Absalom, Absalom!

De: William Faulkner

Narrado por: Grover Gardner

Absalom, Absalom! tells the story of Thomas Sutpen, the enigmatic stranger who came to Jefferson township in the early 1830s. With a French architect and a band of wild Haitians, he wrung a fabulous plantation out of the muddy bottoms of the north Mississippi wilderness.

Sutpen was a man, Faulker said, "who wanted sons and the sons destroyed him". His tragedy left its impress not only on his contemporaries but also on men who came after, men like Quentin Compson, haunted even into the 20th century by Sutpen's legacy of ruthlessness and singleminded disregard for the human community.

©1986 Jill Faulkner Summers; 1993 Books on Tape, Inc.

Awesome Book

This book was a difficult but great read. Faulkner makes use of an interesting technique by jumping back and forth between the past and the present with many of the characters. By doing this he creates a patchwork of small bits of information that eventually come together as a whole piece. Although this creates a very unique read it also becomes hard to keep all the facts straight, but if you stick through to the end you will not be let down.

PS: The second time through is better

Outstanding All Around

I love Faulkner, and had tried to get through reading this book three times, all without success. The writing, while beautiful, is just so dense, and takes so much concentration to understand, that I plain ran out of steam each time. But I decided to give the audio book a try. My thinking was that maybe a narrator would interpret the writing, and give me a boost in understanding it all.
Unlike most of my plans and schemes, this one worked to perfection! Grover Gardner did a flat-out incredible job narrating. His tones, his inflections, his interpretations, were uniformly superb. With his help, the novel became comprehensible. I wasn't even aware when he hit the infamous 1300-plus-word sentence, it was all so smooth.
And what a novel! I hadn't known beforehand that this book is held in such esteem by Faulknerians, but it is, and justly so. It is breathtaking in scope and execution, nearly on a par with The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying. And praise doesn't come higher than that.
Thank you, Grover Gardner, thank you Audible!

Really difficult to follow in audible version

This novel is heavy, nearly indigestible.

I find it rather challenging to absorb, while driving (where I listen most), all the import of sentences filled with words that stretch the lexicon of even a Hahvahd literature professor. So, I purchased both the text and audible versions to listen to some and go back through. This proved too time-consuming.

If I were learned enough, perhaps I'd have enjoyed it enough to give it 5 stars. On the other hand, were I a true redneck I wouldn't have picked it up and certainly would have chunked it after Chapter 1.

If you purchase this, be sure to carry a pocket-sized dictionary for quick, easy and frequent reference.

Not for the faint of heart

I love classics. I've said that before. This is my third Faulkner. I listened to "The Sound and the Fury" and "Light in August" and now, "Absalom, Absalom!".

Faulkner is difficult, but I was able to follow each of the first two stories without a lot of difficulty.

But Absalom, Absalom! was a disappointment.

I didn't like the narrator at all. He didn't create a different voice for each character and it was hard to keep track of who was speaking. I read on the web that he has a beautiful reading voice -- but I was just irritated. I was frustrated through the entire first half of the story. When I got to the second half of the story, which was being told by the younger generation, I started to figure out what was going on.

There was enough of a story to make me want to listen to the entire recording -- I didn't give up on it. But I actually listened at 1.5 just to get it over with. Maybe some day I'll see if there is another narrator available and listen again -- or maybe I'll try actually reading it!

Classic book, okay Narrator

The book is a classic for a reason.
This audiobook though is unlikely to become one. The narrator is only subpar. He is an okay reader, but he doesn't differentiate between the characters particularly well, which makes it difficult to tell who is currently telling the story.
I also wouldn't recommend listening if you aren't already familiar with the book.

This Faulkner novel is best heard as audio storytelling

The plot is a complex interweaving of narratives and of several people telling or retelling a dark family history. Stream of consciousness and side notes or explanatory references within a single sentence reminded me of the way southern relatives would spin a story of some event. And easier for this “ reader” to hear rather than parse the written word. Brilliant storytelling. And complex.

Not Faulkner's best work

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Faulkner was notorious for going on a binge when he finished a novel. This book reads like he started drinking heavily from page one. I have read most of his works and this book (next to the Fable) is one of my least favorites. I decide to listen to it, in hopes that it would fall anew to me on listening ears. Unfortunately that was not the case. Faulkner is the master of the stream of consciousness writing that seems to be popular now, but this story was too disjunctive and difficult to follow. The flashback parts of the story make it difficult to tell where you are in space with the timeline. I would certainly not recommend it for bedtime reading. It takes way too much concentration to read casually.

Would you be willing to try another book from William Faulkner? Why or why not?

I have read most of his work, and will continue to revisit his better works. His best book in my opinion is Intruder in the Dust.

Which character – as performed by Grover Gardner – was your favorite?

Rosa

Do you think Absalom, Absalom! needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Not likely since Faulkner is dead. Anyway, most of his books intertwined the stories of many families in Yoknapatawpha county. To me that is his brilliance. Every time I read one of his works, I can see another story intersecting with it at some point.

Any additional comments?

I love Audible. I love to read and there are too many books in the world and too little time. Audible has given me the chance to listen to books while I workout or dive my car.
Thanks Audible.

An adventure in language

Listening to this story is like taking a bubble bath in a dictionary. The richness of Ffaulkner’s vocabulary is engrossing. The story is complex but slowly moving through the many conversations going on and finally the ends tie together. I don’t believe I could have gotten through the book but enjoyed the audio very much.

Challenging and rewarding

Faulkner's exploration of human nature, of the civil war south and all of the prejudices, the taboos, the struggles for acceptance give the reader today, 150 years after the war ended, an understanding of it all that no other writer has or could ever provide.

Ambitious, brilliant, allegory

Not only is this book incredibly well written in scope and scale, but the narration is, without a doubt the best I have ever heard! James Joyce fans will find this easy to get through. Not a Joyce fan, no worries, it's stream of consciousness "light". perfect for the ambitious story structure, but not too tangential.