Absalom, Absalom! - William Faulkner BOOK REVIEW/GIVEAWAY

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Sparknotes
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Diane Roberts
• Furious Fiction: Discu...
Hemingway and Faulkner
• Faulkner and Hemingway...

[@Ynimixer]

"To build and then destroy, or the desire to build by destroying. You might as well ask what drove Gengis Khan", that's why I like your reviews

[@TheEndofZombieShakespeare]

Paris Review Interviewer: "Some people say they can’t understand your writing, even after they read it two or three times. What approach would you suggest for them?" Faulker: "Read it four times."

[@vardor]

haha

[@thegirlwholeftthefridgeopen]

"There's nothing accessible about his writing AT ALL. It's the perfect design to weed out the uncommitted" I love that

[@ericwaggner4647]

This book is so damn good. Its funny, theres a bunch of recordings of students asking Faulkner questions when he was teaching at the University of Virginia, and in one of the recordings a man - Joseph Blotner, Faulkners biographer - asks him a question about Absalom, Absalom! to which Faulkner answers, "I don't remember that book."

[@iisaka_station]

Just for potential readers, purchasing the audiobook and listening while simultaneously reading significantly reduces the difficulty of this work. I don't think the purpose of Faulkner's writing is to weed out readers that are just beginning to read high level works of fiction. This stuff should be made as accessible as possible without reducing any of its content or value and that's what the reading with an audiobook does. Also, two thumbs up for deciding to make a video on this book. We need more and you are a fantastic guy. I just wanted to provide some constructive criticism and say that this video was almost entirely a summary, and I felt that you only told me what I already read,. It's certainly helpful for someone who hasn't read the book, but to someone who has, a "review" is not a summary. It focuses more on the quality of the content and it's meaning than on what happened specifically in each major event of the book. Thank you

[@BetterThanFoodBookReviews]

Review Starts at 3:11

[@efleishermedia]

Faulkner's ease in perfectly blending and balancing the hallucinatory and almost brutally lucid is what really gets me. Even his structure moves from archaic and biblical to postmodern like a switch in the wind. I think his most accessible book is Sanctuary. It's his most appalling, something like horror and noir, but it's also sharp and cinematic.

[@kylenewberry9792]

You should really read Flags in the Dust if you like Sanctuary

[@uniquechannelnames]

How is it possible for one man to write this?? That was my feeling when I read Blood Meridian, and I felt it even 10x stronger when I read Gravity's Rainbow. It's quite literally impossible to fathom how a single human could possibly write GR, with its seemingly infinite complexity, density, scope, and depth of knowledge. Truly mind-blowing.

[@alphonseelric5722]

You should try Ulysses. Its even harder than GR.

[@bad-girlbex3791]

That's how I felt about Infinite Jest.

[@rashot0m782]

found this book through this review, read it, didn't originally get it. But now three years later, I adore this book so much that I'm now doing my Master's dissertation on it. If you ever read this, I just wanted to thank you

[@drewhargrove1392]

Possibly the greatest book by my favorite author discussed by one of the best KZbin channels around. What's not to like?

[@gregpatterson1095]

Nice review. As I Lay Dying’s really worth checking out too. Is there a reason you’ve seemed to avoid Pynchon? Mason & Dixon seems like it’s up your alley. Keep up the good work!

[@jayburkett2859]

Yeah he needs to read pynchon already

[@mfrobs7907]

Great review. Very helpful. This book is so tough to read but ultimately immaculately rewarding. Perfect example of Howard Bloom when he says, We come to literature to confront greatness

[@BetweenLinesAndLife]

I immediately purchased it! I've been meaning to get to this for ages, I've been reading snippets out of it for awhile now. Now it's definitely time! A brilliant review, one of my favorites for sure!

[@lionstandingII]

Had a history professor whose wife grew up next door to Faulkner. He had wild stories related by his wife- such as Faulkner often appearing at their front door, completely nude and demanding whiskey.

