Vintage International 1990
Marc J. Cohen

“Because there is something in the touch of flesh with flesh which abrogates, cuts sharp and straight across the devious intricate channels of decorous ordering, which enemies as well as lovers know because it makes them both:—touch and touch of that which is the citadel of the central I-Am’s private own: not spirit, soul; the liquorish and ungirdled mind is anyone’s to take in any any darkened hallway of this earthly tenement. But let flesh touch with flesh, and watch the fall of all the eggshell shibboleth of caste and color too.
”
― William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!

Absalom, Absalom! is said to be Faulkner’s most difficult but most brilliant work. Absalom presents the story of Thomas Sutpen, an enigmatic stranger who came to Jefferson 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.”

Described as ‘hard-core Faulkner’, one review says: “The words and writing are critically acclaimed since your parents were in school. The examples of how a war can raze an entire culture’s edifice of identity are compelling, each person’s doom and curse being common among her kin and her countrymen: ghosts and sex and violence and cruelty, gut wrenching drama to challenge any soap opera or miniseries or movie. There are themes and studies aplenty within the nightmare realm of Faulkner’s masterpiece.”

Absalom, Absalom! includes characters and shadows from The Sound and the Fury but delves more deeply into the surrounding world and Southern inheritance that S&F traces. The multiple voices and perspectives each clamor to have their story told, to get to the heart of how they understood the fecund and exhausted world and their role in it. Faulkner orchestrates shifting sympathies and the reader is struck with how deeply immersed we become with the characters and the unfolding mystery at the heart of the work. Racism and its imbedded structure in Southern history at first seem to be the background against which the drama of the story is played out; but ultimately slavery and its de-humanization of all involved becomes the project of the book to explore—although from an unusual and intimate angle.

This book will offer the Salon much to discuss in its gorgeous language and complex subjects: racial identification, pride, identity, impact of history on family, the drive of revenge, the struggle to claim selfhood in a broken world. . .

 SALON DETAILS

• Facilitated by Salon Director Toby Brothers
• Seven- meeting study  starting 5th October   (No meeting 19 October nor 9 November)
• VIRTUAL meetings– on ZOOM
• Recommended edition: Absalom, Absalom!, by William Faulkner, Vintage Classics  edition (1995); ISBN-: 978-0099475118
• Cost £170 includes notes and critical resources

Clytemnestra, by John Collier, 1882

Antigone, Medea, Clytemnestra, Phaedra, Electra, Hecuba—it’s remarkable that some of the most memorable female characters in drama might first have appeared on stage before an audience of only men (with the roles played by men, as well). We are not sure whether women were even allowed to attend theatre performances in 5th century Athens. We do know, at least, that these fascinating characters were created in a place and time where women had little place in public life.

It’s all the more fascinating, then, that the playwrights who brought them to life gave a voice to such noble, clever, passionate—and above all, strong—women who were keenly aware of the contraints placed on them by the society in which they lived. Whether in doing so the writers were portraying what they desired, or what they feared, is much less clear.

In the six weeks of this study we’ll read six of the finest Classical-age Greek dramas, from Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides–the latter, especially, showed a keen interest in the lives of women: Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, Sophocles’ Antigone and Electra, and three plays by Euripides, the Medea, Hippolytus and Bacchae.

SALON DETAILS

• Facilitated by Mark Cwik
• Monday evenings 7:00 pm – 9:15 pm
• Six-meeting study, 05 October to 16 November 2020 (no meeting 26 October)
• Online discussions using Zoom meeting interface. Zoom is free for participants, instructions will be sent upon registration.
• Recommended edition:
  • The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides; edited by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm; ISBN-13: 978-0812983098
• £150 for six-week study, includes notes and questions for preparation.
  

TO REGISTER for the study, please use the secure Paypal payment button below to pay £150.

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR: Mark Cwik has been organizing and leading discussions of great literature for over twenty years in London, Chicago and Toronto. He specializes in works from the ancient, mythic and religious world. He was trained as a discussion facilitator while at the Great Books Foundation in Chicago and has been a passionate advocate for great books education since attending St. John’s College, Santa Fe and the University of Chicago Basic Program in Liberal Education.

“I’ve been coming to Mark’s discussion groups for about 15 years . . . Mark is amazing in his ability to keep the group functioning smoothly. He asks questions that get to the heart of the piece and he keeps the group focused on those questions. You don’t feel that he’s trying to steer us to any conclusion; he’s in it with us to figure out what the author is saying. He makes everyone feel welcome and their opinions are respectfully heard. He’s always prepared and totally dedicated to advancing our understanding of the great books.” — group participant.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact us.