Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Vintage (1972), Edition: reprint, Paperback, 378 pages
Description
Classic Literature. Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:ABSALOM, ABSALOM! tells the story of Thomas Sutpen, the enigmatic stranger who came to Jefferson township in the early 1830s. With a French architect and a band of wild Haitians, he wrung a fabulous plantation out of the muddy bottoms of the north Mississippi wilderness. Sutpen was a man, Faulker said, "who wanted sons and the sons destroyed him." His tragedy left its impress not only on his contemporaries but also on men who came after, men like Quentin Compson, haunted even into the 20th century by Sutpen's legacy of ruthlessness and singleminded disregard for the human community.
Media reviews
A poll of well over a hundred writers and critics, taken a few years back by Oxford American magazine, named William Faulkner’s “Absalom, Absalom!” the “greatest Southern novel ever written,” by a decisive margin
User reviews
LibraryThing member tootstorm
There’s nothing like a good Faulkner novel[1] and this is my first, assigned in my Eng. 3336 Amer. Fict. 1930-ATM class @ Texas State Univ. (TSU) and as someone who regularly reads books from guys like Pynchon & Joyce & D.F. Wallace & c.—you know, regular authors of impenetrable voluminous
F.V.: 95%
[2,850]
[1] (except perhaps a good or even better novel from Cormac McCarthy[1a] [at least after his first stumble (i.e., The Orchard Keeper)])
[1a] Something I’ve been told via Internet forums for ages and never could truly agree or dis- with any sense of certainty until now.
[2] (spoiler)
[3] Whose name even after 170 pgs and two in-class essays I was still reading as ‘Bom.’
[4] I’m sorry.
[5] I had just read Toole’s Confed. of Dunces.
[6] I.e., the ‘chivalrous’ pre-Civ. War South.
[7] Which is abused in one of my favorite scenes 1/3rd thru the novel when Mr. Compson—I think it’s him narrating to Quentin, but it may very well have been angry old Rosa—when Mr. Compson tells us the reader about the mythopoeic confrontation b/w Charles and Henry when Charles is like trying to marry their (Henry + Charles) sister even though they both are fully completely aware she’s their sister having recently found out about their own blood relation and the dooming factoid that Charles is like oh Jesus 1/16ths black or something, so Charles trots up looking gaunt on his gaunt horse and Henry’s all like You shall not pass! standing at the gate of Sutpen’s Hundred[7a] and Charles has the nerve—the jerk—to defy this command and attempt to lay his sister in revenge against Thomas or Henry, I honestly can’t really remember but there was some sort of imaginary confrontation during the Civ. War b/w Henry and Charles and Thomas on the field telling Henry about Charles’ blood connection to himself (Henry) but this isn’t something to celebrate, b/c this blood is tainted, or something along those lines, but yes Charles, face a-gaunt, steps forward and Henry, face matching Charles’ gaunt for gaunt[7b] and then some pulls out what I like to imagine was a minigun and just absolutely mows that boy down.
[7a] It’s 100 square miles, and belongs to Sutpen.
[7b] Doesn’t really make sense.
[8] I.e., French.
(N.B.: The ability to edit and control footnotes in any way on LT is nonexistent [as far as I know], so excuse the ugly execution.)
(N.B. x2: Since writing this I've written like multiple more essays on it and had to study it a lot more and have come to really understand the mythological aspects of it [as that's where my major interests lie] and even came up all pretentiously w/ my own theories on it as a Barthian metamythological prologue to postmodern fiction and the advent of television's influence on literature--/proud /proud /proud /superfuckingpretentious.)
