Absalom, Absalom! - William Faulkner - 1936
Introduction
William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! (1936) is considered by many critics and scholars to be one of the most important and influential American novels by one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century. It is one of a series of great novels by Faulkner exploring the South, southern families, and effects of Civil War on southerners, such as The Sound and the Fury (1929) and As I Lay Dying (1930). Like many of Faulkner's works, a number of critics appreciated Absalom, Absalom! at the time of its publication, but its reputation as a major American novel did not come for some years.
The novel's title was inspired by the Biblical story of David and his son Absalom who turned his people against him. In Absalom, Absalom!, Faulkner emphasizes the centrality of the relationships between father and son in his gothic saga of Thomas Sutpen and his family. Using a number of narrators, including Sutpen's former sister-in-law and the grandson of his only friend, Faulkner allows each character to offer his or her point of view, adding to an understanding of the central, complex story. The result is an emotionally intense, chaotic psychological portrait that reflects the complexities of the South and human understanding of the idea of truth.
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