#59 in Historical fiction
Absalom, Absalom!
- 378
- Pages
- about 7 h
- Reading time
- 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction
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Our view
“Absalom, Absalom!” is a dark, demanding Southern Gothic tragedy that repays the effort it asks. Several narrators, none fully reliable, piece together the rise and fall of the planter Thomas Sutpen around the Civil War, retelling the same story with new details each time. Some readers are won over only in the final two hundred pages; others find the long, winding prose and the repetitions dull. It suits readers willing to go slowly.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Absalom, Absalom! is a Southern Gothic novel by the American author William Faulkner, first published in 1936. Taking place before, during, and after the American Civil War, it focuses on the rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen, a plantation owner in the American South, as told by several unreliable narrators many years later.
Reading order · Sin and Salvation
Full order & progress →- The Sound and the FuryStart here
7.67.6 / 10 - As I Lay Dying
7.57.5 / 10 - SanctuarySanctuary–Not ranked yet
- Light In AugustLight In August–Not ranked yet
- Absalom, Absalom!This book
8.28.2 / 10 - Requiem for a NunRequiem for a Nun–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.4 across 85 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 37% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Historical fiction average of 8.0. That is how 8.2 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 9.0 | 10 | 12% |
| Hardcover | 8.3 | 75 | 88% |
Frequently asked
How long is Absalom, Absalom!?
It has 378 pages — shorter than 64% of the ranked books in Historical fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Historical fiction — with scores between 8.0 and 8.2, closest to this book.