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tomes—and coming away from it I can only say that Faulkner is fucking hard. I am ashamed to admit what I expected was almost belletristic, that it’d be like, super easy compared to GR, and I’d be able to breeze through it despite the fact that the whole book is nearly one massive wall of goddamn’ s.o.c. text, and truthfully this made speed-reading easier (i.e., the s.o.c. written-in-two-weeks style), and yet left me missing huge parts of the story, incapable of following along, if you get what I’m saying—I even missed the super-obvious homosexual overtones b/w brothers[2] Henry Sutpen & Charles Bon[3], which I don’t know how especially after all the comparisons to Spartans and the billion times I read …and Charles loved Henry, and Henry loved Charles like really hard… and c., so thank you Mrs. Victoria Smith, prof. @ TSU, because without you—and even though you're not exactly my favorite professuh[4]—because without you I wouldn’t have understood a single part of this book, I wouldn’t have understood that it was some huge metaphor for the fall of the south, that it was told on a mythic level, heck, I wouldn’t have even noticed that this story was taking place not in Louisiana[5] but Mississippi, or that every character with a hint of an African lineage is never given a voice, or that most of the events recounted by Rosa, Mr. Compson, and especially those b/w college-mates Quentin and Shreve are likely complete crap, that large parts of this dusty, wisteria-filled southern history are based in the imagination of Quentin and Shreve, adding motivations, melodramatic sub-plots and whatever else to fill all the lacunae left by the sometimes conflicting non-linear accounts of the rise and fall of the enigmatic Thomas Sutpen[6] we (read: you, me & Quentin) are told in the first major chunk of the novel, which is largely about the stoical Quentin haunted by the south’s past history, pestering Rosa and his old man over and over again trying to unravel Sutpen’s life, and like I’m told this obsession with history he has as well as some unexplored (in this novel) incestuous desires he holds for his sister are the major causes for his suicide @ the end of The Sound and the Fury, which yes he’s also in, and t’wards the end of Absalom I’m starting to think, since the already-mentioned theory that most of Sutpen’s life is fiction even in the fictional eyes of the fictional Quentin, that a lot of the family melodrama, the homosexuality between Henry & Chuck, the incestuous relationship(s) b/w Henry & Judith & Charles, and cetera are really just Quentin projecting his own fucked up life on this history of the south, but whatever’s going on, it’s clear that the Sutpens never had any control over their lives, as it (their history) plays out like a fucking tragedy, that strings—the same strings—are holding every name tight and no matter what they do, no matter what their intentions and what their will desires, they can’t fight against these strings, their life’s set in clichéd stone to haunt future retarded generations incapable of dealing with this shit to kill themselves over, but really it’s because Sutpen (Thomas) is really just a dick, a really selfish dick and the embodiment of wisteria & the miasmatic 19th c. southern culture, and speaking of miasmas, you’ll see Faulkner use and overuse words like that (miasma) and death and dying and dusk and desolation and gaunt[7] and wisterias will be summoned at the very least 3 times per page for your imagination’s pleasure while Thomas sets up his property, to be known as Sutpen’s Hundred, completely without the help of anyone but his ‘wild niggers’[8], and like in doing this he’s escaping his past, rising up from nothing to something, which along with propagating his purely white and therefore perfect bloodline because that’s the thing to do in a southern home with traditional pre-Lincoln-ass-kicking values, yet is also the thing he keeps fucking up, e.g., Clytemnestra, appropriately-named daughter of Thomas & an unknown, unvoiced slave, and the already-mentioned Bon, whose mother like, totally deceived Thomas in keeping her partially-black background a secret from him even after they were married and had spawned lil’ Charles Bon, a totally uncool thing to do to a hip, brooding guy like Sutpen, and a guy like Sutpen always gets his way, so say Goodbye to Dear Wife #1 and Hello Ellen & 100% Aryan children Henry & Judith, whom with things work out swell until her death and you know all that incest and murder hoopla, &c., nothing else goes Sutpen’s way completely, the poor guy. There are numerous other subplots for the reader to delve into, and of course a tragic (fitting in with the whole Greek tragedy structure that I’m told and blindly believe like a good student) ending for Sutpen’s chivalric south—The South—and by God the ending is quite spooky, chilling, hair-raising, awesome, &c. when ye’re able to actually follow along with the s.o.c. mile-long sentences, and once again only about 5% of this, if that, I would have understood w/o the help of Prof. Smith of Eng. 3336’s help, and also thanks to her invaluable help, I’m looking forward to more Faulkner, and at some future date re-reading Absalom, Absalom!, because, seriously folks, this is not obviously a guy you get away with reading only once; his books demand much more of the reader, they demand to be studied at length over multiple perusals, &c., which is like, pain in the ass notwithstanding, way cool, so good luck, prospective/future readers; good fucking luck. F.V.: 95%
[2,850]
[1] (except perhaps a good or even better novel from Cormac McCarthy[1a] [at least after his first stumble (i.e., The Orchard Keeper)])
[1a] Something I’ve been told via Internet forums for ages and never could truly agree or dis- with any sense of certainty until now.
