NP: Shadow Country

[Heikki Raudaskoski]

BTW, GR is 37 years old, as was AA! when GR came out. Both in my Top 5.

However, I'm quite confused by the following remark on the AtD Wikipedia
page:

"(The passage in Gravity's Rainbow about the "black indomitable oven" with
which the witch-like Blicero, another Faustus character, is left once the
Hansel-and-Gretel-like children have departed, alludes to another passage
in Absalom, Absalom!)" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Day

It's been a while since I last read AA! but how could the oven bit
refer to Sutpen? Or does it refer to Henry in his dark room at Sutpen's
Hundred in 1909?


Heikki


On Wed, 17 Mar 2010, rich wrote:

> nothing can compare to the sheer density and baroque nature of the language
> of Absalom Absalom admittedly. Watson you'll see is a complex character,
> lots of distortions to his history by others. Guess you could compare him to
> Thomas Sutpen a man who ultimately destroys what he worked so hard to build
> up but I think PM's strengths as a writer are a wonderful way of writing
> about nature (which is not a surprise) but more importantly the skewed and
> twisted nature of race relations, capital greed, and frontier spirit in the
> 19th century in the US (which makes me really yearn to read that John Sayles
> unpublished novel about America in the 1890's and its involvement in the
> Philippines). You'll realize a growing sympathy for anyone who works cutting
> sugar cane that's for sure
>
> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 10:23 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Thanks for the tip.  I understand from reading the Publisher's Weekly
> > review on Amazon that this is semi-fictional, based on the true story
> > and associated legends re. Edgar J. Watson, a real plantation owner in
> > the South Florida Everglades in the late 1800's, supposedly a mean SOB
> > who murdered a slew of his many enemies over a long period of time.
> >
> > How is it redolent of Absolom, Absolom?  In my opinion comparing any
> > writing to anything by Faulkner is setting up the former for failure.
> > It's hard to think of anyone who can write with Faulkner's eloquent
> > power.
> >
> > David Morris
> >
> > On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 10:12 PM, Bekah <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> > > Has anyone read this fine novel?   Shadow Country by Peter Matthieson,
> >  912 pages,  winner of the National Book Award 2008.   I'm devouring it -
> >  redolent of Absolom, Absolom!
> > >
> > > Bekah
> > > http://tinyurl.com/my-bloggish-thing
> >
>