Of course, this quote expresses a raison d'être for modernism itself, and so Absalom, Absalom! could be read as, not just an example of modernism, but presenting modernism as its thesis: where in life do any of us truly encounter linear plots? Experience goes frame by single frame, and whenever we tell a story we do so by reaching into the past: with all the groping and dreaming that this entails, all the contingencies of the present shaping the present moment and thus the dream itself.

“That is the substance of remembering-sense, sight, smell: the muscles with which we see and hear and feel-not mind, not thought: there is no such thing as memory: the brain recalls just what the muscles grope for: no more, no less: and its resultant sum is usually incorrect and false and worthy only of the name of dream.” The novel documents each ripple starting fresh from that center again. Or to steal Faulkner's metaphor: at the center is a rock striking a lake. It doesn't follow a line to a point, it spins in circles around its object, capturing new shades each time the light hits differently. Its important that the book begins with Quentin sitting and receiving the story in that hot little room.

Although for me the main theme of the book is the telling and passing on of the story. As for analysis, I think a lot of what you said is right. Faulkner shows you all the notes that are in the scale he'll be using, then builds them into chords, and transforms them into music. Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner When he completed Absalom, Absalom in May 1936, Faulkner said, 'I think its the best novel yet written by an American.' He described it as 'the story of a man who wanted a son through pride, and got too many of them and they destroyed him. Absalom, Absalom is one of my favorite from Faulkner.

Absalom absalom by william faulkner