Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner was an interesting, but ultimately painful read. This book, being written by Faulkner, is written in his (infamous?) stream-of-consciousness style, including also multiple unchronological storylines. The story is about a Harvard student, Quentin, learning about and later reiterating to his friend, a set of incidents surround the family of a mysterious man named Thomas Sutpen and his family, their rise and downfall. It seems that the theme of this novel may be the summed up by the phrases “the sins of the south” and “it doesn’t always work out,” because of the various tragedies that befall the town of Jefferson and the sins, which may have accelerated the fall. The intended audience, to my knowledge, are …show more content…
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love a good classic book for I have read many, but this monstrosity of a novel is much different than anything I have ever experienced. Absalom. Absalom! is set in the Antebellum South, however spans multiple generations. It, as I have already told, mainly chronicles the life of those connected to Sutpen, but as heard through the ears of Quentin from his father and Miss Rosa, and old lady whose sister was married to Sutpen and eventually married Sutpen as well. Since the book is told out of order, forgive me if I mess any of this chronology up. Sutpen arrives in Jefferson, Mississippi, having only two pistols, some gold (enough to buy a bunch of land), and some French-speaking black slaves. The town is very suspicious of him because he is a recluse who seems to be quite cold-hearted and calculating. The only friend Sutpen really makes is with the father of the daughter he wants to marry, who later starves himself to death for a mysterious reason which may have had to do with Sutpen. Eventually, and after a few small incidents, Sutpen marries her, Ellen, and they have two children: Henry and Judith. Sutpen becomes a very successful plantation owner and the community