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As I Lay Dying
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Manufacturer: Vintage
Author: William Faulkner
Publisher: Vintage
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $10.36
You Save: $ 2.59 ( 20% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Vintage
Author: William Faulkner
Publisher: Vintage
Average Customer Rating:
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As I Lay Dying Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780679732259
ISBN: 067973225X
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 288
Publication Date: 1991-01-30
Publisher: Vintage
Product Release Date: 1991-01-30
Studio: Vintage
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780679732259
ISBN: 067973225X
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 288
Publication Date: 1991-01-30
Publisher: Vintage
Product Release Date: 1991-01-30
Studio: Vintage
Editorial Review of As I Lay Dying
Faulkner's distinctive narrative structures--the uses of multiple points of view and the inner psychological voices of the characters--in one of its most successful incarnations here in As I Lay Dying. In the story, the members of the Bundren family must take the body of Addie, matriarch of the family, to the town where Addie wanted to be buried. Along the way, we listen to each of the members on the macabre pilgrimage, while Faulkner heaps upon them various flavors of disaster. Contains the famous chapter completing the equation about mothers and fish--you'll see.
Customer Reviews of As I Lay Dying
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Harrowing and thought provoking
Review: As I Lay Dying is my 2nd Faulkner novel. I read The Sound and the Fury many years ago, and did not care for it, maybe because I was too impatient with it's stylistic complexities. Having read Joyce and Woolf since then, I returned to Faulkner with a greater appreciation of the internal monologue/stream of consciousness technique those other writers employed to perfection. Faulkner uses that method, but hones it to a razor sharp clarity of purpose in this novel.
As I Lay Dying tells the story of the Bundren family, as the mother Addie dies, and according to her wishes, has her husband Anse transport her body for burial to her family home in Jefferson, Miss., a journey by wagon of about 30 miles made under extreme hardship and duress. Each chapter in the novel has the title of a character, and is told for the most part through that character's thought processes. There are characters outside the Bundren family who narrate some of the action and give their own views on the proceedings, but mainly the story is told through the minds of Addie's children, her husband, and even herself.
The character with the most to say is the 2nd oldest son, Darl, the most intelligent and sensitive one of the clan with an uncanny intuitive (almost telepathic) ability to understand others, like his sister Dewey Dell, and his half brother, Jewel. There is also the youngest son, Vardaman, who intuitively, is like Darl, but not mature enough to understand things logically or express his thoughts coherently. If there is a villian in this novel it is surely the father Anse, whose selfishness, stubborness, indolence, ignorance, and cold heartedness, abound, not only through his own voice, but through the voices of his children, wife, and acquaintances.
The Bundren family all suffer from that brand of poverty unique to the rural South in that time period, but each character has a unique and striking personality that shines through, and Darl, the one who asks the most questions, not only about what is happening to his mother and siblings, but about himself, is the one tragic character in the book. This book is about identity, and how it changes under duress, and Darl, the character with the most empathy, most suffers because of it. His identity, and ultimately his sanity, is at risk, not only from outside forces, but from those closest to him.
As I Lay Dying has moments of humor and warmth, but ultimately, it is a harrowing journey, and a masterpiece of it's genre. I will certainly make it my business to re-read The Sound and the Fury, as well as more Faulkner in the future.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Faulkner is Faulkner
Review: While his novels would never sell today, he is the undisputed King of Southern literature, and a brilliant writer. Anyone who loves literature can appreciate the sheer genius of his writing.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: i hated this book
Review: Unfortunately, this book was my first experience with
reading Faulkner and I was quite disappointed. The
stream-of-consciousness, the details about nature,
the disjointed presentation and the multitude of
characters are placed together quite well but that
doesn't make for a good story.
In this book, Faulkner dots all his i's and crosses
his t's and maybe he was saying something really compelling
seventy years ago but today, I just wasn't interested
in the story. The biggest problem for me is that all
of the characters are given equal importance and it
was really hard to figure out why I should care about
Abby and her family.
Frankly, by the end, I was ready to be done with the
whole book and glad it was over. I certainly didn't
learn anything of significance. I'm going to give
Mr. Faulkner another chance but I can't recommend this
book just because he's Faulkner.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: He write so good I wanna break his fingers
Review: William Faulkner is said to have completed As I Lay Dying in its entirety in six weeks while he was working the night shift at the University of Mississippi power plant. Having just finished my third reading of the text, I am certain that I have spent more time reading it than Faulkner spent writing it, and though I wish I were alive in 1930 to break his fingers out of pure jealousy, I am finally beginning to more fully understand the genius of this novel. Fifteen characters share the collective narrative voice of this polyphonic novel, the chapters of which are named after the point of view character that controls that chapter. The story takes place while Anse Bundren and his children transport Addie Bundren, Anse's wife, to her familial burial ground. The Bundren's suffer through flood fire, rape, and madness, on their way to Jefferson County. The book includes the chapter memorized by more readers than any other chapter in the history of the written word: "My mother is a fish."
