Chapters 1 & 2 - Sound and the Fury

The first chapter of The Sound and the Fury was really, really difficult for me to get through. I felt like throwing the book out the window and giving up on Faulkner forever. But, I felt compelled to seek some guidance from a friend of mine and what he shared comforted me in that I discovered that it was not just me being an idiot and not comprehending what was happening, but it was just, in general, a really difficult read. However, this did not ease the burden of the read by any means, I still had to fight my way through it, and even when I was done with it, my sense of accomplishment in finishing that one chapter was not able to get rid of the thought blaring in my mind: what just happened? So, being a dedicated reader, I closed the book, and started all over again. The second time around helped a bit more but the fashion in which this chapter was written was completely baffling to me, even knowing that the narrator was mentally retarded. When thinking of Mosquitoes and Soldiers' Pay, this novel is so much more heavy and hard to grasp. Mainly in the first paragraph, while reading it through for the second time I kept wondering why Faulkner would want to write in such a way that seems intentionally confusing. I brushed that off, though, by thinking it was just me. The repetition of the phrase : Caddie smelled like trees almost killed me.
The second chapter, I was told by the person mentioned above, was to be much easier to comprehend. I did not find this to be the case. Again, the memories and the ambiguity of what is going on was really a bit much for me at times. I felt like I needed a companion to the decipher every line I was not understanding, which seemed like all of them. I know there is an unhealthy obsession with Caddie amongst her brothers, and the assertion that one committed incest as a way out of a bad situation (meaning Caddie's pregnancy) was pretty striking. The character goes to Harvard and such a thing as that strikes me as something that would be said by someone who just did not know any better. This really brings home the extent of the obsession with Caddie, and the frustration he has with her life and, in particular, her sex life. I do not really understand why there is such a fixation on her sexuality, since they are brothers, and on her in general but it's saddening how it plays out. That is probably complete ignorance of something on my part. The focus on time was very striking when it came to Quentin, even though his suicide did not come until later.
Speaking strictly of the first two chapters, this is one of, if not the, most difficult book I have ever read. The last chapter was the only one that I could say that I actually liked. And I am hesitant to say that because I feel like I am missing something and I don't want to sound foolish.