.ناخوانده در غبار <> Nakhandeh dar ghobar

`Intruder in the Dust` wraps a fine mystery around and through a story that could only happen in Faulkner country, yet is a timeless monument to man`s stubbornness, stupidity and honor. Mr. Faulkner enfolds his prose around you like kudzu and makes you part of his world. In a small Mississippi town in 1948, black Lucas Beauchamp is wrongfully arrested for shooting white Vinson Cowrie in the back. Sixteen-year old Charles Mallison owes Lucas a debt of honor incurred four years ago. Lucas hires Charles` cynical uncle, Gavin Stevens, to defend him. The most pressing matter is not Lucas` guilt or innocence; it is keeping him from getting lynched before he is arraigned. Lucas is a nightmare of a client. He is stubborn, stiff necked and proud. He dresses like an old time plantation owner and neither owes nor accepts favors from anyone. Uncle Gavin is trying to save Lucas` neck while Charles is trying to clear him. Gavin laments that Lucas would be easier to keep alive if `he would just ACT like a n—-r.` This Lucas refuses to do. There is body snatching, graveyards at night and some thoroughly frightening characters to liven up the journey. Another reviewer mentioned `drunk on his prose,` and it is a very apt description. It works best if read aloud; you will find Faulkner`s rhythm and make it your own. The long sentences don`t trouble if you just let his prose carry you along. Mr. Faulkner thinks any southern woman over 35 years old is a secret Amazon of quiet strength and fortitude, which makes for interesting characters, but is a little hard on credibility. There is long section on how `outsiders` (read `Northerners`) have interfered and thereby delayed integration. However true or false this may be, it slowed the story down and seemed tacked on. `Intruder in the Dust` is not generally ranked with `premier` Faulkner (`Light in August,` `Absalom, Absalom!`), but it stands on its own as a fine read and certainly is one of his best post-WWII books.