[2] (spoiler)
[3] Whose name even after 170 pgs and two in-class essays I was still reading as ‘Bom.’
[4] I’m sorry.
[5] I had just read Toole’s Confed. of Dunces.
[6] I.e., the ‘chivalrous’ pre-Civ. War South.
[7] Which is abused in one of my favorite scenes 1/3rd thru the novel when Mr. Compson—I think it’s him narrating to Quentin, but it may very well have been angry old Rosa—when Mr. Compson tells us the reader about the mythopoeic confrontation b/w Charles and Henry when Charles is like trying to marry their (Henry + Charles) sister even though they both are fully completely aware she’s their sister having recently found out about their own blood relation and the dooming factoid that Charles is like oh Jesus 1/16ths black or something, so Charles trots up looking gaunt on his gaunt horse and Henry’s all like You shall not pass! standing at the gate of Sutpen’s Hundred[7a] and Charles has the nerve—the jerk—to defy this command and attempt to lay his sister in revenge against Thomas or Henry, I honestly can’t really remember but there was some sort of imaginary confrontation during the Civ. War b/w Henry and Charles and Thomas on the field telling Henry about Charles’ blood connection to himself (Henry) but this isn’t something to celebrate, b/c this blood is tainted, or something along those lines, but yes Charles, face a-gaunt, steps forward and Henry, face matching Charles’ gaunt for gaunt[7b] and then some pulls out what I like to imagine was a minigun and just absolutely mows that boy down.
[7a] It’s 100 square miles, and belongs to Sutpen.
[7b] Doesn’t really make sense.
[8] I.e., French.
(N.B.: The ability to edit and control footnotes in any way on LT is nonexistent [as far as I know], so excuse the ugly execution.)
(N.B. x2: Since writing this I've written like multiple more essays on it and had to study it a lot more and have come to really understand the mythological aspects of it [as that's where my major interests lie] and even came up all pretentiously w/ my own theories on it as a Barthian metamythological prologue to postmodern fiction and the advent of television's influence on literature--/proud /proud /proud /superfuckingpretentious.)
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LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd
How I love this book! (Oh, yes, I love The Sound and the Fury, too.) That is hard for many people to comprehend. I fully understand that the difficulty of Faulkner's prose and his switching of perspective is enough to discourage even determined readers. I sympathize with the frustration of those
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who say he isn't worth the trouble, he's over-rated, etc. (I WON'T condone the person who said he must have been paid by the word--that just reveals that reader's ignorance of the most fundamental facts of Faulkner's life). But here's the thing: if you want to read Faulkner, enjoy and understand Faulkner, YOU DON'T BEGIN WITH THIS ONE. Yes, it is one of his masterpieces. It has all the elements he is known for, and they are honed to a fine point here. It is quintessentially Southern, quintessentially Faulkner, and a tough nut to crack. But if you have been introduced to the world of Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, perhaps by reading The Unvanquished, or The Hamlet, Sartoris or Intruder in the Dust, you will be much better prepared to plunge into Absalom, Absalom! or The Sound and the Fury. Or pick up a copy of his collected stories, and read "Barn Burning", "Wash", "A Bear Hunt". Grab Knight's Gambit and sample "Tomorrow", or "Smoke". You'll either be hooked, as I have been for 35 years, or you'll know he's not for you. In which case, you can say you gave him a fair trial, and leave him alone with a clear conscience. Show Less
LibraryThing member ElizabethChapman
I took a course on Proust, Joyce, and Faulkner in college and have returned to Faulkner’s works many times in the thirty years since I graduated. As my life experience grows, a return to Yoknapatawpha County always holds new insights – Faulkner’s novels are of such depth and complexity that
It’s true Absalom, Abaslom! is not an easy read. Faulkner makes you work, no doubt about it. But if you make the effort, you’ll be amply rewarded by an immersion in a fully realized world, and a family history so tortured, dark, and brilliant that you shouldn’t be surprised if Thomas Sutpen rides right into your dreams to build a mighty plantation in your unconscious.
Faulkner gives a primer in the ugly history of race in America, and shows how a tiny trace African American blood could destroy generations of a family. It’s absurd to us now, but Faulkner helps us understand that we still (even today with an African American president), live in a world that has been shaped by an almost unimaginably horrific past.
