Absalom, Absalom!

This was the first Faulkner novel I attempted to read/listen since high school (when I thought I'd never read Faulkner again). With that said, I found this audiobook to be really excellent, and I plan to buy more of Faulkner's books. The reader was crisp, clear, and fit the book perfectly. Warning: this story/ plot line may be difficult to follow. If one is unfamiliar with the story, I recommend consulting some sort of plot chronology because it makes the listening experience a lot more enjoyable. (google University of Virginia and Absolom)

For me having this book read to me as I read along w/ an actual book in hand made this book much easier to comprehend. I tried first to read the book, and then just listening to the audio book~I needed to do both. The more you listened, the easier this story was to follow. You get pulled in by the author and the narrator.

I was nervous to read Faulkner having always heard how difficult his novels were. I was pleasantly surprised by the ease at which I was able to handle Absalom, Absalom! I give full credit for that to the excellent interpretation of Mr. Gardner. I never had trouble following the thoughts or complicated storyline of Faulkner's masterpiece. I now believe he is a MUST READ.

A terrific novel -- one of the finest written in America. And as a Southerner I have to salute the narrator. His accents weren't bad.

This book was a difficult but great read. Faulkner makes use of an interesting technique by jumping back and forth between the past and the present with many of the characters. By doing this he creates a patchwork of small bits of information that eventually come together as a whole piece. Although this creates a very unique read it also becomes hard to keep all the facts straight, but if you stick through to the end you will not be let down.

PS: The second time through is better

It is hard to say which of Faulkner's works is my favorite, but Absalom, Absalom! certainly ranks in the top three. Grover Gardner is wonderful as the narrator, too. Faulkner, of course, is not an easy read, but with time one can begin to understand the "flow" of Faulkner's writing. I think this Audible presentation is an excellent way to capture Faulkner's wonderful poetic voice. Highly recommended!

A difficult listen. Faulkner is never easy but always enjoyable. Your efforts will be well worth it.

I love Faulkner, and had tried to get through reading this book three times, all without success. The writing, while beautiful, is just so dense, and takes so much concentration to understand, that I plain ran out of steam each time. But I decided to give the audio book a try. My thinking was that maybe a narrator would interpret the writing, and give me a boost in understanding it all.
Unlike most of my plans and schemes, this one worked to perfection! Grover Gardner did a flat-out incredible job narrating. His tones, his inflections, his interpretations, were uniformly superb. With his help, the novel became comprehensible. I wasn't even aware when he hit the infamous 1300-plus-word sentence, it was all so smooth.
And what a novel! I hadn't known beforehand that this book is held in such esteem by Faulknerians, but it is, and justly so. It is breathtaking in scope and execution, nearly on a par with The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying. And praise doesn't come higher than that.
Thank you, Grover Gardner, thank you Audible!

The reader has a great voice. He never seems to get bored with the material. How could he?

I'm not sure, but there were some good ones.

His voice, intonation, and accent.

No, it takes time to digest.

none

Faulkner was notorious for going on a binge when he finished a novel. This book reads like he started drinking heavily from page one. I have read most of his works and this book (next to the Fable) is one of my least favorites. I decide to listen to it, in hopes that it would fall anew to me on listening ears. Unfortunately that was not the case. Faulkner is the master of the stream of consciousness writing that seems to be popular now, but this story was too disjunctive and difficult to follow. The flashback parts of the story make it difficult to tell where you are in space with the timeline. I would certainly not recommend it for bedtime reading. It takes way too much concentration to read casually.

I have read most of his work, and will continue to revisit his better works. His best book in my opinion is Intruder in the Dust.

Rosa

Not likely since Faulkner is dead. Anyway, most of his books intertwined the stories of many families in Yoknapatawpha county. To me that is his brilliance. Every time I read one of his works, I can see another story intersecting with it at some point.

I love Audible. I love to read and there are too many books in the world and too little time. Audible has given me the chance to listen to books while I workout or dive my car.
Thanks Audible.