Absalom, Absalom!

This morning, I finished a re-read of "Absalom, Absalom!" by William Faulkner. I had read it just once before while I was in college. I remembered liking it but could not recall much about it other than the ending.

"Absalom, Absalom!" is a phenomenal book written with a level of quality that meets the highest of expectations I have of Faulkner. I must say, though, that it is also incredibly complicated. Set before, during, and after the American Civil War, the bulk of this book is composed of reminiscences from one of several characters about the rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen. It took a while for me to realize that the details of the events often differ from one another, and this is due as much to each character's respective biases as it is possibly due to memory not serving well, as it is often uninclined to do.

There are quite a few haunting scenes in this book ranging from domestic issues in a broken household to murder. I enjoyed the book tremendously, but it did take a while for me to get through it. I can only read Faulkner in small doses usually.

Cover of "Absalom, Absalom!"

Easton Press William Faulkner Set

The copy I read was a gorgeous copy from an Easton Press set that I have mentioned a couple other times in my blog posts. Unlike the first volume, "Go Down, Moses," which was chewed on by my cat Elfi, this third volume was chewed on by my new kitten Shadow. I know it was her because Elfi wouldn't chew on it if it wasn't set where she was lying or if I wasn't holding it or looking at it. Shadow, though, doesn't share that trait. Here's a picture of both of them resting.

Elfi and Shadow

As the other volumes were, "Absalom, Absalom!" was beautifully illustrated. I'll share just a couple of the illustrations in this blog to give an idea of what they looked like.

Portrait

Ferry Boat

It even came with a nice map, which I don't recall ever seeing in a Faulkner book before, but it's a nice touch to build the world that the Sutpens lived in.

Complimentary (Non-Obligatory) Map of Yoknapatawpha County

I have always been perplexed by the title of this book. Absalom, in the Bible, was one of King David's sons. He, like many of the characters in Faulkner's novel, share a tragic fate; however, I think some key parallels are missing to liken any of the characters in the book to Absalom from the Bible. Perhaps Henry Sutpen would be the closest match, as he has his share of family drama. Thomas Sutpen has his share of ambition, though his fruits are gouged by the Civil War. I never really got the impression that Henry was trying to rebel against his father, though, unless I missed something egregiously. There was disagreements and conflict, sure, but it seems to have a different trajectory to me than the Biblical accounts of Absalom.

The book is wonderfully written, as is typical of Faulkner's work. I sadly didn't copy down any quotes from the book while I was reading it. Sorry about that. There was a passage that made me thing, though, about how close Henry was to his sister, Judith. Faulkner wrote that they could seem to communicate without words...just from knowing each other as well as they did. He likened it to when two birds fly off of a branch at the same instant without anything signaling their planned departure.

"Absalom, Absalom!" is a wonderful book; however, I wouldn't recommend it as a first for anyone new to William Faulkner's work. As I noted above, it is complicated - more complex than many of his other works in my humble opinion. "A Light in August" may be a better starting point...there's others, but that's my first inclination in terms of recommendations for a first time Faulkner reader. That said, fans of Faulkner who haven't read "Absalom, Absalom!" previously should definitely dive in and give it a try.