It is a briliant book but I can't quite give it a five star rating - although I'm not sure I can articulate the reason without a great deal more thought


Gripping and revelatory   December 10, 2001
 19 out of 21 found this review helpful

This is a compelling novel, as well as a literary masterpiece.

The death of Addie Bundren in the country, and the desparately hard and bitter journey to bury her in the town of Jefferson, is told primarily through the voices of her husband and five children. The force of the novel comes through the narrative structure - by employing the different voices of his characters, Faulkner paints a vivid picture of the time, the country and, particularly powerfully, the hostilities and bonds within the family.

The plot is delicately unravelled and wholly satisfying. Any reader - with a passion for reading - will find this book gripping and profoundly affecting.


The most exciting book I've read in years   November 21, 2001
 19 out of 20 found this review helpful

This is a truly exceptional book. Faulkner takes the fragmentary narrative approach of 'The Sound and The Fury' to its logical conclusion in this astonishing book, in which we see through the eyes of virtually every character. The most strikingly modern approach to charcterisation I've ever read, and this in a novel published in 1930! I think it is Faulkner's best work.

If you want a novel that will rejuvenate your love of literature, then read this book.


Why are you laughing Darl?   August 28, 2001
 13 out of 15 found this review helpful

"As I Lay Dying" is hard work. The plot; the last journey of Addie Bundren as her rotting corpse is carted through the Deep South to be buried with her family; is told by several narrators. These are her children, her husband, her neighbours and even people who are not involved very much with the plot. This tennis-match narration is made even harder by the fact that the narrators are often insane (one central narrator is eventually incarsarated in a lunatic assylum), simple-minded or withholding information from the reader. Due to this large tracts of the plot are obscure. Moreover the stream-of-consciousness narration, often filled with cubist or surrealist imagery, makes some passages unreadable (at one point a narrator comes out with a 14-line sentance). Yet despite this, AILD is The Great American Novel. Stick with it & its very rewarding. It is a dark, bleak epic, rich with the lore of the Deep South & underpinned by threads of black humour. Seeing the novel's events from a kalidoscopic viewpoint is (albeit unrealistic as some of the language is too poetic for traditional rednecks) also appropriate in contributing to the novels' themes of the tricks of awareness & self-identity. A beautiful novel, written with genius.


A really difficult read   July 6, 2001
 4 out of 16 found this review helpful

This is a really difficult book to get into and is a really difficult read. However, it can be quite enjoyable if you let confusing parts wash over you and recognise the black humour which penetrates Faulkner's work.