel. I have read in the last year two other Faulkner novels: Absalom! Absalom! and The Hamlet, and all three novels have provided me with very different styles of writing that shows me the breadth and genius of a writer capable of writing any kind of novel he would choose to lend his mind to. William FaulknerHe won the Pulitzer for this novel and the novel The Fable. For me Absalom! Absalom! is a six star book, but because we have a smaller scale to work with I had to settle for giving it a mere five stars. Thus the other two Faulkner’s had to settle for four stars. You may say to yourself is it fair that Faulkner has to compete with himself? Who else is he supposed to compete with? He is a man standing alone on a craggy peak in a universe of his own making and other writers have tried and are still trying to make there way to the summit.
Some initial thoughts---the often matter-of-fact relations between black and white in trying situations, when they (in this case men) sit together and actually talk some things out. Not equal but as co-conspirators on this earth. Women--sacred or profane, little seen or altogether too much present. I want to read so much more and see more Faulkner women.The young---of body (Lucius) or mind (Boon) certainly led us on a wonderful chase but without the wiles of Ned (the fool?) there would have been no real fun.So Shakespearean!And now on to my review!My second Faulkner in a few months and this was really a delightful experience; not an easy read as Faulkner never really is, but full of fun, youthful (and not so youthful) escapades, wily tricksters, potential evil villains and the final test--the horse race for everything.The story centers on a car. It's 1905 and cars are little more than a novelty. Lucius Priest's Grandfather owns one and it becomes a temptation to his employee Boon when all the adults in the family must leave town by train for a funeral. Lucius, the needed voice of reason, has difficulty fighting the lure of the road. He's tortured by his behavior but at each step, he's committed to moving further on in the plan with Boon and Ned of the "colored" McCaslins. "I will never lie again. It's too much trouble. It's too much like trying to prop a feather upright in a saucer of sand. There's never any end to it. You never get any rest. You're never finished. You never even use up the sand so that you can quit trying." (p58He's only 11 and over his head. Life was moving a bit too fast for him on this trip. "...what I wanted was to be back home. I wanted my mother. Because you should be prepared for experience, knowledge, knowing: not bludgeoned unaware in the dark as by a highwayman or footpad. I was just eleven, remember.There are things, circumstances, conditions in the world which should not be there but are, and you can't escape them and indeed, you would not escape them even if you had the choice, since they too are a part of Motion, of participating in life, being alive. But they should arrive with grace, decency. I was having to learn too much too fast, unassisted..."(p155)And a few pages later..."I was a child no longer. Innocence and childhood were forever lost."(p175) But it's not as simple as that in this rambunctious tale of three young males on a weekend lark to Memphis. They all experience a lot, see more than they ever expected or wanted, learn about themselves and others. Each in their own way emerging knowiing himself a bit better, whether he likes it or not.Now lest it seem this is too serious a story, I must recommend a moment that needs to be read, Ned's heirarchy of animals, rating rats, mules, horses, cats and dogs in order by their usefulness and degree of "parasitic" nature upon man. FIND A COPY OF THIS BOOK AND READ THIS. In my book, page 121. You may guess the ratings but never the description.I know I'm rambling now, and it's difficult to summarize. This is a wonderful picaresque novel, a traveling tale, coming of age novel, loaded with wonderful and well drawn characters. It explores a long-gone time that seems more colorful than our own and also shows relations between races in an interesting way. This novel leads me to want to know more, Isn't that the best tribute to any piece of writing.
What do You think about The Reivers: A Reminiscence (1992)?
This is a book that can be read over and over again, as a matter of fact, this copy purchased over 25 years ago finally fell apart in my hands after being read countless times. The Reivers is the story Boon, who took the 11 yr old son of his employer, Lucius, on a weeklong joy ride to a memphis boarding house for women in his bosses car. Ned, a stowaway in the car, trades the car for a horse, to race the horse against one it has lost to twice already in order to win both the money from the race and the car back before the cars owner, Lucius' dad, returns from a funeral. i will replace this copy of the book with a hard back that will last longer
—Arthur
Faulkner writes a great tale. This story is funny, fast paced and intricate--sometimes too intricate to follow easily. As with all Faulkner, it takes time to get used to the style: this one is a narrative and rambles in the usual way. The book takes some concentration to read. I have finished it, but I feel like I need a discussion group to help me see what I might have missed and to point out the obscured things that I found in the story. I am still wondering, is Ned actually related to Grandfather, or is he so much part of the family because he has grown up working for them... and does it matter? And who exactly is Bobo? I would give it a 3.5 if I could. Faulkner makes me feel inferior--like I should adore it, and have no problem following it, and see the eternal truths in it. Okay, I do see some eternal truths/themes and the story is really great and I am glad I read it--but I also feel like I missed some things and that frustrates me. If you are a Faulkner fan, or if you love a great story and are okay with a little confusion, or if you are in the mood to really concentrate on the material--this is a wonderful novel.
—Gena
The former rector of our church recently died. She was a longtime William Faulkner lover and just couldn't stand the thought that she had read all his books. So she saved this one--his last, written in 1962 and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize--to read (or have read to her) on her deathbed, whenever that day came. Tragically, she died suddenly of a heart attack and never got to read it. A few of us at our church are reading it "for her." And she would have loved this book! So will you, especially if you have any "Southern" in you. This book is unlike other Faulkner books. It's very accessible and actually funny. The moral: Don't save books for later. If you really want to read something, do it. Now.
—Cathryn Conroy
