Requiem for a Nun

Nancy, a negro servant, redeemed from the gutter by Temple Drake, murders her mistresses baby. Only Nancy and Temple know why,and Temple once again tries to redeem herself by saving Nancy from her fate. The modern day thread is written in the form of a stage play, whilst this is interwoven with the ebb and flow of history and its monuments,legends and flotsam. I've always hated James Joyce.I can appreciate his influence, but I've always felt other writers were better at being James Joyce than James Joyce himself was. And one of those-better by far-is William Faulkner. He always admitted his debt to Joyce, and has turned Joyces style to build up a strong image of the influences of nature and history in the deep south; emphasising how our past always carries with it a promissory note that fate can choose to foreclose on at any time and demand payment in full-particularily resonant in the south- and how we all suffer like Christ on his cross for the sins we commit and for those of our fathers. No, not Faulkners greatest work, it was written towards the end of his career, but there is enough of his genius in this work (The Jail I particularly enjoyed) that you come out the other end a bit wiser; knowing that the history and progress Faulkner wrote about is still relentlessly carrying on; never knowing when fate will produce a promissory for redemption!

My dad told me I was named after a character in this book so it's fun reading it. It was made into a movie but I can't find it on tape or dvd.