[@CousinBen1]

Hey. Great review! Just finished AA and absolutely loved it. I had a similar reaction: 'how did just one person produce something as genius as this?'!! Agree Faulkner is one of the greatest. I'd say up there with Proust and Dostoevsky.

[@TommyRogic18]

Cliff, it’s great to see a Faulkner review. You should definitely try The Sound and The Fury. I think I read Light in August is Stephen King’s favourite novel, too.

[@andre99249]

You just described perfectly the way I felt while reading this book. How is it possible for one mind to create such a masterpiece? It is beyond human. I just marvel and appreciate how genius he was...it's almost absurd the amount of intelligence.

[@tod2576]

Thankfully I got to read this last spring for a course examining potential claimants to the title of 'Great American Novel'. This novel in particular is one among those that I still return to, and often. What always struck me about Faulkner (and this novel in particular) is the way history is examined by revisionary discursive processes. This is very much what you were talking about in the way that people view and construct the past. Within the first few chapters we get the base frame of our narrative-- The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen and the death of a young man named Charles Bon. As we're led through the spirals of the novel (I always thought of it as a staircase-made-Möbius-strip, something akin to that famous Escher lithograph) it becomes apparent that the early prejudices were just that, part of attempts at revising history to suit personal narratives. It's no surprise then that the climax of the novel is Quentin and Shreve playing their own game at revising history to their narrative based around a South obsessed with the question of miscegenation. I think in the review Cliff you gloss over the idea that the climactic confrontation between Henry and Charles Bon at the campfire is yet another revision that Quentin and Shreve are 'playing' to each other as well. There may be more truth to it than past narratives, but only in a sense. The best we get to the absolute truth of what happened at Sutpen's Hundred goes up in smoke. What I got out of it is very much along the lines of what you said Cliff, that this novel is the anti-Gone With the Wind-- In that Gone With the Wind is perhaps *the* 'great' southern revisionist work of the 20th century. Quentin's final words in the novel put the nail in the coffin for revisionism in the postbellum South-- And makes it a work that still has some real life to it today in... Well, the Confederate public memorial debate for starters. ...On another note, Thomas Sutpen is a character almost straight ripped out of Greek tragedy. He develops a design for his life around one pivotal moment in his life, where he was reduced to nothing-- And once he has built everything up from that design, the one fatal flaw that he left abandoned reveals itself and becomes his dynasty's total undoing. His dynasty, as Shreve puts it, is reduced to Jim Bond, the antithesis of Sutpen's goal of a pure and lasting white bloodline. His plan was so doomed from the beginning, and we learn it in full so much later because of the actual discursive structure of the novel. ...You can see why I keep coming back. The novel is really built for that and provides. (P.S.-- Absalom, Absalom! is a fantastic in to The Sound and the Fury. A,A! really taught me how to read Faulkner and understand his jumbling of character and place within plot as part of understanding those discursive processes. Faulkner's work has a design, albeit not an obvious one at first read.)

[@barbarajohnson1442]

Wonderful, insightful statement!

[@borndead1997]

Been reading Light In August the past two weeks. First Faulkner I have read, and just picked up this one today. The style can be a bit confusing/dense/tedious but very rewarding so far. Excited to get more into Faulkner's novels

[@Im_No_Expert_72]

Thoroughly enjoyed this review I will be reading it. I got to tell you the authenticity with which you tell about your love of a book is a joy to watch. Don't ever change

[@briangallagher3106]

18:22 This sequence is exactly what I'm doing, trying to stay disciplined. In the last year I've read as many books as I've read in my whole life before that. That's about 110 books in a little over a year and I'm honestly addicted now, if I am not reading any book in a particular week, I feel like I'm missing out greatly. Also this channel is easily the best channel on KZbin for book reviews. Keep up the good work, I can't wait to see your next video as I make my way through the reviews you've already made.

[@ncannavino11]

"An artist or writer so good that you're not even jealous, envious." Perfectly put

[@keenandemarsico4046]

Idk what I like more- finding good book recommendations from you or hearing your opinion on books where our reading tastes intersect.I was also stoked to see you review rulfo. This Faulkner novel is so great and intense, it seems like it was written in a frenzy. Love this damn book. It is difficult, but totally worth it. Ive had a couple of false starts with perec (who you and bolano recommend) should I stick with it?

