I actually digested it the first time, I was about 22 and in prison so I had plenty of time to read and re-read and re-read again a couple of times and I looked up the words I didn't know and I was amazed at what Faulkner was teaching me with every sentence, namely what my brain could do. It CHANGED MY LIFE. I was already into reading and I already like classics and difficult stuff but I had no idea what the word could do or what I was, but I knew there was a lot more to me.
You kind of read Faulkner with the right side of the brain lol. Even when you're lost as to what's happening literally you still feel the mood and emotion that's being conveyed. It speaks on several different levels.
@@michaelknight4041 I re-read every sentence of absolom until understood every word. That's possible in prison I guess. Fable confused me a little. I like psychedelics and Faulkner is psychedelic to me. And I'm from rural GA, where all my ancestors took root. I speak the language, we just tend to use shorter sentences and simpler constructions than Faulkner. If I was a Yankee it might've been different. They might've whooped us but they ain't never beat us yet lol
@@ericchristian6710 yes I suppose it can be compared to psychedelics. It definitely works on the subconscious in a way. Ive never been inside but there is something to say about having the time to do things that you might not consider doing had you been on the outside. A few short stints in jail was all I needed to see that time doesn't flow the same way in there!
@@michaelknight4041 exactly. I spent all my time with my nose in a book when I wasn't working. I got into classic stuff then I sawthe strange title and recognized the name Faulkner. It took me about 2 weeks and my mind was blown wide open lol. There was one guy there who could read it, he was a high-school lit. Teacher. He had never read it and I suggested it, he suggested great Gatsby, a couple weeks later his mind was blown too haha
I read this book at the age of 24. I had never read anything like it, I wasn't college educated, I was actually in jail at the time. I was a wayward young man with alcohol and drug problems and I spent a lot of time in jail and reading was my favorite way to escape. I knew I was smarter than the people around me, I went on to learn that I'm gifted with an iq of 132. I didn't finish high school but I was able to read this crazy complicated book. I knew it was a very difficult book to read. At first it made no sense but after a few pages my brain clicked and it was like suddenly I could understand the writer and what he was doing and how he was doing it. I finished the book after a week or so of constant reading, sometimes I'd have to reread certain parts a few times but I got through it and it was like a spiritual experience. I had read some classic stuff already and I enjoyed the fancy language but this was just something entirely new. For the next few years I tried to find somebody else who could read it so I could talk to somebody about it but I couldn't find anybody capable of getting through it lol. I might not have been able to get through it myself if I weren't in jail. I went on to read the rest of Faulkner's work but none of them came close in my opinion. Absalom, Absalom! Is the best book I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I've been through it a couple times now and I may read it again. It doesn't get old and it is such a huge little book that there's always something new.
@@Rafa-uj2oi I been arrested over 20 times lol but the last time they let me out was 10/10/10 and I ain't been back this time. I'm still an asshole I'm just 40 haha. I grew up in a trailer park and was the most creative and prolific degenerate the place had ever seen I guess, I haven't been there since 2000 so I'm sure I've been outdone by now but I still got my al Bundy story in before I faded into the cosmic microwave* background. Oh yeah, we had lots of LSD in the 90,s and the black gels made lots of people like me, y'all know who u are kinda.
Faulkner generously rewards the reader’s willingness to persist through the initial WTFs that his novels provoke. Once you get in the groove, he takes you for a fascinating ride. An interviewer once asked Faulkner what he would tell a reader who had tried to read one of his books THREE TIMES but just couldn’t get it. The writer’s tongue in cheek answer was, “I would say try it a fourth time.” I think the serious answer to the question is simply KEEP READING.
This is a novel much like Ulysses that must be read multiple times in order to judge. For my money, having read it only twice, it is an absolute masterpiece. Never be scared away from great prose. All one must do is read Faulkner; his words flow like butter///by all means read AA.
Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path, those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, Usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest with themselves..... This is the only reading I have committed to memory, but I relapsed anyway so we're now on a whole nother intellectual journey lol
Good introductory discussion, thank you two. Rereading the novel after 30 years, I concur with Diane's claim that it is Faulkner's greatest. Not many Faulknerians hold that view; nonetheless, the doom and gloom, the slow unpacking of the story details, the imagery, it's the most vivid reading experience of them all, epic.
