These fictional historical details actually have nothing to do with the “story” told in dramatic form. The “narrative” portions of the book that are interspersed with the “dramatic” portions are about the fictional history of the fictional town of Jefferson, Mississippi, in fictional Yoknapatawpha County specifically the jail, the courthouse, and how the town was begun. I suppose this is part of his “innovation,” although not easy on the reader. Great writer though he was, it’s as if his mind was so twisted with interweaving thoughts that he couldn’t finish one thought before he started in on another. Faulkner is the master of interjectional writing. The “acts” of the novel are interspersed with some of Faulkner’s dense prose dense in the sense that sentences are frequently half-a-page long or longer, and you won’t know what he’s saying unless you’re reading carefully and go back and break down the sentences into their various parts. The story is told in dramatic form, meaning that reading it is like reading a play. Requiem for a Nun is an odd little book, not a traditional novel. Requiem for a Nun was written around 1951, when Faulkner was 54 years old, about twenty years after Sanctuary. William Faulkner, the master of twentieth century Southern American gothic writing, wrote Requiem for a Nun as a sort of sequel to his novel Sanctuary, meaning that it’s a brief glimpse into the life of fallen woman Temple Drake eight years after the close of Sanctuary. Requiem for a Nun ~ A Capsule Book Review By Allen Kopp

Requiem for a Nun by William Faulkner