[@m.woodsrobinson9244]

Love this review! Absalom! Absalom! is my favorite Faulkner book only after As I Lay Dying. I read it and re-read it four times over three years before I finally got it...You mentioned the sugar plantation revolts in Haiti and how some critics called this book an anti-Gone With The Wind...GWTW goes into that, too, very briefly...Scarlett O'hara's French grandmother had been a refugee from Haiti.

[@robertroot9863]

Always superb, brother. Thank you for your continued good work and the insightful, yet unpretentious dives you lead us on with each of your videos. I wish you the best and a continually growing audience. Cheers.

[@kareljuliusbussman8076]

A fine review as always. It's been said already, but I truly think you should do The Sound and the fury. It is just amazing.

[@dustiny.334]

Best Faulkner and best novel written in the english language.

[@liamshope2838]

Absolutely, it is THE Great American novel

[@montanagal6958]

We live like that (thank you Faulkner), haunted by ancestral sin, things unsaid, and the clock ticking destruction of hope. Life is indeed dark. Thank you for this video.

[@chriswick7987]

After the second time I read it, it sunk in. So a few years later I read it the third time, and that’s when it became my favorite novel of all time. Any thoughts on A Fable? I’ve only attempted that once, about 4 years ago. That’s next on my list to re-read

[@flyagaric123]

An absolutely sublime book. One of my favourites of all time

[@richarddefortuna2252]

Possibly the greatest book about storytelling, and my all-time favorite book, ever. Thank you!

[@satchelhoward3132]

Cliff-- just wanted to say I've been watching your videos for about a year and a half and it's been a pleasure reading your recommendations and watching your reviews. I've not read absalom absalom--I'll definitely have to give it a read. I know it's probably been said many times and many ways but if you like Faulkner you should read the sound and the fury. While I wholeheartedly hated it when I first started I can honestly say it's the best book I've ever read. It's actually about the Compson family btw. -Satch

[@ryansuttree8054]

Starting this book tomorrow. Glad you said you looked at Sparknotes. I have already bookmarked that in advance. Loved Sound and Fury and As I Lay Dying. I’ve been saving Absalom for a few months now. (Just finished Stoner tonight.)

[@joeblow9657]

11:45 LOL I also went to Sparknotes for both Absalom, Absalom! and The Sound and The Fury. They were really helpful, especially in clarifying the finer details. Also, the u in Faulkner got there after it was misspelled when he was training to become a fighter pilot at the University of Toronto officer training corps during WW1.

[@24sherbear]

I know I am way late to some of your videos but I just discovered them. This one was a amazing. I had to stop and take notes. I tried Faulkner many years ago but I started with As I Lay Dying. I don't remember much about the story except the mother watching the sons building her coffin as she watched from her bedroom window. But, you've inspired me to give it another go.

[@michaelborek378]

Just finished this book!!!! What a book!

[@ianboard544]

One of my favorite novels. It's time for me to re-read it (again). I enjoyed your discussion (and your channel).

[@marysalmon2367]

i have picked this up, been utterly confused and put it down. I will pick it up again, and follow your advice to just get what I can out of each chapter. Your review I think will help. I did read some Faulkner in high school and was so haunted by it I hesitated to approach it again, the same with Graham Greene, I just felt it all so deeply but now that I am old I will try again.

[@gastondeveaux3783]

Brilliant review! I just finished reading it last week. It was certainly a struggle but every point you touched on is so true. You have an instant subscriber.