It's tough to sum this up in 7 minutes, but there's more to say here than it's great, top 10. Faulkner is one of the best for a few specific reasons, and they're all on display here. #1. Convincing characters of wide variety: Some of the best are here, but Sutpen himself makes all the arguments of Piketty with context. The 5 narrators and even throwaway characters, nobody hits a false note. Sex, race, age, national origin, species, none of these are stumbling blocks for Faulkner. In fact, they are challenges that make him better. #2. Style: This is one of the books where Faulkner composes multi-page sentences. Here, it's totally appropriate. You should have to dig for meaning, because this is essentially a mystery. The experience of reading fits the purpose of the work of art. He knows what he's doing here. Good luck with Cliffs Notes here (although you'll need them). There's nothing that you can leave out that would not harm the impact of the piece. Not always true of Faulkner, much as I hate to say it. Vocabulary has to probably be here too. It's not as deep and as integrated as later Faulkner, but still. You'll look something up every 2-5 pages if you're not lazy. #3. Subject: It's got everything. Slavery, the real original sin, multi-generational, worldwide impact of it. Spinsterhood in a declining society. Friendship. Betrayal. Everything, really, everything. #4. Structure: Faulkner has been great on this several times, really the best until 20 - 25 years after his death or 50 years after each work. The structure here is spectacular. Each secret is dropped after plenty of action has occurred that shows what it's impact has been, so your jaw is constantly on the floor. #5. Depth: Later Faulkner is better on this - Go Down, Moses specifically. But the Sutpen chapter is better than the whole Snopes trilogy and makes all the same philosophical points more succinctly and more dramatically. You will never stop thinking about this book. #6. Plot: Not always Faulkner's strong suit. It is here. If this weren't so minutely crafted, this would be a page turner. Some relates to the subject, but there's an Agatha Christie aspect to this, but instead of a murder, it's always something far worse. Something that makes your heart sink, because you didn't know that was something possible in humanity, but it immediately becomes clear once it's shown. Take a couple months and enjoy this one. It's not a good entry point to Faulkner, but if you're game, your efforts will be highly rewarded.
John Cullom this was my entry point to Faulkner and I read every other one I could get my hands on after, ( i got stuck on a fable)but none of them did it for me like this one. This book expanded my mind. I'm from the south and I'm a true southerner so maybe that's it but this book just blew me away. I had taken lsd on numerous occasions and this book was more interesting and more stimulating. I was a troubled young man who had yet to find my true identity and when decoded this writing and was able to digest it I became aware of the fact that I'm gifted. I was so amazed at the way it was written and the fact that I could read it lol then I spent years trying to find someone else who could appreciate the feat.
I read the sound and the fury 2 times. 1th time I didn't get it all and in the 2th I was blown away by it. Then i've just finish reading Absalom and I have no words. There were many many times that I stop reading it because I knew that I was reading a piece of art. And i read it in loud voice, enyoing the words and extense sentences. In fact I ended up reading the last 100 pages in loud voice.... But I stop at the final 3 pages cuz the end let me in total silence. I want to read it again. PS: my edition has a cronological part explaining the story at the end of the book and a really brief biography of the characters. I took that part as an exam to confronta it to what I understand and I think i passed with honours 🤩
I was lucky enough to take one of Diane Roberts’s American lit classes at FSU. Such an amazing teacher and writer. I remember her expression when students in the class said Faulkner was a hack who was just trying to sound smart by being overcomplicated. 🤣 Her class actually made me like his writing for the first time.
Love this lady. I read the book once, didn't understand the majority of it, and felt like an idiot. I feel much better now. I got to give the book another try.
Jay Quintana you have to have some free time, it takes a few pages to cross over into Faulkner's realm and then you'll start to understand exactly what's being said and once you start to get it if you're like me you'll be captivated. When you read a page and you're lost, read it again and again till you understand, then once you get it you'll start to digest it with one pass, maybe two lol. It is all decipherable. One thing that amazed me was his ability to keep me right on the edge of losing it. I felt like he knew exactly how much stain my brain could handle but he never lost me. I'd have to reread a lot of it but I could get through it and I could follow every single word. Don't give up and skip ahead, read it over till you got it then move on
This writing, Absalom, Absalom I started reading when I was eleven and finished when I had turned 12! Though took me a good 3 months to finish it was a truly beautiful and meaning read, that I would recommend to anyone whom would like to farther explore the words of William Faulkner.
I ended up here after hearing an interview with Carl Sagan's daughter Sasha. She told how young Carl was reading this book on the bus, and Linda Salzman sat next to him. When he finished the page he was on, she, with her hand, stopped him from turning the page, saying I haven't finished yet. They went on to fall in love and were married.