To my mind, Absalom, Absalom! is one of Faulkner’s most terrifying and greatest works. The obsessions of the novel’s characters are relentless and their inability (unwillingness?) to escape their fate is a chilling commentary on how humans make meaning of their lives and then cling to that construction even as it destroys them from the inside out. Don’t take Absalom, Absalom to the beach, but do pick it up anytime you want to stare unflinchingly into the human soul.
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they cannot be exhausted. (Wait, I can hear the joke now – “although the reader may be exhausted before the last page”!)It’s true Absalom, Abaslom! is not an easy read. Faulkner makes you work, no doubt about it. But if you make the effort, you’ll be amply rewarded by an immersion in a fully realized world, and a family history so tortured, dark, and brilliant that you shouldn’t be surprised if Thomas Sutpen rides right into your dreams to build a mighty plantation in your unconscious.
Faulkner gives a primer in the ugly history of race in America, and shows how a tiny trace African American blood could destroy generations of a family. It’s absurd to us now, but Faulkner helps us understand that we still (even today with an African American president), live in a world that has been shaped by an almost unimaginably horrific past.
To my mind, Absalom, Absalom! is one of Faulkner’s most terrifying and greatest works. The obsessions of the novel’s characters are relentless and their inability (unwillingness?) to escape their fate is a chilling commentary on how humans make meaning of their lives and then cling to that construction even as it destroys them from the inside out. Don’t take Absalom, Absalom to the beach, but do pick it up anytime you want to stare unflinchingly into the human soul.
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LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind
This is incredible. I'm dazed.
Review to come later. I need to lie down.
Review to come later. I need to lie down.
LibraryThing member atheist_goat
My favorite Faulkner novel. Gorgeous, overwhelming, utterly deranged.
LibraryThing member jburlinson
Not my favorite Faulkner. The narrative complexity seems inorganic and there is an elongated feel to the entire enterprise. The interplay between the two college chums is unconvincing, at least to me. On the plus side, there's Rosa Coldfied, a very fine invention and superbly characterized.
LibraryThing member ZacJohnston
I have read As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, and Light in August. However, Absalom, Absalom! is by far my favourite Faulkner. Indeed, without hesitation I would put it among the greatest books I have ever read.
I feel Absalom is almost neglected behind As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the
Most clearly in Absalom is the style Cormac McCarthy is so overtly influenced by, which through his career he worked and moulded into his own.
The overall structure to Absalom's story also bears resemblance to One Hundred Years of Solitude (another of my all-time favourites), in that it details the rise and fall of an empire of sorts, told in the style of a legend.
Utterly recommended to anyone serious about literature.
I feel Absalom is almost neglected behind As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the
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Fury, the former of which I still consider a stunning piece of writing, but neither contain the towering, epic and biblical passages of which Absalom is entirely constructed. All the things I love about Faulkner come together most completely in this book and resonate so deeply and heavily: Mythical characters of the South that embody its underlying filth and decay; the scenery and landscape which you can feel sweltering and shimmering around you; the grand passages of such intense writing that builds up and up so confidently without faltering it shows no sign of collapsing under its own ambition. Most clearly in Absalom is the style Cormac McCarthy is so overtly influenced by, which through his career he worked and moulded into his own.
The overall structure to Absalom's story also bears resemblance to One Hundred Years of Solitude (another of my all-time favourites), in that it details the rise and fall of an empire of sorts, told in the style of a legend.
Utterly recommended to anyone serious about literature.
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LibraryThing member SweetbriarPoet
I suggest reading The Sound and the Fury before reading Absalom, Absalom! so that you are familiar with the main character, Quentin Compson. When you are, you understand his love/hate relationship to the South and to his ancestry. A book about changing ideologies, overcoming (or being engulfed) by
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the past, and establishing a personal identity, Absalom, Absalom! is definitely a novel you want to spend some time on. Be prepared for tough reading, but completely worth it if you have a guide or a professor to help you realize the importance of recurring themes. Show Less
LibraryThing member chstewart
I love Faulkner. That's out of the way. When I began Absalom, Absalom I was somewhat disheartened. However I persevered and was richly rewarded. The density of Faulkner's language along with the variations in his voice and the absolute convolutions of the story carried me along on a wonderful ride.
