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As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying
Author: William Faulkner
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 no...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780679732259
ISBN-10: 067973225X
Publication Date: 1/30/1991
Pages: 288
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 279

3.4 stars, based on 279 ratings
Publisher: Vintage
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed As I Lay Dying on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
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.
reviewed As I Lay Dying on + 109 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
A good intro to Faulkner's writing. A disturbing, sometimes darkly humorous account of a family's struggle to properly bury thier mother.
lisareinke avatar reviewed As I Lay Dying on + 123 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Required reading for me in high school. However, I was shocked that I found the book extremely entertaining and funny. Black humor at its best and wacky but real characters. The stream of consciousness writing style is brilliant, Faulkner, ya know, but difficult to get into. Much like trying to read Shakespeare or listen to opera. Well worth it, if you can do it.
reviewed As I Lay Dying on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
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.
CharleneY avatar reviewed As I Lay Dying on + 80 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Somewhat interesting, though sometimes the language and writing style was hard to muddle through.
Read All 31 Book Reviews of "As I Lay Dying"

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reviewed As I Lay Dying on + 10 more book reviews
Superb story teller. Classic Faulkner.
reviewed As I Lay Dying on + 53 more book reviews
The conventional wisdom says that this a good introduction to Faulkner's unique style of writing. True, it's short and the black humor gets us readers over white waters in the stream of consciousness. But the multiple points of view may disconcert and disgruntle. And then there're sentences like this: But it's better to build a tight chicken coop than a shoddy court-house, and when they both build shoddy or build well, neither because it's one or tother is going to make a man feel the better nor the worse. Wait, what? There's no getting around that a reader has to read it twice through, once, then again quick. Nothing good comes easy, momma always said. Note: this is not the only masterpiece he wrote in the Thirties.
areadingwoman avatar reviewed As I Lay Dying on + 30 more book reviews
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.
reviewed As I Lay Dying on + 9 more book reviews
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.


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