Yoknapatawpha Innocence Lost

N The Reivers (from the now archaic or “poetic” verb reive or reave: to take away by stealth or force; to plunder) William Faulkner is primarily concerned with the initiation into knowledge—almost, one might say, into manhood—of elevenyear-old Lucius Priest (naturally of Jefferson, Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi—or, as it is usually spelled in the book’s dialogue, “Missippi”). Lucius is related to the McCaslin and Edmonds families who figure so prominently in The Bear and Delta Autumn, with their dark history of miscegenation and incest; so it is entirely proper that his initiation be in some measure prompted, if not always guided, by Boon Hogganbeck, the part-Indian white who finally killed Old Ben in The Bear.

The Reivers, by William Faulkner. Random House, $4.95

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Robert Drake

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N The Reivers (from the now archaic or “poetic” verb reive or reave: to take away by stealth or force; to plunder) William Faulkner is primarily concerned with the initiation into knowledge—almost, one might say, into manhood—of elevenyear-old Lucius Priest (naturally of Jefferson, Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi—or, as it is usually spelled in the book’s dialogue, “Missippi”). Lucius is related to the McCaslin and Edmonds families who figure so prominently in The Bear and Delta Autumn, with their dark history of miscegenation and incest; so it is entirely proper that his initiation be in some measure prompted, if not always guided, by Boon Hogganbeck, the part-Indian white who finally killed Old Ben in The Bear.

The Reivers, by William Faulkner. Random House, $4.95