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The texture and style of Faulkner will always light up my mind. It is beautiful stuff. Show Less
LibraryThing member John
absalom, absalom! is one of the classics of American literature and I tackled it as a book club selection, but have to admit that I gave up on it. I liked parts of the writing, and the presentation and interpretation of events from different perspectives but overall I just can't get into Faulkner's
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convoluted prose style Show Less
LibraryThing member Karlus
One of the very best novels I have ever read, maybe even the very best; only "Lolita" and "Ulysses" come close. But Faulkner is undoubtedly the most incredible author I have ever read, bar none. Sheer genius; there is no one like him!
LibraryThing member briefmissives
I had to read this for a college class, and I must admit: I was bested by it. While the story held within the book had my interest, the convoluted style of Faulkner's writing beat me in the end. I got about 2/3 through the book, then skimmed over the rest, read the "ending" in full, and then looked
Maybe I'll have another go at it a few years down the road, when I have as much time as I want to read it. In retrospect, I was trying to read it relatively quickly to be prepared for class, and perhaps that caused me to stumble over Faulkner's writing more than I would otherwise.
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over a plot synopsis online. I hated doing so, because I really wanted to finish it, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. Reading it was proving to be (for me!) unrewarding, and was more a chore than anything else.Maybe I'll have another go at it a few years down the road, when I have as much time as I want to read it. In retrospect, I was trying to read it relatively quickly to be prepared for class, and perhaps that caused me to stumble over Faulkner's writing more than I would otherwise.
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LibraryThing member ostrom
A stupendous achievement in narration. I find it to be Faulkner's most difficult book, and I prefer several others to it, including Light In August and The Sound and the Fury, as well as Go Down, Moses, which includes "The Bear."
LibraryThing member MattBowen
A powerful and stirring story about a southern family during the civil war. The book is narratologically complex, with looping chronology, and revised re-tellings, and questionable narrators. The narrative attempts to explain why the South lost the war and concurrently makes a moving comments on
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immortality, greed, and racism. Show Less
LibraryThing member SpyGirl116
What at first seemed indecipherable is now one of my favorite Southern novels. I had to study this in two different college classes and, after lots of study and rereading, I've (finally) come to recognize Faulkner's genius. His deconstruction of time and other standard elements makes for a
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heartbreakingly beautiful look at a doomed family's ugly secrets. Show Less
LibraryThing member SeanLong
Absalom Absalom! is a book that over the years has become less bewildering and I appreciate more with each successive reading. It's outstanding on so many levels, and it might just be the greatest mystery ever written. I'm still not sure what is fact, what is fiction, and what the true story was.
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No sooner is one question answered (maybe) then another arises, and only in retrospect do certain pieces of information assume significance. It's definitely a book that makes me think like no other, that's for sure. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lapsus16
This is perhaps the best Faulkner I can remember. The plot is simple, but the exposition of themes is incredibly rich, convoluted, poly-stylistic. Some sort of Freudian analysis of a savage, a genius, a sad personality. Surrounded by pain. The pain of all of us.
LibraryThing member snash
I had never read Faulkner before and I was blown away. Stylistically it's thick, difficult, and sparkling. Its plot was revealed at an enticingly and frustratingly slow manner. It's interpretations are so numerous, interwoven, and complex that it'll be reverberating in my head for a long time.
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Definitely worth the struggle. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristelh
A southern Gothic novel by William Faulkner, written in 1936. The story is set just before, during and after the Civil War. Thomas Sutpen, born poor, decides he will have what it takes to tell someone to use the back door and he does accomplish his goal 'sort of' only much of his past is still a
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part of his present person and it ends up destroying him and all he hoped to achieve. The story is told mostly through the Quentin, a grandson of the man who was a friend of Thomas Sutpen. There is also a portion told by Rosa Coldfield, and Quentin's father and grandfather. Quentin and his Canadian college friend, Shrevlin, interpret and reinterpret the story. As they tell and retell the story, you learn more and more of the details of this ill fated family. The title, Absalom, Absalom! is from the Bible and references one of David's sons, a son born of a non Israelite woman, a daughter of a king. Absalom rises up and nearly destroys his father and his father's family. Faulkner's stories are allegories of the South. This book is a companion to the Sound and the Fury which is a bout the Compson Family and Quentin is one of the main characters. I like Faulkner's writing for its richness but it is exhausting work. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
My only experience with Faulkner to date was The Sound and the Fury. While I found it a fascinating read, you can’t deny that it’s incredibly muddled. There are multiple points of view, one of which is a mentally handicapped person, which makes for a confusing flow to say the least. So I’ve
This book tells the tragic story of Thomas Sutpen, a proud man determined to create an epic legacy. He builds a huge plantation, Sutpen’s Hundred, convinced that its success, along with having male children, will ensure his goal of becoming a “great” man. To reach this end he becomes blinded to the needs of those around him, blatantly disregarding the fate of others in his obsessive quest (I give a more detailed summary in the spoiler section). The book’s name comes from the Biblical tale of King David’s son Absalom, who tried to destroy his father’s empire. Like the old testament story, Faulkner’s book focuses on a patriarch’s sins which eventually bring pain and suffering to his children.
