Book Reviews of As I Lay Dying

Hard to follow and sort out the characters at first. I particularly like Faulkner's stream of consciousness style. The characters were very colorful. A good change of style and pace for me.

I had a very hard time getting into this book. His writing seems all over the place to me. Although, I will admit that I enjoyed how he ended it.

Definitely not for everyone, I read it for school and was actually able to get into it and enjoy it, but not everyone can.

Somewhat interesting, though sometimes the language and writing style was hard to muddle through.

My first Faulkner read.... it was a great book, but hard to read at first until you get used to his style. In the end, I enjoyed reading the story through each individual's eyes.

Oh my goodness. I just love this book. It is written so well, from the varying points of view of the characters. It tells a deeply disturbing tale that may seem so harrowing that the book could be simply labelled as depressing, but there is so much more to it. The motifs, themes, language and development of character are brought together so beautifully. William Faulker excelled on this one.

Excellent read, hard to read if you dont take your time but , once you get started its easy to read.

There is no way around the fact that Faulkner is hard to read. However, this is one of his more enjoyable books. It is humorous even though the subject matter is so disturbing. Personally, Varderman is the most intriguing character. No one cares enough to explain to him the situation surrounding his mother's death, so while his conclusion that his mother is a fish is disturbing, it still remains humorous.

This was my first attempt at Faulkner. Somehow I managed to go through my entire undergraduate degree in English without so much as glancing at a Faulkner book. I was neither surprised nor disappointed in this book, it was about what I expected. It takes awhile to get in to the vernacular, but the story is interesting enough to get you through. All-in-all a worthy classic but by no means a "fun" read.

It was a good read overall but a little challenging understanding Faulkner's writing style. The main characters were so annoying with apologies and weaknesses. I wanted them to have a stronger backbone.

This is tough going at first until you get used to the way it is written. Then you see the humor in this picture of the incredible struggle of a lazy man with an obsession. Seems like an oxymoran doesn't it? Read it and see. Very tight and typical Faulkner.

I suppose everyone wishing to be considered well-read needs to read at least one Faulkner book. I read some of his shorter pieces in high school and didn't understand them; I've now read this book when it was assigned to my son's high school class, and discovered that I still didn't get it.

Age and experience level don't seem to matter--I just can't relate to these works. Certainly Faulkner's prose is powerful, but equally powerful are his unusual (or weird, or strange, or just downright disturbing) characters and the situations they find themselves in, and the prose isn't enough reward for me to continue reading.

Well, it's not my kind of prose, but lots of people disagree with me; it's a classic. From the back cover: "As I Lay Dying is Faulkner's harrowing account of the Bundren family's odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Told in turns by each of the family members--including Addie herself--the novel ranges from dark comedy to the deepest pathos.
This edition follows the text of As I Lay dying as corrected in 1985. It includes an editor's note by Noel Polk on the corrections as well as line and page notes prepared by Joseph Blotner."

Book set in Mississippi....good read

Annotation
As I Lay Dying is the harrowing, darkly comic tale of the Bundren family's trek across Mississippi to bury Addie, their wife and mother, in the town of her choice. The story is told by each family member -- including Addie herself.

Faulkner's use of multiple viewpoints to reveal the inner psychological make-up of the characters is one of the novel's chief charms.
From the Publisher
At the heart of this 1930 novel is the Bundren family's bizarre journey to Jefferson to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Faulkner lets each family member — including Addie — and others along the way tell their private responses to Addie's life.

Great book!

great for teens or college students' summer reading lists

voted Oprah's summer read.

An account of the Bundren family's odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife an dmother. Told in turn by each member of the family--including Addie herself.

I've not read anything by Faulkner but this was a good book.

Great Literature, I see that Faulkner is a superb writer for his time.

Faulkner is poetry. You aren't a reader til you read one of his books!

I love Faulkner's work. I have several of his books. This one is the regular size paperback that you will find in Oprah's collection, but it does have a used sticker on the back because it was from a college library and must have been bought used from the college book store. Other than the sticker and stamp it is in excellent condition!

Summary from back of book:
"As I Lay Dying is Faulkner's harrowing account of the Bundren family's odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Told in turns by each of the family members--including Addie herself--the novel ranges in mood from dark comedy to the deepest pathos.

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