Absalom, Absalom!, by William Faulkner

[metal134]

William Faulkner is my favorite author, and this is one that I hadn't yet gotten to that I knew any fan of Faulkner should and I finally read it. I have heard many say that it is Faulkner's best book. I still prefer "The Sound and the Fury", but it was very good. I love the modernist style of discombobulated chronology. Very good story that seems to be an obvious parallel for the fall of the South leading up to, durin and after the Civil War. The only thing that I didn't like about this novel was Faulkner's use of revealing the story through dialouge. People just don't speak in that fashion. I think it would have been better served if he had told the story through memoirs, letters, or something to that effect. Also, I think Faulkner tended to over emphasize some plot devices. Honestly, how many times did he need to tell us that Ellen asked Rosa to protect Judith? How many times did he need to refer to "him (the demon)". A few times I just wanted to scream "All right! I get it! Him, the demon! I got it the first two dozen times you wrote it! Overall though, it was an excellent, excellent novel.

[Virgil]

Well, I don't recall the criticisms you point out, but this is a great novel. But beware, this may be Faulkner's most difficult, which is saying something. This s the story of friendships, the friendship of Quentin and Shreve and the failed friendship of Henry and Charles Bon, a hundred years before. The question that Quentin and Shreve try to figure out is why Henry killed Charles, and the ramifications of the murder. It is another of Faulkner's novels where history intrudes into the present. A magnificent artistic achievement. I give this 10/10.

[metal134]

Yeah, I've heard people say it's his most difficult. But it's kind've ironic because I had a hard time with books like "The Sound and the Fury" and 'as I lay Dying" (though I did eventually figure them out), but I had hardly any trouble understanding this book. I guess it's just that reading many novels like that already has made better at comprehnding them.

[HallsofIvy]

Faulkner is my favorite author, "Absolom, Absalom!" my favorite novel. But there is one thing I have never been able to figure out. When Ellen gets married, we are told that her AUNT and she want a large wedding where her father does not (and Sutpen really wants a large wedding but refuses to argue in favor of it). Also Ellen's AUNT then goes around handing out invitations to the town, "daring" people not to come.

Okay, why is there no mention of Ellen's MOTHER through this? She did not die until Rosa's birth, about 7 years later.

[country doctor]

monumental story from the master...it has everything, including civil war history...

southern gothic literature at it's finest...

[Mag Master 21]

Absalom was my first taste of Faulkner. It introduced me to his world in Yoknapatawpha County, where I have lived for the past month. I have since read four other books by Faulkner (Light in August, Sanctuary, As I Lay Dying, and The Sound and the Fury), and still hold Absalom as my favorite.

[Intuition]

Yeah, I've heard people say it's his most difficult. But it's kind've ironic because I had a hard time with books like "The Sound and the Fury" and 'as I lay Dying" (though I did eventually figure them out), but I had hardly any trouble understanding this book. I guess it's just that reading many novels like that already has made better at comprehnding them.

You're right, The Sound and the Fury for the most part is not a comprehensible nightmare, the only reason why it's considered one is because of the density of Quentin's interior monologue. Surprisingly, his thoughts are more convoluted than Ben's, whom happens to be autistic; perhaps due to how deteriorated his mind is. Other than that Absalom, Absalom can be far more complex than The Sound and the Fury.

[Arrowni]

Pretty book. Excellent use of the narrative, and the oral speech and repetitions.

[freemovietag]

great look...

[HallsofIvy]

You're right, The Sound and the Fury for the most part is not a comprehensible nightmare, the only reason why it's considered one is because of the density of Quentin's interior monologue. Surprisingly, his thoughts are more convoluted than Ben's, whom happens to be autistic; perhaps due to how deteriorated his mind is. Other than that Absalom, Absalom can be far more complex than The Sound and the Fury.
Ben was mentally retarded, not autistic. They are completely different matters.

[Intuition]

Ben was mentally retarded, not autistic. They are completely different matters.

Merely theory.

http://drc.usask.ca/projects/faulkner/main/criticism/mclaughlin.html

[HallsofIvy]

Okay, thanks for the link.