[@jayburkett2859]

This book is absolutely incredible. Just started reading it last week and i’m about halfway thru now. It helped to watch this video bc i think i missed some pretty important stuff, like that charles is sutpen’s son, but maybe i was only supposed to find that out later. Whatever. Great video as always. An old guy i met in galway ireland recommended this book to me. So glad a year or so later i’m finally reading it

[@shahriarshiva6847]

I really love and appreciate what you're doing ever since i discovered your channel two years ago via finding your blog on tumblr of all places (I think maybe you followed me because we had similar music taste XD). Regardless, your channel is a gift that keeps on giving. Not only do you inspire people to read and reflect more, you also inspire viewers to enrich their minds further, intellectually. Be it through the poise of your speech, the brilliant references (i will never forget your d grips reference in the Conrad review) or just overall deep and sincere appreciation of the art form. Keep doing what you're doing, lots of love, positive vibes and NAKED LUNCH REVIEW WHEN ;D

[@cormacgreene8505]

It is his best book. Your analysis is wonderful. Maacah was Alsolam’s mother. I’m interested in how Faulkner took one the major stories of the Old Testament and brought to life in the twentieth century. A story about treachery and degradation.

[@coopaloopmex]

Great Review! Thanks I just finished this book and I enjoy hearing many different interpretations that I can use to bounce off my own ideas of the book. Better than Food! Way Better than Food!

[@joelcasseus628]

I think that there's a curious anachronism since slavery was abolished in Haiti after the end of the revolution January first, 1804. Great review brother!

[@SmallSpaceCorgi]

Madison Smartt Bell's "Haiti Trilogy"-- very much something I hope you'll read and review...

[@cemilaltnbasak1197]

You're brilliant, man! Thank you so much for your sincere and sympathetic way of criticizing.

[@wojciechkowalik4949]

I appreciate his work and could follow the "plot" (which is not really a plot), but I must say I got bored many times during my reading, because I felt like he often wrote too extensively about many events. I think it was his purpose to be repetitive and the whole story seems like puzzles thrown around on the table and then being put together as the story goes, as he creates new connections and presents new perspectives on events, which the reader was briefly told about. Even if it was an exhausting read and sometimes I needed to force myself to go back to it, it will leave some interesting thoughts in my head (like the one about the war which was seen by Henry as a tool to solve his own personal problem).

[@Migsfigs8]

I don’t know if you explain this in the video, but it really throws me off that the quote in the thumbnail is not from Absalom! Absalom! Maybe it’s just supposed to be like a general Faulkner quote but I think it could be misleading to someone who isn’t already familiar with Faulkner, idk…

[@michelebuckles7865]

Will be reading this next! Have you ever read Dead Souls?

[@bobbowden7228]

I promise you no one else will alert you to this superb book. A long neglected English novelist. I promise you I’ve read a great, great deal and this is in my top ten with Blood Meridian, Absalom Absalom, Moby Dick, The Idiot. It’s Recollections of a journey by R C Hutchinson. Please don’t miss it.

[@christopherpaul7588]

Better than Blood Meridian or The Heart is a Lonely Hunter? My two favorite Southern novels. Carson McCullers is unique for me- I've only read one of her novels but I consider her one of my top 5 or 10 favorite writers of all time.

[@llamawizard]

I'm reading the heart is a lonely Hunter right now. I'm quite enchanted with it.

[@nt4382]

It's like if Blood Meridian and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter had a baby that outgrew them both.

[@christopherpaul7588]

Wow! That's quite a statement. I'll have to give it a try. I've tried reading Faulkner twice and couldn't get through either time. Three times a charm!!

[@alphonseelric5722]

Blood Meridian is a western. I don't think its seen as a southern novel. McCarthy's Suttree is up for it tho.

[@christopherpaul7588]

@@alphonseelric5722 OK, well they are both considered Southern Gothic literature.

[@MarlaCouture]

I'd be interested to see more reviews on that box of literature by Arab/Middle Eastern writers that was given to you by a viewer.

[@Kokirikid101]

Great review my man, I highly suggest you read Petersburg by Andrei Bely

[@samp.8975]

i was seeking a great novel a couple of days ago and when i watched this book review, i was like...oh! i really need to try to read this kind of stuff, it sounds so good. so I bought it and I'm currently trying to get into but... damn, this is such a hard reading! you was right ! But it won't stop me, i will weather it. thx for your amazing job !

[@allenmahan9393]

Very nice read thru. Have you read Light in August now? Very cathartic. Thx, mate.

