Absalom, Absalom!

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.

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.

"Read, read, read. Read everything-trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window." -William Faulkner Absalom, Absalom! is Faulkner's epic tale of Thomas Sutpen, an enigmatic stranger who comes to Jefferson, Mississippi, in the early 1830s to wrest his mansion out of the muddy bottoms of the north Mississippi wilderness. He was a man, Faulkner said, "who wanted sons and the sons destroyed him."

"Read, read, read. Read everything-trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window." -William Faulkner Absalom, Absalom! is Faulkner's epic tale of Thomas Sutpen, an enigmatic stranger who comes to Jefferson, Mississippi, in the early 1830s to wrest his mansion out of the muddy bottoms of the north Mississippi wilderness. He was a man, Faulkner said, "who wanted sons and the sons destroyed him."

“With the Norton Critical Edition of Absalom, Absalom! , Susan Scott Parrish has set a new standard for studying Faulkner’s masterwork that will benefit both students and researchers in the decades to come. Situating this most difficult of novels in its historical, authorial, and critical contexts is no easy feat, but it is one that Parrish has accomplished with grace and aplomb. An astounding achievement!” —Dr. Ahmed Honeini, Royal Holloway, University of London “Parrish’s indispensable edition offers students and professors a wealth of historical and cultural information about Faulkner’s greatest novel. Including the authoritative text, relevant short stories by Faulkner, crucial contextual material, and some of the most important criticism, this volume deserves a place on every Americanist’s bookshelf. This will be the definitive edition of Absalom, Absalom! for years to come.” —Harilaos Stecopoulos, University of Iowa

“With the Norton Critical Edition of Absalom, Absalom! , Susan Scott Parrish has set a new standard for studying Faulkner’s masterwork that will benefit both students and researchers in the decades to come. Situating this most difficult of novels in its historical, authorial, and critical contexts is no easy feat, but it is one that Parrish has accomplished with grace and aplomb. An astounding achievement!” —Dr. Ahmed Honeini, Royal Holloway, University of London “Parrish’s indispensable edition offers students and professors a wealth of historical and cultural information about Faulkner’s greatest novel. Including the authoritative text, relevant short stories by Faulkner, crucial contextual material, and some of the most important criticism, this volume deserves a place on every Americanist’s bookshelf. This will be the definitive edition of Absalom, Absalom! for years to come.” —Harilaos Stecopoulos, University of Iowa