A feverish masterpiece! I think it rocked Krypto's world when we went through this at the beginning of quarantine of all times! This book IS the south from a certain point of view. I'd say Sutpen does evil acts but he is more the embodiment of amoral self-interest more so than evil. The whole italic chapters drove me nuts :D
Absolutely...when you just let the words flow and ignore interpretation for a while, you can actually appreciate the story, the emotions, etc. Light in August might be my favorite novel.
Just finished Absalom, Absalom! per your recommendation after easing into Faulkner with As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury, from friends. Still reeling as a reader and quasi-southerner. “The past is never dead. It's not even past.” Though often quoted out of context, even here, rings so painfully true now in reflecting on one’s own life and family, sympathizing to some extent with a character like Quentin Compson. East of Eden by John Steinbeck and Paradise by Toni Morrison (among many, most, maybe all her works) brought me to the thinking, but Absalom gave the near and horrible extreme with insidious intimacy. Love your videos! Thanks!
@@ManCarryingThing Yeah, I was really drawn to the themes of southern honor and family lineage in both novels. Oddly enough, I didn't like As I Lay Dying. Maybe it was that it felt like there wasn't any particular point to the plot or events or maybe it was the lack of plot, idk. I just found it really hard to read when I read it after my first year of college. Thanks for posting the vid.
When I read it, I had to read it out loud to myself to really tease apart the frames and get the voices, and make up missing punctuation where it sounded natural but didn't necessarily stand out when read silently. It was definitely an intense read, and my voice was hoarse by the end.
this book reminds me of jose saramago, a nobel writer from portugal. he uses looong sentences (like 3 pages long sentences). he had a book that was kind of popular internationally called blindness. Sounds something you would enjoy. Its about a town where everyone starts to go blind
@@ManCarryingThing beward. his writing style is unique. he writes as he is talking, meaning, sometimes, in the middle of a sentence, there is a dialogue, only with a comma before it. something like: John went to the kitchen and to his wife he said, The dinner smells wonderfully, Thank you, but you wont eat any of it
Faulkner has a type, and it's redheads. It's easy to emphasize with a writer with the same interests :) Can't wait for this read when I'm done with Sanctuary, especially now that you mentioned Quentin returns to the spotlight, he and Darl might be my favorite fictional characters so far.
Spent an entire semester writing on this novel in a university project. Widened my intellect and mind more than I ever thought possible. My interpretation is that Thomas Sutpen is not evil or good, he is beyond it. Cleanth Brooks makes the observation that Sutpen has an "innocence of the state of society" and hence everything he did was "mimicking" what he thought "respectable" people did. This is backed up by the words of Quentin's father and grandfather. By extension, Thomas exemplifies the historical tragedy of the South.
Great review! I tried As I Lay Dying a couple of years ago and struggled with it, my friend then said he'd also read Absalom, Absalom! and lightly recommended it without saying much. I gave it a pass and forgot about it. But only until very recently did I find out that the writing style Faulkner uses in As I Lay Dying is nothing like his other books, so I'll probably actually get to this or The Sound & The Fury sometime soon.
I think you are wrong about Sutpen. He is not evil - what he does isn't done out of malice. He is pure ambition and drive. The embodiment of will. To me, it's an amazing book on race. Charles Bon, Sutpen's mixed race son, wants nothing but recognition from his father. He engineers the meeting and friendship with Henry to worm his way into Sutpen's life, and by proposing to Henry's sister, creates a situation where Sutpen has to acknowledge him as his son if only to kill the engagement. Thanks by the way for this. I loved this book and it's nice to see discussions of it.
Recorded this a while ago and for some reason forgot to share, so my hair is short and sadly mustache-less.
A feverish masterpiece! I think it rocked Krypto's world when we went through this at the beginning of quarantine of all times! This book IS the south from a certain point of view. I'd say Sutpen does evil acts but he is more the embodiment of amoral self-interest more so than evil. The whole italic chapters drove me nuts :D
I imagine it did! Reading this is really like being in a nightmare you can't escape...in a good way.
Damn, each time you talk about Faulkner I get more and more intrigued by his writing. Gotta pick these up.
That makes me so happy! He's a really amazing storyteller, always experimenting
I think that's the key to Faulkner, just surrender. Light in August and As I Lay Dying are the books of his that I always go back to
Absolutely...when you just let the words flow and ignore interpretation for a while, you can actually appreciate the story, the emotions, etc. Light in August might be my favorite novel.
