As I Lay Dying

by William Faulkner

Review of As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

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      One of my top ten favorites, maybe number one.  Patience is needed to get into this book, with the unusual dialogue but is really worth it. Stay with it. Really human.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner was reviewed by susan

      Confusing and quite difficult from the first page to the last, but still! Faulkner writes peculiarly, and he emphazises and focuses and deepens in enjoyable ways, and he also shows a great understanding of dialog.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner was reviewed by Einar

      I will sum this book up in 3 words.... DRY AS DUST

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner was reviewed by Jena

       I read this novel recently in my English III class. Our teacher went through chapter by chapter to make sure we could understand it...And for a while, it didn't help. The book didn't make any sense. What kind of a family was this? When our class turned to Vardaman's fateful one line chapter, I think a lot of us gave up on the novel for good. "My mother is a fish"?!?!? What is this kid talking about!?!?!?! But as we persevered through the novel, day by day, chapter by chapter, it suddenly began to get interesting. I would relish getting to read another Vardaman chapter, hoping that a Darl would be soon around the corner. By the time the end of the book came, it was a sad thing. Darl's last chapter was almost like something sacred. It was written beautifully....The character progressions in the book are astounding.

       Don't give up on it because it's difficult in the beginning.

       A truly incredible novel.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner was reviewed by Nicholas

       Having heard of Faulkner's literary fame, I had bought his As I Lay Dying and put on the shelf among other novels, but when the miraculous time for me to take it out of its sanctuary, where it has waited in a modest patience, I encountered what a book can ultimately offer to a reader, not even Dostoevsky or any other classic authors gave such a taste, imagination, style and acknowledgement about human condition. Not it's one of my two favorite novels, the other being Old Masters by Thomas Bernhard. I Think the Americans should be proud of Faulkner's existance in their history.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner was reviewed by Baar Atc (from Turkey)

       While it is definitely not an easy read, consisting of a series of short stream of consciousness monologues by characters that for the most part are not very articulate, their sentences tangled, their wordings primitive or obtuse, As I Lay Dying is one of the better novels of the 20th century, rich in feeling, remarkable in characterization. There's a mistaken assumption floating around that difficulty in fiction is unnecessary. In the case of Faulkner, and many other great writers, it is very necessary, because oftentimes what they're trying to communicate, in emotional or narrative terms, would be done a disservice if they were to reduce its complexity  for the sake of the dumb kids in the class. To read a novel that is great and difficult is to be in a potentially rewarding dialogue with someone who respects your intelligence enough to think that you will engage their work on its own terms and get something out of it. As I Lay Dying has a lot of profound pleasures, and they can be extracted with only minimal effort by the able reader.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner was reviewed by sl_thr_p

       Well to be short and sweet; it was the biggest piece of shit ive ever read in my life...even worse than don quijote...and thats saying a lot

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner was reviewed by Jacob Daniel Hamalian

       Confusing, boring, wierd.  A complete waste of time to read.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner was reviewed by JP

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