**SPOILER ALERT**
See if you can follow me here…
Thomas Sutpen marries a woman, Eulalia, in Haiti. He later finds out she’s part Negro and so he divorces her; leaving both his wife and their son, Charles Bon. He then travels to Mississippi where buys 100 acres of land and marries a woman named Ellen. He has two children, Judith and Henry, with her and believes he has the perfect male heir to continue his line.
Years later, Henry goes to the University of Mississippi where he befriends, Charles Bon, without knowing that he is his half-brother. Henry takes Charles home to meet his family and Judith falls in love with him. Henry encourages the romance because he is a bit infatuated with both Charles and Judith and their union would allow him to live out his feelings vicariously. Charles realizes that Thomas is his father and thinks that Thomas will announce himself to Charles and welcome him into his home. This never happens and Charles decides to move forward with his plans to marry Judith.
Henry finds out, much to his horror, that Charles is his and Judith’s half-brother and begs Charles to leave her alone. When he refuses, Henry kills Charles to stop the marriage and then he runs away from home. Thomas’ empire is destroyed by the tragedy and he turns to the only women left around him in a desperate attempt to have another son. He fails and his callous disregard for those women leads to his murder.
**SPOILERS OVER**
Faulkner really makes you work for it. The narrative is hard to follow because the story is told by multiple characters, all of whom are relating the story to other people. The timeline bounces around because there are flashbacks and contradicting details and different points of view. It meanders about while trying to find its footing, but the rambling is very intentional. You’re supposed to get a bit lost as you get sucked into the story. Part of the reason it’s interesting is that you don’t know exactly what’s true. A large portion of the story is told by Quentin Compson (a character from The Sound and the Fury) to his Harvard roommate Shreve, decades after the events have taken place. Another part is told by Rosa, Thomas’ sister-in-law who has her own agenda and reasons for hating Sutpen.
Absalom, Absalom is a bit like watching a train wreck. You know it’s all going to end badly, but you can’t look away. Faulkner’s writing is beautiful, but again, it’s not a clear narrative because you’re never sure whether what you’re hearing is fact or someone’s opinion or just rumors. The scope of the story is epic. It touches on a dozen complex topics, including slavery, southern prejudice, devotion to land, incest, the downfall of the South, material wealth vs. familial love, etc. all the while mapping out a complicated tragedy of Greek proportions.
So far I haven’t loved reading Faulkner. I’ve been captivated by his work and it makes me feel like I’m wandering through decrepit old southern mansion as I read it, but I don’t feel passionate about it. This book kind of defies my rating system, because I didn’t love reading it, but it really challenged me and I thought about it long after I finished it. I like it when books do that to me.
I’d like to try another one of his next year and see how that goes. I’m thinking maybe As I Lay Dying of Light in August. Do you guys have any strong feelings about which Faulkner books I should try? The next one might decide whether I pursue him further or not.
"Jesus, the South is fine, isn't it. It's better than the theatre, isn't it. It's better than Ben Hur, isn't it"
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been a bit hesitant to try anything else from the famous southern author. This book tells the tragic story of Thomas Sutpen, a proud man determined to create an epic legacy. He builds a huge plantation, Sutpen’s Hundred, convinced that its success, along with having male children, will ensure his goal of becoming a “great” man. To reach this end he becomes blinded to the needs of those around him, blatantly disregarding the fate of others in his obsessive quest (I give a more detailed summary in the spoiler section). The book’s name comes from the Biblical tale of King David’s son Absalom, who tried to destroy his father’s empire. Like the old testament story, Faulkner’s book focuses on a patriarch’s sins which eventually bring pain and suffering to his children.
