How difficult is Absalom Absalom! as compared to Sound and the Fury or other books?
>>8095612
Haven't read Absolam, Absolam, but tbqhpfam TSATF was more accessible than I previously had thought (before reading it, that is. It's a matter of mentality, I think. Don't go in expecting this book to be difficult or you'll be looking for things that might not even be there.
>>8095612
I had an easier time with A,A! once I finished reading with TSATF. It's complicated at times, but just read through it. In the end everything just coalesces and makes sense.
>>8095695
>In the end everything just coalesces and makes sense
I promise I'm not meme'ing here, but this is exactly how Infinite Jest was for me.
>>8095612
anyone else got an opinion here
>>8095612
It's tough but hardly impossible. I recommend reading it slowly and at least twice. It's not a difficult as Ulysses or Gravity's Rainbow
>>8096518
Just read it, man.
I find reading AA more difficult (reading it right now, almost finished) because Faulkner uses more advanced and obscure vocabulary and complex sentence structure, so the meaning of what is being said could be more difficult to understand. With TSATF the vocabulary is more basic but it's more difficult to figure out what exactly is going on due to the heavy stream of consciousness, but it just takes a bit of connecting the dots to get it. Some parts in the Quentin section are really difficult to interpret though.
I found A,A! quite a bit easier but also less good, so maybe I was reading it all wrong.
>>8095612
The main difficulty with it is just getting through it. It employs very long sentences and confusing narration, so it's easy to get discouraged. However, if you can relax and keep going, Faulkner circles details through other narrators, often repeating parts of the story 3 or 4 times, and (much like TSATF) it all makes sense as you approach the end.
It's difficult for sure, OP, but it's a staggering work of art and you should definitely give it a go if you're considering it.
I'd say Absalom, Absalom! is Faulkner's most difficult and most rewarding novel.
>>8095695
I just finished As I Lay Dying, what's the most logical progression through Faulkners books? I'm not that experienced with reading stream of consciousness, but I got through AILD and it left me wanting more.
>>8096985
If you want to ease yourself into his harder works, I would next read Sanctuary, then Light in August, the TSATF, then Absalom Absalom
Can any other American besides Melville come close to him?
>>8097970
idk honestly
I mean, Moby Dick is imo the greatest novel ever written-- but most else of Melville's comes nowhere close to it.
Faulkner though wrote like four masterpieces consecutively, it blows my mind. one masterpiece per year for four or five years is just insane
anyway no other american writers can touch them (inb4 gass or nabokov)
>>8095612
I did Absalom Absalom for a grade 12 independent lit project, so it's not that hard.
>>8097970
Twain...mmmn yeah no one else I can think of. Pound if you count him.
>>8097970
Henry James.
Depends on what you mean by hard. The prose isn't the easiest, and the vocabulary is sometimes academic, but compared to Eliot, Joyce, Gaddis who allude constantly to the Western Canon, Faulkner almost never does directly, with the exception of the Bible. So from that perspective it's not hard
>>8098429
Allusion is for faggots. Only faggots allude.
if u read sound and the fury u will be fine. it's not a large leap and difficulty.
it's also objectively his best
>>8098429
>The Sound and Fury
>Shakespeare's Macbeth
>>8095662
>haven't read [book in discussion] but here's my opinion anyway
This post is a microcosm of every /lit/ thread.
It's fairly well agreed that A,A! is his most difficult work, Benjy's chapter really isn't that difficult in terms of stream-of-conciousness, not to say its not well done, it's an incredibly affectionate section and close to perfect for the character (it is perfect just to clarify) but A,A! is on a different level that rivals Joyce at times.
