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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Well, one part of me is happy about this book, and one part is not. Firstly, this book is amazing, and almost a 5-star one, it has so interesting plot, and in the writing style, you can see Faulkner's genius. That said, lets move to the thing about 'Absalom' that I have a problem with. The problem is that it lacks Faulkner - yeah, dark, almost morbid descriptions are there, stream-of-consciusness is there, murky atmosphere is there, but it lacks true, true TSATF Faulkner. It is just one story on 300 pages told from a view of few people, over and over again. They say that this is his best novel - I strongly disagree, in fact I would say one of his weakest novels, at least what I can tell from what I have read from him. Now please, I know that you all feel hate for me because I said that, I know that you just want to comment that I didn't understand the book or that I didn't read enough from Faulkner. Unfortunately, both statements would be untrue. I understood it very well, and simply didn't like it as much as I loved his other works. Also, I read enough from Faulkner to understand ol' boi 'Absalom'; I have read The Sound and the Fury (which I absolutely loved, it is one of my favourite novels of all time), As I Lay Dying, Sanctuary and his Rose for Emily and other Stories. I am a huge Faulkner fan, and he is, in my opinion, the greatest American novelist, but this book, somehow, just didn't blow my mind as his other books did. Maybe in a re-read things would change, but as of now, we will sit on comfy 4 hanging on to 5 stars. I mean, cmon, it is Faulkner!
Stay safe, everyone :)
Stay safe, everyone :)
How to possibly describe this book? It's a unique reading experience. I felt like I was caught in a vortex from which I could not possibly escape, swirling in a whirlwind that leads irrevocably to the past, to the sins of antebellum South, the evils of the war, and the aftermath, all craftily and breathtakingly interwoven with the extraordinary story of Thomas Sutpen and the wake of destruction he left behind in his attempt to rise above his social constraints and prove himself to the world. It's the best novel I've read by Faulkner, and I think one of the best literary works of the 20th century and in world literature.
This novel is as challenging as it is rewarding (hint: VERY).
Faulkner does crazy, amazing, stream-of-consciousness vivid descriptions of every inconsequential detail that is somehow consequential to his gripping narrative of events. This book was a little hard for me to read at times but so worth it.
POV: your Southern Literature professor who assigned you to read As I Lay Dying (which you started off hating and then loved by the end) and focused her dissertation partially on Faulkner tells you that Absalom, Absalom! is really a disposable part of his oeuvre, so you add it to your DNF; the only reason you started it in the first place was because Rush referenced it in "Distant Early Warning" but it turns out Neil Peart (RIP) just thought it sounded good as a lyric and hadn't actually read it at the time
Read books that break your heart; it’s an exercise in being human. This was one of the best and most beautiful books I read in college (thanks, Prof Fields !) and I will never forget sitting stooped with it and wishing there was no one else in the world. Faulkner is a MASTER and no one writes about the South like he does. Think it’s time for a re-read on this one.
Good place to start with Faulkner; thinking about telling about the South, the meaning of honor and the value of civility vs. honesty about brutality; masculinity and lineage; chains of knowledge and the telling of history
"He wasn't there. Something ate with us; we talked to it and it answered questions; it sat with us before the fire at night and, rousing without any warning from some profound and bemused complete inertia, talked, not to us, the six ears, the three minds capable of listening, but to the air, the waiting grim decaying presence, spirit, of the house itself..."
This is my third book my William Faulkner and only confirmed that I want to keep reading his work. I always struggle when I pick up a book by Faulkner, I wonder why I loved the last books I've read by him. After a muddling through a couple chapters things start to come together and by the end I am completely engrossed.
Absalom, Absalom centers around a driven man called Thomas Sutpen, who rides into the town of Jefferson, Mississippi with only two pistols and a horse with the intent to build a dynasty. A Harvard student named Quentin, connected to Sutpen through his grandfather, learns of Sutpen's story and becomes deeply obsessed with in the more he learns from the people connected to Sutpen.
Faulkner's books have such a strong of place, there is so much atmosphere and with Absalom, Absalom! it's almost gothic. I loved the way the Sutpen Hundred was almost a haunted house and had such a presence in the story. The image of the Thomas riding in this town, known by no one with just two pistols and a horse was so theatrically and almost as ominous omen of the story to come.
This story built into something wild by the end but it's subtle in it's build up. Though nearly the entire plot is revealed from the first chapter, the story is still caught me off guard and was filled with mystery. As all the characters discuss, speculate, recount and gossip about the story of the attempted Sutpen dynasty, a sort of truth emerges and everything comes together.
This is my third book my William Faulkner and only confirmed that I want to keep reading his work. I always struggle when I pick up a book by Faulkner, I wonder why I loved the last books I've read by him. After a muddling through a couple chapters things start to come together and by the end I am completely engrossed.
Absalom, Absalom centers around a driven man called Thomas Sutpen, who rides into the town of Jefferson, Mississippi with only two pistols and a horse with the intent to build a dynasty. A Harvard student named Quentin, connected to Sutpen through his grandfather, learns of Sutpen's story and becomes deeply obsessed with in the more he learns from the people connected to Sutpen.
Faulkner's books have such a strong of place, there is so much atmosphere and with Absalom, Absalom! it's almost gothic. I loved the way the Sutpen Hundred was almost a haunted house and had such a presence in the story. The image of the Thomas riding in this town, known by no one with just two pistols and a horse was so theatrically and almost as ominous omen of the story to come.
This story built into something wild by the end but it's subtle in it's build up. Though nearly the entire plot is revealed from the first chapter, the story is still caught me off guard and was filled with mystery. As all the characters discuss, speculate, recount and gossip about the story of the attempted Sutpen dynasty, a sort of truth emerges and everything comes together.
A phenomenal, visceral, and unrelenting parable of the Antebellum and Reconstruction-era American South that, while difficult, was an extremely rewarding read. Faulkner's capacity to gradually peel back layer upon layer of truth, each adding to the last, is second to none - particularly in the novel's relentless final chapter. Worth the struggle.