The Holy Cross Book Study resumes on January 25 at 10 a.m  in the church Common Room.  The community is welcome to join in these lively discussions led by Wanda K. May.  The books are available at The Book Shelf in Tryon.

Published in 1936, Absalom, Absalom! is considered by many to be William Faulkner’s masterpiece. Although the novel’s complex and fragmented structure poses considerable difficulty to readers, the book’s literary merits place it squarely in the ranks of America’s finest novels.

The story concerns Thomas Sutpen, a poor man who finds wealth and then marries into a respectable family. His ambition and extreme need for control bring about his ruin and the ruin of his family. Sutpen’s story is told by several narrators, allowing the reader to observe variations in the saga as it is recounted by different speakers.

We tend to consider the words justice and redemption as two separate things: legal actions and spiritual events. But in life and in literature, they are most often blurred and intertwined. We seek justice in our understandings of family, community, nation, history, humanity and self – and we search for redemption in those places as well.

– submitted by Lori Walter