Of too little reading and drunk men on horses

A fair approximation of my TBR pile 

My TBR pile has reached truly obscene proportions. I suspect I read less fiction this past year than any other year of my life: I was way too distracted with the jaw-dropping politics, the death of my favourite aunt who finally succumbed to cancer, moving house (again!), etc. etc. etc. I picked up novel after novel, only to put it down again and return to more fascinating (read 'horrifying') fare.

My disinclination to read fiction began to scare me, so I forced myself to pick up some classic fiction. I re-read Wuthering Heights and realized that Heathcliff, who had impressed me as such a romantic hero when I read some version of the story as a child, was actually a monster. I re-read Jane Eyre after watching the Wide Sargasso Sea film, again having read it when I was very young, and realized that Mr. Rochester, whom I had disliked intensely as a young girl, was actually a very sympathetic figure.

I ventured into the realm of vampire romance with Eugenia O'Neal's Beach Vamp, and was astounded to discover that I could find a vampire character sympathetic. (I should not have been surprised; I absolutely loved Willem Dafoe's vampire character in Shadow of the Vampire, as well as the classic film on which it is based, Nosferatu.)

The novel that made the greatest impression on me was Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner, first published in 1936. I love Faulkner. Anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the background to the problems with race relations that beset the US would find his work riveting. While The Sound and the Fury was tough going at times, Absalom was not just very readable, but a great page-turner. I could not put it down. I don't think any other novelist captures the ethos of the decaying American South quite as well as Faulkner. I imagine he was not much beloved of his fellowmen from the southland.

The title of the novel is significant. In the Bible, Absalom was the third son of David. He was charming and handsome, and lived in great style. Absalom's sister was raped by Amnon, who was their half-brother. Amnon was also David's eldest son. Faulkner's novel, while an allegory of the history of the American South, mirrors in many ways the narrative arc of the Bible story.

NOT William Faulkner!

When I was a literature undergrad, one of my lecturers told the class this anecdote. Her father was a student at the U of Virginia when Faulkner was writer-in-residence there. He vividly remembers Faulkner riding his horse across the campus on evenings, drunk as a lord. I was thrilled that someone I knew knew someone who had actually seen Faulkner in the flesh--even if Faulkner had been all but passed-out at the time!

I've disappointed myself enough in the past that I stopped making a list of New Year's resolutions many years ago. But I do intend to return to my lifelong bookworm habits. Here's hoping that 2018 is a happy and productive year for all of us. Happy reading, and happy writing!

~Liane Spicer