Absalom, Absalom!

However, what sold me on this book, and what made the entire journey through Faulkners labyrinth of parentheses more than worthwhile, was one line--the final line. The ending of Absalom, Absalom! absolutely blew me away and left me speechless. It was the perfect closing if I have ever read a perfect closing to any book.

This is one Faulkner novel a fan should not go without reading, but its not the one to start with; As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury should be read first (in that order). In addition, it will enhance the readers enjoyment if s/he first familiarizes him/herself with the Biblical story of Absalom (its short and itll help, trust me).

This is a book I will keep for the rest of my life.

"Not cowardice which will not face that sickness somewhere at the prime foundation of this factual scheme from which the prisoner soul, miasmal-distillant, wroils ever upward sunward..." This continues for quite some time. While an occassional sentence like this would add a sense of mystery and mysticism to the novel, when the whole thing reads like this, you get pretty tired. Another reviewer noted this sentence: "I became all polymath loves androgynous advocate." What?

I do like the narrative style though. You have a basic idea of the plot from the beginning, but pieces get filled in my different sources, leading to the overall picture of murder, decay, revenge. I didnt think the characterization was very good though, and that to me is the most important part of a book. Sure, you know who Sutpen is, but you dont really understand him. Ellen is called a moth, desperately clinging to the light but not understanding why. Thats pretty a beautiful simile, but not incredibly useful, since we dont know why Ellen is a moth, just that she is.

Basically, if youre going to read this novel, know what youre getting yourself into, and read it slowly, or youll have to go back a million times and re-read.