I didn't think or speak about anything but how amazing that book is for like 2 months. I still have it on my bedside table. I wasn't nearly as impressed with sound and fury but maybe that's a lack of sophistication on my part
This is an excellent but incredibly difficult book. One of the hardest that I have ever had to read by far...Great southern literature!!! I remember picking up a copy of it in the second hand bookstore, thinking, 'hey, this looks interesting.' Jesus!!! If only I knew what I was letting myself in for. But because of this book I ended up discovering a whole new genre of 'southern gothic' writing. Like Cormac Mccarthy and Flannery O'Connor. So I have to forgive it for that!!!
I have never read a "difficult" book. I don't actually believe they exist. I have read some complex books but not difficult ones. Why is it that we never talk of films being difficult? Why only books? Perhaps we should get rid of the label "difficult book" and encourage more people to read.
Some films are absolutely difficult! Particularly avant-garde films. But films are consumed in a different way than books are, so I don't think it makes sense to draw a direct comparison between the two. An illiterate person can consume a film but cannot consume a book. It generally takes a certain level of concentration and experience to read some books, including Absalom, Absalom!.
Interesting discussion by two smart people but nothing they said persuades me to read this book. Maybe because I have no interest in the American south.
I went to Ole Miss to study Faulkner as a Ph.D. student. UM was the most horrifying experience of my life. I lasted only a year there but the tribe pursued me for decades. I wrote a dissertation on Faulkner elsewhere. I barely lived through the torture and dismemberment even after the dissertation had been approved. You will never read my dissertation or story because everything is highly controlled in the U.S. Nonetheless, this lady seems empty-headed. The novel is not difficult. She doesn't even mention a single character. Maybe she was nervous.
I actually digested it the first time, I was about 22 and in prison so I had plenty of time to read and re-read and re-read again a couple of times and I looked up the words I didn't know and I was amazed at what Faulkner was teaching me with every sentence, namely what my brain could do. It CHANGED MY LIFE. I was already into reading and I already like classics and difficult stuff but I had no idea what the word could do or what I was, but I knew there was a lot more to me.
I was so affected by it because he had captured the storm between my ears in language and nobody else ever has.
You kind of read Faulkner with the right side of the brain lol. Even when you're lost as to what's happening literally you still feel the mood and emotion that's being conveyed. It speaks on several different levels.
@@michaelknight4041 I re-read every sentence of absolom until understood every word. That's possible in prison I guess. Fable confused me a little. I like psychedelics and Faulkner is psychedelic to me. And I'm from rural GA, where all my ancestors took root. I speak the language, we just tend to use shorter sentences and simpler constructions than Faulkner. If I was a Yankee it might've been different.
They might've whooped us but they ain't never beat us yet lol
@@ericchristian6710 yes I suppose it can be compared to psychedelics. It definitely works on the subconscious in a way. Ive never been inside but there is something to say about having the time to do things that you might not consider doing had you been on the outside. A few short stints in jail was all I needed to see that time doesn't flow the same way in there!
@@michaelknight4041 exactly. I spent all my time with my nose in a book when I wasn't working. I got into classic stuff then I sawthe strange title and recognized the name Faulkner. It took me about 2 weeks and my mind was blown wide open lol. There was one guy there who could read it, he was a high-school lit. Teacher. He had never read it and I suggested it, he suggested great Gatsby, a couple weeks later his mind was blown too haha
I read this book at the age of 24. I had never read anything like it, I wasn't college educated, I was actually in jail at the time. I was a wayward young man with alcohol and drug problems and I spent a lot of time in jail and reading was my favorite way to escape. I knew I was smarter than the people around me, I went on to learn that I'm gifted with an iq of 132. I didn't finish high school but I was able to read this crazy complicated book. I knew it was a very difficult book to read. At first it made no sense but after a few pages my brain clicked and it was like suddenly I could understand the writer and what he was doing and how he was doing it. I finished the book after a week or so of constant reading, sometimes I'd have to reread certain parts a few times but I got through it and it was like a spiritual experience. I had read some classic stuff already and I enjoyed the fancy language but this was just something entirely new. For the next few years I tried to find somebody else who could read it so I could talk to somebody about it but I couldn't find anybody capable of getting through it lol. I might not have been able to get through it myself if I weren't in jail. I went on to read the rest of Faulkner's work but none of them came close in my opinion. Absalom, Absalom! Is the best book I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I've been through it a couple times now and I may read it again. It doesn't get old and it is such a huge little book that there's always something new.
What have you been up to after your time in jail?
Then everybody clapped
Have you read SUTTREE by McCarthy?
