Absalom, Absalom! vs Intruder in the Dust: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: American Manuscripts, Facsimiles, Manuscripts, Fiction
Absalom, Absalom!
“From a little after two oclock until almost sundown of the long still hot weary dead September afternoon they sat in what Miss Coldfield still called the office because her father had called it that -- a dim hot airless room with the blinds all closed and fastened for forty-three summers because when she was a girl someone had believed that light and moving air carried heat and that dark was alway”
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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…
Intruder in the Dust
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Using his preferred stream-of-consciousness style the author tells a story of a black farmer in Mississippi accused of murdering a white man.
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Absalom, Absalom! highest: Absalom, Absalom! 4.1 · Intruder in the Dust 3.7.
- Intruder in the Dust has the widest readership — 6496 ratings behind its score.
- Intruder in the Dust runs the darker storyline; Absalom, Absalom! stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Absalom, Absalom! | Intruder in the Dust | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.7 (6496) |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (74) | 4.2 (8) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (90) | 4.5 (13) |
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Reception
| Absalom, Absalom! | Intruder in the Dust | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 90 | 6496 |
| Editions | 58 | 38 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 7307 |
| Reading it now | — | 346 |
| Written reviews | — | 634 |
| Wikipedia attention | 14664 | 1510 |
| Pages | 321 | 247 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Absalom, Absalom! or Intruder in the Dust?
Absalom, Absalom! has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Absalom, Absalom! 4.1/5, Intruder in the Dust 3.7/5).
Which is shorter to read: Absalom, Absalom! or Intruder in the Dust?
Intruder in the Dust is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Intruder in the Dust (247 pages, ≈ 4 h 34 m); Absalom, Absalom! (321 pages, ≈ 5 h 57 m).
Which is harder to read: Absalom, Absalom! or Intruder in the Dust?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Absalom, Absalom!: Demanding; Intruder in the Dust: Demanding.