Absalom, Absalom! In-Depth Playlist: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nMuDfth83Jfcgok.html Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/thecodexcantina Bookmarks: Publication Info: @2:47 Yoknapatawpha Reading Order: @3:27 Why the Text is so Important?: @4:25 Faulkner Warnings: @6:23 Narrators: @8:38 Story as Mystery/History: @10:39 Major Themes: @12:12 Greek Myths, The Civil War, The Bible Road Ahead: @17:03

This excellent, thanks. Great that you put so much importance on not ruining the story.

You had me with the Pip-Boy on the shelf behind you.

Thanks guys. This is all excellent. I'm glad there's people like you two out there.

Ok, it is difficult, but the pleasure is so high, the Great Art is so high that exceeds the difficulty. I read it when I was 20 and since I read it every 2-3 years. It is like new. Now I am 68... So, it justifies your excitement. Bravo ! A Greek friend, Dimitri.

This sounds like a meaty, dense and rewarding experience. I will be looking forward to following your journey and updates through it

Oh, wow, this video series is so helpful! I read Absalom, Absalom years ago with the Volpe, Brooks, and 3 Decades of Criticism books to help begin to understand it, but I am so excited to read it again with your video discussions. Great book! Thanks for all you do.

Thank you for this. My book club (Books and Bourbon) has decided to read (reread) some of the classics we read (were supposed to read) in our school days. It is my turn to chose the next book. I remember not getting through this novel in college and thinking that now, as an adult, I should be able to. I just finished the first chapter and thought maybe my cohorts would not like the effort this book requires. Your encouragement has inspired me to go ahead and suggest the book for our next read. I will certainly be reading and coming back to your videos for a clearer understanding. I'm looking forward to learning a lot.

Such a good video. Absolutely loved it!

I’m going to try to squeeze this book in before the month ends. Great video.

Oooh, Cassandra is one of my favorite characters from Greek mythology. I wish I had time to read this with you guys 😭 It’s pretty amazing how many writers use Greek mythology, in some way, in their story framework. Knowing those myths really brings literature to life.

Excellent breakdown of what you need to know before reading! Bravo! As far as Greek mythology, epic, and drama, it would be well worth it to brush up on Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy, and Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Like you said, Rosa is the Cassandra of the novel to Sutpen's Agamemnon. Faulkner makes reference to Pyramus and Thisbe too, but I'm not sure that's necessary reading. As far as spoilers go, I'm not disagreeing with you entirely, but I don't think spoilers are a big deal in this novel with one exception (not gonna spoil it here, but the big shock/reveal about the fate of a certain character near the end is definitely worth not being spoiled). This is Faulkner's love letter to Greek drama and perhaps to Shakespeare too. Audiences who went to see Greek drama and to Shakespeare's Globe theater already knew the stories they were about to see. And even if they didn't, Shakespeare tends to spoil it in the prologue of many of his works (Romeo and Juliet's prologue). We want to avoid spoilers for our modern day epics (such as the MCU films), but back then the fate of most characters portrayed were common knowledge. Biblical allusions: Wow, I never noticed the Creation story allusions in the creation of Sutpen's Hundred. Nice catch! As far as David and Absalom go, and you mentioned this in another video not too long ago (pretty sure it was in one of the Go Down, Moses videos), Faulkner thinks he knows the Bible, but his knowledge is very vague or skewed, or perhaps he does this on purpose. I read Aristotle's poetics for the first time last year. I'm interested to hear your take on how it applies to Faulkner's magnum opus. Love the shirt!

I read _The Sound and The Fury_ first so I tend to think that makes _Absalom,Absalom_ more decipherable. Not sure I think this is the greatest or most important work in American Literature, but it is Faulkner's masterpiece which is saying something. I've always thought that the novel reveals Faulkner's own slow realization of the damage done to the South by its history of violence and racism. Its like Faulkner revealing the truth about the South as he knew it in his time. This book is very important to me and my own thoughts about my own Southern heritage.

Wow...your channel is great!

Very helpful thank you!

Many thanks for this chaps. It's my intended Faulkner read for this year

faulkner is so deep he enlists you into the myth -you become one of his characters. i know... it happened to me.

Great start to this! The Old Testament influence is palpable, particularly with the link that the Israelites felt to the Promised Land and that emphasis on a critical link between the land and the people, similarly emphasized in the Fisher King myths with King Arthur. Great call out on the symbolism of Cassandra. That’s such an important piece to sift the various unreliable narrators Faulkner humbly presents us with. The title also feels valuable: Sutpen as a David who never has a Solomon. There really aren’t good sons in his oeuvre. It’s interesting to view Sutpen’s story as a tragedy. He’s such an awful person, but he possesses a dangerous charisma and just keeps reaching and overreaching. I’ve been thinking about how as a character he sort of combines aspects of both Hamilton and Burr, with the abolitionist ideas of Burr a fascinating counterpoint.

So helpful! Thank you

Sorry guys, but I had to read the cast of characters in the back because my memory isn't what it use to be, and I need references. Great job of explaining the book in layman's terms.

Have you read Light in August? I think that could be my favorite of Faulkner thus far

I finished it, it took a while and it was hard work, but I'm glad I finished it.

And I thought Tropic of Cancer was a pain in the ass. What have I gotten myself into? Thanks for the info!

Hello! Thanks for your great videos!😊 I'm a Chinese student majoring in English literature, and I wonder if I can repost your Faulkner series videos on bilibili, a video platform in China. I will add English and Chinese translation subtitle so that more Chinese viewers can understand them. I will affix the sources if I am authorized to repost, and these videos will not be for commercial use.

I might try and keep up...I make no promises, only Faulkner I read was As I Lay Dying when I was 17 and I did not particularly enjoy it but I would be interested to see how my literary reading has hopefully improved and atleast have you guys for guidance

The second you said you have timelines for every two chapters, the book was immediately in my cart lmao

In typical Inexplicable Faulkner fashion he wrote the same characters, or at least the same names across many different short stories and novels. As reader you might immediately think that you recognize the character from.... wherever, but in alot of cases they may not bear any resemblance to one another save for the name.

Thank you!

Ok! I’m with you guys! So far…. 😆

Too late, I’ve already read 130 pages. I read all the bios at the end 😩

sweet thanks!

I am hoping that you are still doing reviews. A,A! is my all time favorite. Faulkner, while a writer in residence said that YOKNAPATAWPHA means "Water runs slow through flat land." I guess that the meaning you provide "split land" could mean the same thing. I do hope that you will do an updated version, from a literary criticism angle and invite me to join. It is interesting to hear you say that Sutpen "brings" slavery to the South and disrupts society. My question is since Bon is Haitian and New Orleans is central to the conversation of miscegenation and the laws of Haiti's President Boyer's Rural Code of 1826 is the destruction of "white lineage" inevitable? I think so. Faulkner's work is masterful in that the destruction of the Southern way of life too was inevitable.

Amazing job🥺

yay!

😀😀

I never understand why people say this book is difficult. If you try and jump straight from “Green Eggs and Ham” to “Absalom, Absalom!” then it is difficult. Otherwise, it’s relatively simple.

Absalom Absalom is one of the most tedious books about boring incest and post-tramamatic stress and Faulkner’s fantasies are grotesque.

This book was painful to read. How can this guy be considered a great author?