I never thought I would say this, but after watching your video, I’m craving me some Faulkner!
Me too!
Just finished Absalom, Absalom! per your recommendation after easing into Faulkner with As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury, from friends. Still reeling as a reader and quasi-southerner. “The past is never dead. It's not even past.” Though often quoted out of context, even here, rings so painfully true now in reflecting on one’s own life and family, sympathizing to some extent with a character like Quentin Compson. East of Eden by John Steinbeck and Paradise by Toni Morrison (among many, most, maybe all her works) brought me to the thinking, but Absalom gave the near and horrible extreme with insidious intimacy.
Love your videos! Thanks!
I just finished Absalom, Absalom! today and it was great. A true masterpiece imo. I really like The Sound and The Fury but I loved Absalom, Absalom!
That's awesome timing! lol. I would put Absalom Absalom over the Sound and the Fury, but both are similarly incredible
@@ManCarryingThing Yeah, I was really drawn to the themes of southern honor and family lineage in both novels. Oddly enough, I didn't like As I Lay Dying. Maybe it was that it felt like there wasn't any particular point to the plot or events or maybe it was the lack of plot, idk. I just found it really hard to read when I read it after my first year of college.
Thanks for posting the vid.
Its like a dark souls of literature
James joyce and William faulkner realy liked to punish readers
I read "push readers", which is, actually, as I see the writings of both Joyce and Faulkner.
It’s less about punishing, more about leaving a puzzle of meaning.
Just finished it today. Took me nine months of on and off reading. It was painful but satisfying in the end.
God I love your channel!
When I read it, I had to read it out loud to myself to really tease apart the frames and get the voices, and make up missing punctuation where it sounded natural but didn't necessarily stand out when read silently. It was definitely an intense read, and my voice was hoarse by the end.
Back here again because i finally got my own copy of this book, just wanted to say i appreciate the way you review Faulkner's works!
Hey! Glad you'll be reading it, and thanks!
this book reminds me of jose saramago, a nobel writer from portugal. he uses looong sentences (like 3 pages long sentences). he had a book that was kind of popular internationally called blindness. Sounds something you would enjoy. Its about a town where everyone starts to go blind
That sounds really interesting, I love that concept. I need to explore this writer
@@ManCarryingThing beward. his writing style is unique. he writes as he is talking, meaning, sometimes, in the middle of a sentence, there is a dialogue, only with a comma before it. something like: John went to the kitchen and to his wife he said, The dinner smells wonderfully, Thank you, but you wont eat any of it
Faulkner has a type, and it's redheads. It's easy to emphasize with a writer with the same interests :) Can't wait for this read when I'm done with Sanctuary, especially now that you mentioned Quentin returns to the spotlight, he and Darl might be my favorite fictional characters so far.
Quentin and Darl seem very similar to me - both really interesting characters
This is the greatest youtube video of all time
Yes! My favorite Faulkner book!
Spent an entire semester writing on this novel in a university project. Widened my intellect and mind more than I ever thought possible. My interpretation is that Thomas Sutpen is not evil or good, he is beyond it. Cleanth Brooks makes the observation that Sutpen has an "innocence of the state of society" and hence everything he did was "mimicking" what he thought "respectable" people did. This is backed up by the words of Quentin's father and grandfather. By extension, Thomas exemplifies the historical tragedy of the South.
Great review! I tried As I Lay Dying a couple of years ago and struggled with it, my friend then said he'd also read Absalom, Absalom! and lightly recommended it without saying much. I gave it a pass and forgot about it. But only until very recently did I find out that the writing style Faulkner uses in As I Lay Dying is nothing like his other books, so I'll probably actually get to this or The Sound & The Fury sometime soon.
Totally obsessed with Absalom Absalom, reading it for the 2nd time
Great review sir, like you I love Faulkner and this book is the greatest.
Thanks!
I think you are wrong about Sutpen. He is not evil - what he does isn't done out of malice. He is pure ambition and drive. The embodiment of will.
To me, it's an amazing book on race. Charles Bon, Sutpen's mixed race son, wants nothing but recognition from his father. He engineers the meeting and friendship with Henry to worm his way into Sutpen's life, and by proposing to Henry's sister, creates a situation where Sutpen has to acknowledge him as his son if only to kill the engagement.
Thanks by the way for this. I loved this book and it's nice to see discussions of it.
highschool english class made me hate faulkner so much i still remember his name all these years later, i guess inshould give him another try
great book, rereading this right now.
Faulkner clears
sutpen is a goat