Very interesting review. Amazing reading story 👍🏻😊
@@Rafa-uj2oi I been arrested over 20 times lol but the last time they let me out was 10/10/10 and I ain't been back this time. I'm still an asshole I'm just 40 haha. I grew up in a trailer park and was the most creative and prolific degenerate the place had ever seen I guess, I haven't been there since 2000 so I'm sure I've been outdone by now but I still got my al Bundy story in before I faded into the cosmic microwave* background. Oh yeah, we had lots of LSD in the 90,s and the black gels made lots of people like me, y'all know who u are kinda.
Faulkner generously rewards the reader’s willingness to persist through the initial WTFs that his novels provoke. Once you get in the groove, he takes you for a fascinating ride. An interviewer once asked Faulkner what he would tell a reader who had tried to read one of his books THREE TIMES but just couldn’t get it. The writer’s tongue in cheek answer was, “I would say try it a fourth time.” I think the serious answer to the question is simply KEEP READING.
This is a novel much like Ulysses that must be read multiple times in order to judge. For my money, having read it only twice, it is an absolute masterpiece. Never be scared away from great prose. All one must do is read Faulkner; his words flow like butter///by all means read AA.
Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path, those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, Usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest with themselves..... This is the only reading I have committed to memory, but I relapsed anyway so we're now on a whole nother intellectual journey lol
Good introductory discussion, thank you two. Rereading the novel after 30 years, I concur with Diane's claim that it is Faulkner's greatest. Not many Faulknerians hold that view; nonetheless, the doom and gloom, the slow unpacking of the story details, the imagery, it's the most vivid reading experience of them all, epic.
I wholly agree that this is Faulkner's masterpiece!
It's tough to sum this up in 7 minutes, but there's more to say here than it's great, top 10. Faulkner is one of the best for a few specific reasons, and they're all on display here.
#1. Convincing characters of wide variety: Some of the best are here, but Sutpen himself makes all the arguments of Piketty with context. The 5 narrators and even throwaway characters, nobody hits a false note. Sex, race, age, national origin, species, none of these are stumbling blocks for Faulkner. In fact, they are challenges that make him better.
#2. Style: This is one of the books where Faulkner composes multi-page sentences. Here, it's totally appropriate. You should have to dig for meaning, because this is essentially a mystery. The experience of reading fits the purpose of the work of art. He knows what he's doing here. Good luck with Cliffs Notes here (although you'll need them). There's nothing that you can leave out that would not harm the impact of the piece. Not always true of Faulkner, much as I hate to say it. Vocabulary has to probably be here too. It's not as deep and as integrated as later Faulkner, but still. You'll look something up every 2-5 pages if you're not lazy.
#3. Subject: It's got everything. Slavery, the real original sin, multi-generational, worldwide impact of it. Spinsterhood in a declining society. Friendship. Betrayal. Everything, really, everything.
#4. Structure: Faulkner has been great on this several times, really the best until 20 - 25 years after his death or 50 years after each work. The structure here is spectacular. Each secret is dropped after plenty of action has occurred that shows what it's impact has been, so your jaw is constantly on the floor.
#5. Depth: Later Faulkner is better on this - Go Down, Moses specifically. But the Sutpen chapter is better than the whole Snopes trilogy and makes all the same philosophical points more succinctly and more dramatically. You will never stop thinking about this book.
#6. Plot: Not always Faulkner's strong suit. It is here. If this weren't so minutely crafted, this would be a page turner. Some relates to the subject, but there's an Agatha Christie aspect to this, but instead of a murder, it's always something far worse. Something that makes your heart sink, because you didn't know that was something possible in humanity, but it immediately becomes clear once it's shown.
Take a couple months and enjoy this one. It's not a good entry point to Faulkner, but if you're game, your efforts will be highly rewarded.
John Cullom this was my entry point to Faulkner and I read every other one I could get my hands on after, ( i got stuck on a fable)but none of them did it for me like this one. This book expanded my mind. I'm from the south and I'm a true southerner so maybe that's it but this book just blew me away. I had taken lsd on numerous occasions and this book was more interesting and more stimulating. I was a troubled young man who had yet to find my true identity and when decoded this writing and was able to digest it I became aware of the fact that I'm gifted. I was so amazed at the way it was written and the fact that I could read it lol then I spent years trying to find someone else who could appreciate the feat.
I read the sound and the fury 2 times. 1th time I didn't get it all and in the 2th I was blown away by it. Then i've just finish reading Absalom and I have no words. There were many many times that I stop reading it because I knew that I was reading a piece of art. And i read it in loud voice, enyoing the words and extense sentences.
