As I Lay Dying: The Corrected Text

That is saying something, as Faulkner never deals with functional families. Anse Bundren is both put upon and the instrument of his own self imposed bad luck, due primarily to his condition of not being able to sweat lest it make him ill, which is unfortunate for a farmer in the deep south before air conditioning. Addie apparently hates her family, except for Jewel, the progeny of an affair. The novel opens brilliantly showing Jewel's straightforward determined character in simply how he walks. His stubborn work ethic setting him apart from Anse. Dewey Dell has her own problem she's trying to solve and Darl is the only one who really catches on but he's also crazy. Cash is just Cash; a carpenter holding up the coffin in progress for his mother to see out the window. Addie insists on being buried in Jefferson on the other side of the county and circumstances coalesce to make this the odyssey from hell. But Anse has his own plans and a kind of pride, as does Dewey Dell. I've read this novel three times and will read again. The humor (hilarity) is there as is tragedy and bad breaks (one literally) and the Faulkner trick of planting images and tableaus in your head while reading also. The Bundrens are cleverly contrasted with just about everyone else along the way who seem to have their acts together. I understand how Faulkner can be difficult at times, but this is worth reading and re-reading. I've read all of the Yoknapatawpha County novels except The Mansion and I'm half way through The Town, and this is still my favorite. The James Franco film of this is brilliant and worth watching as well. They did an amazing job of bringing this book to the screen with some creative techniques and the acting is superb.

I loved this book! It’s definitely not for the faint of heart, written in stream of consciousness between several different characters. I’m truly captivated by this piece and will be delving more into the works of Faulkner!

Updated review: I was quickly sent a replacement with a perfect cover. I'll still be able to give this book as a Christmas present after all! Original review: First of all, five stars for the story itself, one of my favorite classic books. This one, however, arrived with a torn front cover. It was meant to be a gift, and if I had wanted to give someone what looked like a used book, I would have saved myself the money and shopped at a used book store.

I found it interesting how the story sort of blossoms out of the words ethereal like. More like the idea of a story than a narrative.

I haven't finished the book yet, but knowing ahead of time that each chapter is spoken from each character's point of view helps. Some of the dialog is a bit archaic at times, but so far, I'm enjoying the book.

An easy way to approach this book is to imagine that it is the narration to a movie, but that for some reason we can't see the screen. Remember that Faulkner was a successful screen writer, with Humphrey Bogart's The Big Sleep to his credit. A book usually tells a story, but a movie shows us people. This book might not spend much time on a story, but it does tell us a lot about the people in it. We find Faulkner's novels difficult because of their style. This classic tale of a morose family burying their matriarch is a stream-of-consciousness novel, meaning Faulkner wrote something that mimics our "internal monologue", i.e. the verbal thoughts that go through our head whenever we daydream, or take a walk, or do something that requires little concentration. The difficulty, and the pleasure, in this technique comes from having to piece together ourselves what really happens. Faulkner has the main characters talking to themselves and since they already know themselves and the people around them, they don't need to describe what we want to know, leaving us always confused. However, they do drop hints. For example, when we meet Darl early on, we know this is a younger character because he refers to "pa" and "ma". A couple of short chapters later, Cora says that all he needs to become right is to find a wife, so we know he's a young man of age to marry. By the end of the novel, all that we know of the Bundren family was revealed to us this way. Once we turn the last page, we realize that we know everything important about this family: who has courage, who is generous, who is self-righteous, who is short tempered, who has suffered and when and why. And all this without a plot.

The book was not missing any pages or anything like that, came on time. Now on to the rant, this book was one of the most frustrating things Ive ever read, I read this in a highschool class and Ive never been big into this kind of book, but reading this had me close to throwing it at a wall a few times. Think carefully before picking this up for fun.

I purchased this book for my masters LIT class for an assignment. I was apprehensive about it at first but glad I purchased it. For the year it was written, it was well worth it. It is not easy for everyone to read a story that was published 1930. We have to keep in mind that movements towards women were in motion and that the novel may challenge what we perceive as ignorant now. It was just the way of life then. It was an easy and quick read for me. The impact of how the family had to make a journey to meet the wishes of Addie. Each chapter is told from a different character and you get a feel for how each character interacts with each other but also what they are feeling during this harsh time. No one wants to watch someone slowly leave them but the fact they are doing what she wanted makes it all the more worth it. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a story that has heart, this is the one for you.

Una de las obras maestras de Faulkner. La historia te atrapa desde su inicio y combina tragedia y humor de forma magistral.

Very slow book with lots of detail. Had to give up halfway through May visit it when I have more free time. Not to be read for past-time This book is the perfect example of the "stream of consciousness" which was used by Modernist writers

COURS

El papel es de buena calidad, también me gustó la textura. El tamaño de la letra es adecuado. Tiene muchos modismos por lo que es recomendable tener un conocimiento avanzado de inglés

Wow, the book is great