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Absalom, Absalom!
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Check link for latest rating. ( 47,311 ratings, 3,265 reviews)
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Absalom, Absalom!
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This postbellum Greek tragedy is the perfect introduction to Faulkner’s elaborate descriptive syntax.
Quentin Compson and Shreve, his Harvard roommate, are obsessed with the tragic rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen. As a poor white boy, Sutpen was turned away from a plantation owner's mansion by a black butler.
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
Absalom, Absalom! is Faulkner's gripping, dark tale of pride and prejudice in the Deep South.
This postbellum Greek tragedy is the perfect introduction to Faulkner's elaborate descriptive syntax.
Quentin Compson and Shreve, his Harvard roommate, are obsessed with the tragic rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen. As a poor white boy, Sutpen was turned away from a plantation owner's mansion by a black butler. From then on, he was determined to force his way into the upper echelons of Southern society.
His relentless will ensures his ambitions are soon realised: land, marriage, children, his own troop to fight in the Civil War... but Sutpen returns from the conflict to find his estate in ruins and his family collapsing. Secrets from his own past threaten to ruin the lives of his children and destroy everything he has worked for.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Critics highly praise Absalom, Absalom! for profoundly exploring themes related to the South and the human condition. The novel is celebrated for its philosophical depth, originality of style, diverse characterisation, and emotionally powerful narrative. Faulkner is commended for his exploration of human nature beyond regional confines, capturing universal truths through detailed and fallible characters. Reviewers note the novel's significant moral purpose and staggering literary achievements, describing it as both heart-wrenching and awe-inspiring.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780099475118
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 19 January 1995
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Vintage Classics
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 23.0mm
Width: 130.0mm
Height: 197.0mm
Weight: 274g
Pages: 384
About the Author
Born in 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi, William Faulkner was the son of a family proud of their prominent role in the history of the south. He grew up in Oxford, Mississippi, and left high school at fifteen to work in his grandfather's bank. Rejected by the US military in 1915, he joined the Canadian flyers with the RAF, but was still in training when the war ended. Returning home he studied at the University of Mississippi and visited Europe briefly in 1925. His first poem was published in The New Republic in 1919. His first book of verse and early novels followed, but his major work began with the publication of The Sound and the Fury in 1929. As I Lay Dying (1930), Sanctuary (1931), Light in August (1932), Absalom, Absalom! (1936) and The Wild Palms (1939) are the key works of his great creative period leading up to Intruder in the Dust (1948). During the 1930s, he worked in Hollywood on film scripts, notably The Blue Lamp, co-written with Raymond Chandler. William Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 and the Pulitzer Prize for The Reivers just before his death in July 1962.
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