When he completedAbsalom, Absalom!in May 1936, Faulkner said, “I think it’s the best novel yet written by an American” (Blotner 364). That assessment remains valid. It is also among the most demanding of American novels, one which, as one critic said in 1954, “should have no casual readers” (Scott 219). What we found in applying the methods of the Reading Faulkner series toAbsalom, Absalom!is that the novel has in fact had generations of casual readers (including both of us) who have understandably been drawn to a handful of critical, powerfully meaningful passages, while too often leaving...

TitleAbsalom, Absalom!Numerous critics have discussed the meaning of the title. Faulkner took it from 2 Samuel 18:33, which records King David’s reaction to the death of his rebellious son: “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” While the biblical reference affirms the son, it is not apparent in Faulkner’s title alone who that son is—Henry, Bon, Quentin, or Sutpen himself. Nor is it apparent how David’s plaint that he wants to die for his son applies to the novel’s presumptive king, Thomas...