**SPOILER ALERT**
See if you can follow me here…
Thomas Sutpen marries a woman, Eulalia, in Haiti. He later finds out she’s part Negro and so he divorces her; leaving both his wife and their son, Charles Bon. He then travels to Mississippi where buys 100 acres of land and marries a woman named Ellen. He has two children, Judith and Henry, with her and believes he has the perfect male heir to continue his line.
Years later, Henry goes to the University of Mississippi where he befriends, Charles Bon, without knowing that he is his half-brother. Henry takes Charles home to meet his family and Judith falls in love with him. Henry encourages the romance because he is a bit infatuated with both Charles and Judith and their union would allow him to live out his feelings vicariously. Charles realizes that Thomas is his father and thinks that Thomas will announce himself to Charles and welcome him into his home. This never happens and Charles decides to move forward with his plans to marry Judith.
Henry finds out, much to his horror, that Charles is his and Judith’s half-brother and begs Charles to leave her alone. When he refuses, Henry kills Charles to stop the marriage and then he runs away from home. Thomas’ empire is destroyed by the tragedy and he turns to the only women left around him in a desperate attempt to have another son. He fails and his callous disregard for those women leads to his murder.
**SPOILERS OVER**
Faulkner really makes you work for it. The narrative is hard to follow because the story is told by multiple characters, all of whom are relating the story to other people. The timeline bounces around because there are flashbacks and contradicting details and different points of view. It meanders about while trying to find its footing, but the rambling is very intentional. You’re supposed to get a bit lost as you get sucked into the story. Part of the reason it’s interesting is that you don’t know exactly what’s true. A large portion of the story is told by Quentin Compson (a character from The Sound and the Fury) to his Harvard roommate Shreve, decades after the events have taken place. Another part is told by Rosa, Thomas’ sister-in-law who has her own agenda and reasons for hating Sutpen.
Absalom, Absalom is a bit like watching a train wreck. You know it’s all going to end badly, but you can’t look away. Faulkner’s writing is beautiful, but again, it’s not a clear narrative because you’re never sure whether what you’re hearing is fact or someone’s opinion or just rumors. The scope of the story is epic. It touches on a dozen complex topics, including slavery, southern prejudice, devotion to land, incest, the downfall of the South, material wealth vs. familial love, etc. all the while mapping out a complicated tragedy of Greek proportions.
So far I haven’t loved reading Faulkner. I’ve been captivated by his work and it makes me feel like I’m wandering through decrepit old southern mansion as I read it, but I don’t feel passionate about it. This book kind of defies my rating system, because I didn’t love reading it, but it really challenged me and I thought about it long after I finished it. I like it when books do that to me.
I’d like to try another one of his next year and see how that goes. I’m thinking maybe As I Lay Dying of Light in August. Do you guys have any strong feelings about which Faulkner books I should try? The next one might decide whether I pursue him further or not.
"Jesus, the South is fine, isn't it. It's better than the theatre, isn't it. It's better than Ben Hur, isn't it"
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LibraryThing member aketzle
Block out all distractions before attempting to read this book. And don't be tired. And no wine! Just focus!
LibraryThing member corinneblackmer
What drives the dreadful ambitions of Colonel Sutpen? After hundreds of pages of human agony, frustration, loss, and suffering, we are given the answer. Once, when a young boy, Sutpen was told by a Negro house slave to go to the back door of the house he was attempting to enter. He never recovered
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from the sense of crippling social humiliation this episode inspired in him. Never have the depredations of racism and class been explored with such devastating gothic force. Show Less
LibraryThing member thrashbash
Best opening paragraph EVER.
LibraryThing member blackglasses
I would compare it to a nightmarish journey into the world of southern gothic writing. Long sprawling sentences, multiple layers of families, and interwoven tales told through the eyes of an old embittered woman. Good stuff, but it is a literary workout. Expect to be emotionally exhausted after
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spending time reading this unique, poetic, and tragically beautiful novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member kgib
There is a lot I don't understand about this book, but my instincts tell me it's justifiably a classic. I liked the language and structure a lot. Maybe the characters are more symbols than three dimensional, but they're pretty interesting symbols. Faulkner's descriptions of black people are highly
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racist, but I /think/ he's trying to comment on it rather than perpetuate it... need to find out more about that. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1936
Physical description
378 p.; 7.24 inches
ISBN
0394717805 / 9780394717807