As I Lay Dying

Rating:
Summary: Some of you will not like this review...
Review: ...but I don't care!

The problem with a true democracy is that it dumbs down the process- some people aren't capable enough to handle the responsibility of freedom. Who said this? Some dictator, or a Fascist? No, it was Alexander Hamilton, the father of American Capitalism, and the man who prevented Jefferson from turning America into an agrarian tobacco farm.

What's the point of this nonsense? Well, obviously not all of you are up to the task of reading Faulkner. I shouldn't say it that way, because I don't mean to insult anyone, nor do I mean that if you didn't enjoy this book, that you are unintelligent. There is no denying, however, that Faulkner is not for everyone. The biblical and classical references ("As I lay dying, the woman...."), the failure to spell everything out, etc... you will, on occasion, have to go back 5 pages to figure out what's going on.... of course, that makes reading the book a second time eminently enjoyable!

This book made laugh and it made me think. That equals an automatic 5 stars!

The story is simple enough, I suppose. Rural, backwoods family (even the other townsfolk consider the Bundrens backwards)... matriarch is dying and the family intends to fulfill her wish of being buried with "her people" in town, some miles away. Along comes Faulkner's dark comedy and sarcasm (hmmm no wonder I enjoy his books) to fix things up... Anse, the husband, is a lazy, no-good bum... the oldest son is a carpenter who is so dumb that he is hammering together his mother's coffin as she sits within earshot of every nail being driven. Then there is Darl... what to say about him? The most interesting character in the book, the possessor of unusual mental abilities (psychic abilities?), and, along with his brother Jewel, the only one going on the journey without an ulterior motive. Jewel, the spoiled and selfish child who truly loved his mother. Dewey Dell, the white trash moron. And Vardaman, the kid who has no chance in life with these other morons raising him and no mother-- with no fire truck, he will be forced to play with the buzzards "a dark circle above, rotating retrograde"...

Hilarious and bitter. Just like Faulkner.

Rating:
Summary: Between what is and what is not
Review: "As I Lay Dying" is a meditation of sorts on what human existence means. Now, this sounds like a lofty and intricate philosophical discussion, but it's not. Faulkner uses the stream-of-consciousness technique to tell the story of Addie Bundren's final journey to the grave through the eyes and hearts of a dozen or so characters, including Addie herself.

What we're meant to see here, I think, is how tenuous our very sense of existence really is and how it is shaped by the events of our lives. Pay particular attention to Dewey Dell's constant thoughts about being and not being -- what actually exists and what she does not want to exist, namely the illegitimate child she is carrying in her womb. This theme is also a stark feature of Addie's one chapter, presumably narrated on her death bed, although it does not occur until well near the end of the book, leading the reader to wonder whether we are hearing her tale of bitterness and emotional disconnectionn from beyond the grave.

The chapters told through the eyes of Darl, the strange second son of Anse and Addie, are key not only to the book's plot, but to its theme. The family and neighbors suspect Darl is somewhat mad. He seems, however, to be almost psychic and extremely sensitive to the flow of events around him. Darl is a seer for whom time -- past, present and future -- is a seamless whole. Darl's chapters are by far the most poetic in the book and the most intricate for readers to navigate. It's well worth the effort.

In the end, the Bundren family's epic struggle to get Addie's body to the town cemetery where her own family is buried turns out to be a tragi-comic tale of how the Bundrens begin their own disintegration as a family. As Addie's corpse rots in its handmade coffin -- handmade by eldest son Cash and disfigured by youngest son Vardaman, who drills holes in the lid and into Addie's face -- the absence of her existence allows the Bundrens to implode.

There are two clues to what lies at the center of this novel (there are probably many, many others -- these two were the ones that stood out starkly to me). First, in her solitary chapter, Addie quotes her father: "the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time." Second, note that at several points in the novel, people greet one another: "The Lord giveth." We never hear the antiphony, "And the Lord taketh away." The Lord of "As I Lay Dying" gives both good and bad. It's up to humans to make what they will of what they are given.

This book is probably a bit too much for high schoolers. Undergrads will enjoy it, as will graduate students. Adult readers shouldn't be scared away by Faulkner's reputation for writing stuff that, quite frankly, is difficult to read. It's not, but it does require you to read it at its own pace. Take the novel on those terms -- linger over the free-flowing stream of thoughts and dash through the more straightforward chapters that advance the plot and deepen the characterization. If you are willing to do this, you'll find "As I Lay Dying" a gem that draws you back time after time.