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: fascinating writing
Review: I'm in the middle of it now and it's quickly become one of those books I hope will never end.
what writing!
Review Summary: Harrowing and thought provoking
Review: As I Lay Dying is my 2nd Faulkner novel. I read The Sound and the Fury many years ago, and did not care for it, maybe because I was too impatient with it's stylistic complexities. Having read Joyce and Woolf since then, I returned to Faulkner with a greater appreciation of the internal monologue/stream of consciousness technique those other writers employed to perfection. Faulkner uses that method, but hones it to a razor sharp clarity of purpose in this novel.
As I Lay Dying tells the story of the Bundren family, as the mother Addie dies, and according to her wishes, has her husband Anse transport her body for burial to her family home in Jefferson, Miss., a journey by wagon of about 30 miles made under extreme hardship and duress. Each chapter in the novel has the title of a character, and is told for the most part through that character's thought processes. There are characters outside the Bundren family who narrate some of the action and give their own views on the proceedings, but mainly the story is told through the minds of Addie's children, her husband, and even herself.
The character with the most to say is the 2nd oldest son, Darl, the most intelligent and sensitive one of the clan with an uncanny intuitive (almost telepathic) ability to understand others, like his sister Dewey Dell, and his half brother, Jewel. There is also the youngest son, Vardaman, who intuitively, is like Darl, but not mature enough to understand things logically or express his thoughts coherently. If there is a villian in this novel it is surely the father Anse, whose selfishness, stubborness, indolence, ignorance, and cold heartedness, abound, not only through his own voice, but through the voices of his children, wife, and acquaintances.
The Bundren family all suffer from that brand of poverty unique to the rural South in that time period, but each character has a unique and striking personality that shines through, and Darl, the one who asks the most questions, not only about what is happening to his mother and siblings, but about himself, is the one tragic character in the book. This book is about identity, and how it changes under duress, and Darl, the character with the most empathy, most suffers because of it. His identity, and ultimately his sanity, is at risk, not only from outside forces, but from those closest to him.
As I Lay Dying has moments of humor and warmth, but ultimately, it is a harrowing journey, and a masterpiece of it's genre. I will certainly make it my business to re-read The Sound and the Fury, as well as more Faulkner in the future.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Faulkner is Faulkner
Review: While his novels would never sell today, he is the undisputed King of Southern literature, and a brilliant writer. Anyone who loves literature can appreciate the sheer genius of his writing.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: i hated this book
Review: Unfortunately, this book was my first experience with
reading Faulkner and I was quite disappointed. The
stream-of-consciousness, the details about nature,
the disjointed presentation and the multitude of
characters are placed together quite well but that
doesn't make for a good story.
In this book, Faulkner dots all his i's and crosses
his t's and maybe he was saying something really compelling
seventy years ago but today, I just wasn't interested
in the story. The biggest problem for me is that all
of the characters are given equal importance and it
was really hard to figure out why I should care about
Abby and her family.
Frankly, by the end, I was ready to be done with the
whole book and glad it was over. I certainly didn't
learn anything of significance. I'm going to give
Mr. Faulkner another chance but I can't recommend this
book just because he's Faulkner.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: He write so good I wanna break his fingers
Review: William Faulkner is said to have completed As I Lay Dying in its entirety in six weeks while he was working the night shift at the University of Mississippi power plant. Having just finished my third reading of the text, I am certain that I have spent more time reading it than Faulkner spent writing it, and though I wish I were alive in 1930 to break his fingers out of pure jealousy, I am finally beginning to more fully understand the genius of this novel. Fifteen characters share the collective narrative voice of this polyphonic novel, the chapters of which are named after the point of view character that controls that chapter. The story takes place while Anse Bundren and his children transport Addie Bundren, Anse's wife, to her familial burial ground. The Bundren's suffer through flood fire, rape, and madness, on their way to Jefferson County. The book includes the chapter memorized by more readers than any other chapter in the history of the written word: "My mother is a fish."
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: fascinating writing
Review: I'm in the middle of it now and it's quickly become one of those books I hope will never end.
what writing!