[@TheMarshallCraft]

I'm about to read this book. I can't wait.

[@x0rn312]

Check out Light in August too if you haven't yet

[@Im_No_Expert_72]

Off topic but what do you think of E.L. Doctorow? Ragtime is one of my favorite books. Loved Welcome to Hard Times. Then was dismayed to find that I don't like any of his other work. Some portions of Billy Bathgate and portions of The Book of Daniel we're okay, but nothing like the intense plot and character development and immersive complex story of Ragtime. 🤔😐

[@alexnegri921]

You should review a Halldor Laxness book.

[@1324hh]

Independent People. Love that novel

[@josegiovanni9310]

Great review. Some Philip Roth perhaps?

[@lionstandingII]

21:35...thousands of men of African descent fought on the side of Righteousness...

[@billcook4768]

“We just switched narrators with no warning so wh-wh-what the fuck.” Yep, he’s reviewing Faulkner.

[@steve5123456789]

So it's basically Wuthering Heights meets the count of monte cristo with a southern background?

[@capnbusterfield]

It would be interesting to hear your viewers "greatest southern novels" I haven't read Absalom, Absalom yet so my greatest southern novel.....The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn.

[@reaganwiles_art]

"But let flesh touch with flesh and watch fall all the eggshell shibboleth of caste and color too"

[@joshc6569]

Reading is a habit I can't kick. Can't even have a coffee without a book in hand. I'll need a Faulkner to get through that Americano.

[@rileyurbano4754]

have you considered reviewing any plays? pygmalion or marat/sade perhaps?

[@kanjiluva]

You are awesome! Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Excellent reviews!!

[@ItsVyy]

Im interested in your take on The Idiot, the easiest Dostoyevsky novel to read but one of the most difficult to stomach.

[@GabrielaSchumann88]

I've read other books by Faulkner but never this one and your review made me want to read it so much! I was ready to buy it and clicked on your link, but the "everywhere else" doesn't have the link for buying it through the Brazilian Amazon (amazon.com.br)...maybe you could add it too?

[@BetterThanFoodBookReviews]

I'm not sure what the reason is, however I'm looking into it - thank you for notifying me

[@GabrielaSchumann88]

Better Than Food: Book Reviews don't mention it, and thanks for the reply :).

[@marclayne9261]

Hemingway was a journalist.....quote from Nabokov....

[@marclayne9261]

I read late into the night, then sleep on a difficult , novel...my brain works it out, mostly.....

[@aniketsanyal5586]

happy to see this video, though I couldn't finish the damn book in time for class! would love to hear your thoughts on a recent China Mieville short novel called This Census Taker, wild stuff. Cheers!

[@danasheys9300]

Would be nice if he talked about the novel fer crissakes

[@jasonburleson9403]

I was seriously ready to fight you if you shitted on this book. Just came across your channel recently and really enjoy everything. All the best from Prague!

[@bipedofthecentury9956]

When will you upload a new video to your film review channel?

[@johnsilver8059]

Faulkner’s treatment of African American characters is far more human than Hemingway’s. Faulkner’s Black characters are fully developed people.

[@samuelbird7151]

Perhaps you should write a book on coffee the process

[@samuelbird7151]

Hey man read lonesome dove I don’t care if you don’t review it I just strongly believe you need to read it

[@JavierCarrilloMilla]

Just thought about adding this because it came out as a thought after watching the review. By 24:10, you make emphasis on "It's impossible [..] How? How a man creates something this good [...] The vision of one man". And then it came to mind "The past is never dead. In fact is not even past". I think we tend to forget we are part of it too and though we think of ourselves in singular it should, in experience, be plural? Maybe I'm going to far but that's the thought I had. If the past is not even past and we are part of it. Then is we not I. Again maybe I'm going too far :D

[@latinavalues]

Who is the author mentioned around 24:00 sounds like voorhees

[@BetterThanFoodBookReviews]

Jorge Luis Borges

[@latinavalues]

Better Than Food I heard a similar name on a House of Leaves review, gonna check him out!

