Absalom, Absalom! in fiction files redux

Nov 10, 2008 Brian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: nobel, read-2008

Reading AA! Is like swimming in the sea, a rough sea... when you first dive in you need to struggle a bit to make it through the breaking waves. The going is slow and you’re getting tossed around from all directions, the oncoming crashing waves forcing you back, the receding water pulling you forward... but then you make it past the breaks and you only have the swells to contend with... it takes some effort swimming up the approaching hills of water but you’re rewarded with an easy coast down in Reading AA! Is like swimming in the sea, a rough sea... when you first dive in you need to struggle a bit to make it through the breaking waves. The going is slow and you’re getting tossed around from all directions, the oncoming crashing waves forcing you back, the receding water pulling you forward... but then you make it past the breaks and you only have the swells to contend with... it takes some effort swimming up the approaching hills of water but you’re rewarded with an easy coast down into the valley... then before you know a rip-tide or current grabs you and you’re pulled into the sea. And as you should know, you don’t fight the current; you just relax and let it take you out. Eventually it will slacken and let you swim back to shore.

Faulkner’s language is similar to the way my grandmother used to tell. It might start like this... "... your mother won’t let you go to that party because, well, I remember when she was just a little girl and your Uncle Bob had just shot the leg off of Mana’s cat thinking it was a fox; CT never got over that and said that if Mana would just let him sleep inside on his own bed and not on the porch things like that would never happen but it wasn’t Mana that made him sleep out there but her strong will, CT’s daughter, you know, Rosie always said that her Aunt Mana may be small in statue but her will was like one of those carved faces on... what are those rocks called, Mount Rushmore, but that was my sister, bow-legged though she was she stood tall and firm when it came to the way things should be run around the house; which is why your mother..."

It seemed my Grandmama could tell a story that encompassed not only the entire family but several generations of that family because it was all related to the actual story she was trying to tell. Maybe that’s what Faulkner was eluding to when he said there was no past. The past is just a part of the present.

Absalom, Absalom! is a book that examines the south’s relationship with the land, with blood relations, with slavery. Sutpen encapsulates the south at the end of the 19th century. This is a book bursting at the seams with a story densely told that at times is reminiscent of Edgar A. Poe. It left me shivering. ...more

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Mar 27, 2008 Edwin Arnaudin rated it it was amazing

In 2004, I was in an honors seminar called Civil War and Southern Memory. It was co-taught with my dear Dr. Cheatham and a UNCG history professor/Civil War buff. The first month or so was spent discussing the war in great depth, followed by reading and analyzing novels that explore its legacy.

The reading list included "Gone With the Wind," "The Klansman," "Cold Mountain," "Confederates in the Attic," and William Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!" I had previously read Faulkner's short story "A Rose In 2004, I was in an honors seminar called Civil War and Southern Memory. It was co-taught with my dear Dr. Cheatham and a UNCG history professor/Civil War buff. The first month or so was spent discussing the war in great depth, followed by reading and analyzing novels that explore its legacy.

The reading list included "Gone With the Wind," "The Klansman," "Cold Mountain," "Confederates in the Attic," and William Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!" I had previously read Faulkner's short story "A Rose For Emily" in 8th grade and remembered its gruesome joys, but upon reading the first page of his 1936 novel, I knew that I was out of my league.

The language was too cryptic and laborious for my 20-year-old mind to penetrate. I became lost after a few pages in each sitting, never making it past page 40. To weakly keep up in a class in which no student finished the text, I studied the novel's helpful appendixes, and used online guides and criticism to fill in the gaps. Still, I could barely contribute in class and was primarily waiting out the clock.

After finishing my Master's paper in March, I craved writing far superior to the Twilight Saga which I had spent the previous three months living amongst, and so I picked up Faulkner again. In the four years since my first attempt, I had read extensively and primed myself with Faulkner's "Go Down, Moses," notably his masterful story "The Bear." I felt ready for the challenge and began with a more prepared mindset.

I am astonished at the quality of this novel. The images that Faulkner paints of the South quickly grasped my family-history-revering mind and I was fully able to buy into the language this time around. The scenes of Shreve and his northern friends teasing Quentin to tell them about the South rang especially true to my experiences, leaving me aching with empathy as young Mr. Compson recalls the intense allegorical history of Thomas Sutpen's failed dynasty.

Salinger's, Heller's, and Frazier's respective words have elicited personal moments of tenderness, but when Shreve asks Quentin why he hates the South and Quentin instantly says, "I don't hate it! I don't!... I don't hate it! I don't hate it!," a powerful feeling of agony and love surged within me, coupled with a strong desire for the ending to somehow be extended. I was enchanted each time I resumed reading "Absalom, Absalom!," and I am excited to visit the rest of Faulkner's library, beginning with "The Sound and the Fury."

Now that the novel has been read, I long for an appropriate outlet through which to discuss the text. At the time of the in-class discussion, I was not prepared in maturity or experience to engage in dialogue on Faulkner's work, so I cannot truly say that I missed my opportunity to share my thoughts. "Absalom, Absalom!" should not be one's first extended foray into Faulkner, and if it is, a thoroughly thought out literary boot camp, comprised of criticism and samples of his writing, should precede such a plunge. Thomas Sutpen's and Quentin Compson's intertwined stories are not for the uninitiated, but with proper preparation, the reading experience can result in incalculable pleasures. ...more

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Jul 23, 2010 Jim Simpson rated it it was amazing

Absolutely breathtaking. The man was a complete and complex genius.

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Sep 09, 2007 nathank rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"Absolutely incredible! The writing structure is extremely difficult along with the shifting narrators, but it is an amazing book in large part because of these challenging aspects. Faulkner's use of language is exquisite, so that you feel like you are flowing down a meandering river and taking in the sights as you move through the text. Definitely one of the best ever!" ...more

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