In fact I ended up reading the last 100 pages in loud voice.... But I stop at the final 3 pages cuz the end let me in total silence. I want to read it again.
PS: my edition has a cronological part explaining the story at the end of the book and a really brief biography of the characters. I took that part as an exam to confronta it to what I understand and I think i passed with honours 🤩
I was lucky enough to take one of Diane Roberts’s American lit classes at FSU. Such an amazing teacher and writer. I remember her expression when students in the class said Faulkner was a hack who was just trying to sound smart by being overcomplicated. 🤣 Her class actually made me like his writing for the first time.
Love this lady. I read the book once, didn't understand the majority of it, and felt like an idiot. I feel much better now. I got to give the book another try.
Jay Quintana you have to have some free time, it takes a few pages to cross over into Faulkner's realm and then you'll start to understand exactly what's being said and once you start to get it if you're like me you'll be captivated. When you read a page and you're lost, read it again and again till you understand, then once you get it you'll start to digest it with one pass, maybe two lol. It is all decipherable. One thing that amazed me was his ability to keep me right on the edge of losing it. I felt like he knew exactly how much stain my brain could handle but he never lost me. I'd have to reread a lot of it but I could get through it and I could follow every single word. Don't give up and skip ahead, read it over till you got it then move on
Agreed. One the greatest novels in English of the 20th century.
This writing, Absalom, Absalom I started reading when I was eleven and finished when I had turned 12! Though took me a good 3 months to finish it was a truly beautiful and meaning read, that I would recommend to anyone whom would like to farther explore the words of William Faulkner.
Then everybody clapped
I ended up here after hearing an interview with Carl Sagan's daughter Sasha. She told how young Carl was reading this book on the bus, and Linda Salzman sat next to him. When he finished the page he was on, she, with her hand, stopped him from turning the page, saying I haven't finished yet. They went on to fall in love and were married.
"....out of the biding, and dreamy, and victorious dust."
TheEggman51 haha the ghost!
That lady Dianne Roberts knows this book better than anyone else on TH-cam.
I didn't think or speak about anything but how amazing that book is for like 2 months. I still have it on my bedside table. I wasn't nearly as impressed with sound and fury but maybe that's a lack of sophistication on my part
This is an excellent but incredibly difficult book. One of the hardest that I have ever had to read by far...Great southern literature!!! I remember picking up a copy of it in the second hand bookstore, thinking, 'hey, this looks interesting.' Jesus!!! If only I knew what I was letting myself in for. But because of this book I ended up discovering a whole new genre of 'southern gothic' writing. Like Cormac Mccarthy and Flannery O'Connor. So I have to forgive it for that!!!
Thank you for this!
I started reading it and could not understand what it is even talking about for first two pages. That’s how far I could go.
I f only he could let hertalk!!!!
Agreed.
Yes
Yes, I agree!
He comes off like a Bush.
I've heard a few Yankees discuss it before finding this video and it's funny to see how different the takeaways are.
The Great American Novel
I have never read a "difficult" book. I don't actually believe they exist. I have read some complex books but not difficult ones. Why is it that we never talk of films being difficult? Why only books?
Perhaps we should get rid of the label "difficult book" and encourage more people to read.
Some films are absolutely difficult! Particularly avant-garde films. But films are consumed in a different way than books are, so I don't think it makes sense to draw a direct comparison between the two. An illiterate person can consume a film but cannot consume a book. It generally takes a certain level of concentration and experience to read some books, including Absalom, Absalom!.
He has no idea what he's talking about lol. He's just trying to save face and get through this one.
LMAO! Just incoherent, cliche-ridden babbling. I don't think he liked the book, but, because it's so critically acclaimed, he's being pretentious...
Right this guy is a boob
100% sport on, Eric. That's exactly what I thought.
Interesting discussion by two smart people but nothing they said persuades me to read this book. Maybe because I have no interest in the American south.
What a bizarre book
The guy does some serious "man-splaining" and interrupting.
I went to Ole Miss to study Faulkner as a Ph.D. student. UM was the most horrifying experience of my life. I lasted only a year there but the tribe pursued me for decades. I wrote a dissertation on Faulkner elsewhere. I barely lived through the torture and dismemberment even after the dissertation had been approved. You will never read my dissertation or story because everything is highly controlled in the U.S. Nonetheless, this lady seems empty-headed. The novel is not difficult. She doesn't even mention a single character. Maybe she was nervous.
You good, dude?