Rating:
Summary: WASTE OF TIME
Review: There are practically an infinite number of reasons why youshouldn't waste your time on this novel. Its complexity is extremely pretentious; its characters are one-dimensional imbeciles (though I must admit that I like Anse's outlook on life); its 59 narratives are tedious; and its denouement is, to speak frankly, utterly pathetic (unimaginative to say the least).

This novel is classic Faulkner: readers are impressed by his command of YOKELesque speech, think his interior monologue usage is something that few writers can reproduce, see ambiguity as profundity, and thus dub it a great work (laughter!)...

If you can give me any reasons why AS I LAY DYING should be seen as an American masterpiece and not bloated garbage, I will be, as another reader put it, deeply "impressed."

Rating:
Summary: my mother is a fish, VARDAMAN
Review: si a veces yo tambien creo que mi madre es un pescado,vardaman.

para entender a faulkner debes seguir la linea de pensamientos de sus libros, pero no su libro como una entidad autonoma y despegada de la realidad sino como la parte de un ambicioso plan de describir el mundo, es por eso que la persona que escribio un comentario diciendo que no entiende porque vardaman dijo que su mama era un pescado no traten de entender a faulkner por oraciones sino como partes de ideas que estan fragmentadas, hay que buscar los pedazos y quien puede estar dentro de la cabeza de un escritor que es su universo? cada escritor nos deja ver las cosas como el las ve, pero no nos pide entenderlas, eso queda a opcion nuestra, dar a lo que a escrito una forma de coherencia, para que sea entendible para nosotros.... este viaje tragicomico es uno de los mas faciles de leer de faulkner ya que cada uno tiene y sostiene su dialogo interno de forma separada y uno lo va poniendo en su lugar despacio, como quien arma un rompecabezas. disfrutenlo para eso es que esta escrito.

LUIS MENDEZ [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: WHAT KIND OF CHAPTER IS THIS?
Review: VARDAMAN

"My mother is a fish."

(If you happen to know the answer to this question or can tell me how this is relevant to the novel, please feel free to e-mail me. I will be really impressed if you can tell me where Faulkner got the title for this book. DAY OF THE LOCUST character?)

Rating:
Summary: Seriously: what is all the fuss about?
Review: Old woman, waiting to die, with a big family around her. One of them is building her casket for her, and she can hear him banging away at the nails that will be holding together the boards destined to the stashing away of her body forever. Sad, poor, wretched, weak, et caetera.

If you are still reading this review, you have a chance of liking the book. Personally, I couldn't take it anymore. Just a big juicy grey cloud to bore everyone without even a mild attempt at making it entertaining. I cared for none of the characters (they seemed fake and unidimensional), and the story - or lack thereof - forced me to throw the book away after having gotten halfway through it. I can't even believe I made it THAT far. I guess I figured I owed it to literature to give the book a bigger chance. I regretted it 70 pages later, where I still couldn't take it.

The writing style is uninteresting, the characters are dull, the setting is lame. The book is a waste of time.

I gave it two stars instead of one, because - again - I owed it to literature not to make As I Lay Dying bottom out, even though, in my heart, I feel it deserves just that.

If you intended on reading it but haven't yet, then this review just saved you a few hours of time you can now spend flying a kite.

You're welcome.

Rating:
Summary: Sorry, but I don't think it merits more than 2 stars...
Review: This book is sad and hopeless. The entire tone is about death and dying and the unhappy people surrounding it. The character Darl is interesting, and Faulker's unique conveying of the story from different viewpoints as the book unfolds is what I feel is what makes for the sensational reviews. Although I understand many find this a work of literary genius, I don't feel it merits that much enthusiasm. This is essentially a unhappy story about sad people transporting a dead woman's body across a broken society. It does have it's creative points, but a reader looking for a good story to invest their time in reading would find better stories elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: savory hominy gravy
Review: This is the raw grit of Faulkner's art, an elemental brew. Perfect summer reading in the sticks.

Rating:
Summary: A chore...but worth it in the end.
Review: This was my first experience with Faulkner and I was overwhelmed. As I forced myself to get past the first few chapters, I loathed the language, the names of the characters, the interrupted style. To Faulkner's credit, however, I could see the vultures, smell the smells, and commiserate with the [unbelievable] lot of characters. I found myself getting completely unnerved just wishing they would hurry up and bury her! The ending was a great surprise and earned the story a few extra stars in my opinion. Reflecting back on the painful task of getting through it, I realized that this book actually made me think! His style is unlike anything I've ever encountered and I'm a better person for having read it. Tough? Definitely. Worth reading? I think so.

Rating:
Summary: This book sucked!
Review: As a high schooler I was forced to read this book for anassignment. I found it one of the most boring books I have ever read.It lead nowhere and was grueling reading.