[@nakshatrasengupta4117]

It that dandruff?

[@noabaak]

That kind of incestuous plot is so common in Korean dramas and makes me not want to read. Frankly, is it shocking knowing it’s all lies?

[@danasheys9300]

Ok it was a decent talk

[@LuisFlores-cx8bo]

A cabo de leer sartoris de William faulkner. Excelente novela.

[@cataamaire4421]

I love your videos, but im not a native english speak so sometimes a get lose because you speak kind of quickly, so i'm not being able to show you to my friends. I love your videos, anyways! Thanks

[@AndreeaDaniela.28]

3:14 start here

[@alexandrahope8814]

Hi, I'm not sure if it's just my phone, but the link didn't work for me... Help! Also, again, it could be my phone, but you're a tad overexposed (?) Or very healthy and glowy 😀

[@alexandrahope8814]

I'm in India, if that helps...

[@BetterThanFoodBookReviews]

Teresa Thevercad not sure what the problem is - doesn’t seem to work for some countries.

[@kingfisher9553]

🍗🦐💥

[@abhilashupadhya]

Where is the link to your facebook page?

[@Ben-vf8jv]

Hey Cliff. I really don't get Lolita. The writing is beautiful, but it's superficial because it's not describing anything of intellectual worth. The main character, he's basically just spending the duration of the book talking about his love of this little girl, and why you should sympathize with that action. Far be me from a moralist, but I just couldn't help wonder how I was supposed to appreciate this book. Do I appreciate it simply for it's subversiveness? Or is there some greater beauty to derive from the book?

[@rottenrafflesia]

Watch the yale lecture on lolita on youtube. it's titled "5. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita"

[@Tolstoy111]

Lolita is a dense, allusive work with more layers than an onion. It’s about a lot more than his obsession with the girl.

[@samsmom400]

It was interesting until you used the F word. I had to give it a thumbs down and quit watching.

[@maroofmajidi]

It's not a book review. It's just killing time telling the story in a boring way.

[@Oldman808]

KZbinrs love to waste viewers time yammering before they get to their content.

[@rizzomatt]

Worst book I ever read.

[@yusufayaz2356]

Grapes of Wrath > Absalom Absalom!

[@Ryowazza99]

Yusuf Ayaz why?

[@yusufayaz2356]

Ryo wazza it's a more monumental work to me. Also, i'm not from the States but Steinbeck was able to teleport me to the South, i wouldn't say the same thing about Faulkner. Of course it's a matter of individual taste and opinion bcoz both the novels are epic.

[@Ryowazza99]

Yusuf Ayaz yes I understand. I haven't read Steinbeck yet but I agree with you about Faulkner. He has a great ability to express the thoughts and the psychology of the characters but not equally of the environment. Probably it was not so important for him!

[@yusufayaz2356]

Ryo wazza couldn't agree more. Plot is secondary to a lot of Faulkner novels, be it Absalom Absalom or The Sound and the Fury. A lot goes on inside the minds of the characters rather than outside. Like for instance, the whole plot is more or less revealed in the opening chapter of Absalom Absalom which nevertheless doesn't make the novel any less gripping and intriguing. Faulkner to me is quite similar to French and Russian novelists on this front, especially Dostoevesky(hope i spelled that right) Plot and setting takes a back seat in such novels. Grapes of the Wrath is a must read bro. You won't regret it. The ending would leave you stunned.

[@briangallagher3106]

Grapes of wrath was my favourite book ever until I read East of Eden and then Crime and Punishment. I'm now reading Absalom, Absalom! Steinbeck is probably my favourite writer, his ability to put a place firmly in your head is unrivalled if you ask me. I've read As I lay Dying by Faulkner and felt there would be no Grapes without that book.

[@featherycoffee1401]

Dude you look pale, probably the lighting

[@franciemacleod]

Hey 'Better than Food'. You have created a wonderful site here. Great idea and taking on Falkner, wow.

[@NjIceTea]

Great, informative video. Inspiring me to take this on

[@nowheredan27]

Alright, you convinced me.