Customer Reviews
Of no literary worth - By: Andrew Woollock, 17 Jun 2008 
Reviews are by nature subjective. That said, their should be a common element, an underlying current that runs through all reviews which peg the book (in this instance) at a similar level. That established, here I find myself rather baffled as to how anyone can either dredge or salvage anything from this book that would elevate it beyond a three star rating at maximum; there must be an element of consensus, because this book (or indeed any) has a basic content & structure, characters & plot that are capable of evaluation & critique. Let us call a spade a spade & not a shovel, this is a shovel!
I teach literature at university level & I am astounded how this book finds its way onto numerous 'must read' lists that appear on the internet & periodicallyin print. I can only imagine that the editors of such list either fail to read the entire content of said list, or they are simply keen to perpetuate the tired myths that unfortunately ensure largely worthless texts like this still make college reading lists. Either that or they simply read the dust jacket & go by the advertising copy; which according to the 'Vintage Classic' version I bought, sells this book as being, 'a portrait of extraordinary power - as epic as the old testament, as American as Huckleberry Finn'. Categorically is not, & I defy, nay challenge the publishers or indeed anyone to substantiate such a claim.
How ever you spin it, what ultimately transpires is that for any of the above reasons or others equally illogical, perfectly good texts - especially modern ones, are constantly ignored as white elephants like this go through their umpteenth re-print.
To get down to brass tacks, this book fails for a number of reasons, but amongst those I would cite the following five as being the major points of contention:
i) It is simply VERY boring indeed. A dull tale if ever one was told.
ii) The characters are neither well-established or particularly well-drawn. Faulkner's literary skills presented herein are neither worth of his acclaim nor his many accolades & awards.
iii) Structurally it is a simple narrative (not necessarily a problem), however, his language (except the odd regional accent) is unchallenging & unprovocative.
iv) It essentially fails to offer the reader anything. No new ideas, no philosophical insights, no social observations & no historical documentary per se. I think I picked out & highlighted about four sentencesin the whole book, that I felt were interesting.
v) Finally, it fails to establish a new genre, a new mode of expression. Likewise it also fails to re-establish a current mode or extend & develop a literary style. In plain terms that means it belongs nowhere, has no recognisable nor definable style & yet fails to take new stepsin establish a new genre; it is amateurish & unaccomplished.
The only plus point that one can give is the use of parallel narration that is quite interesting & mildly revolutionary. That said, the characters are not well enough established, nor well enough drawn as to make full use of this technique & so it simply adds confusion to the overall structure.
I cannot see one logical or justifiable reason why anyone should waste their time or their moneyin reading this text. Unless it is prescribed reading,in which case I would question the teachers motivations for electing this a a core or supplementary text. I think if you are studying American Literature, literature of death & dying, family structures etc. there are MUCH better books out there than this.
Dark Comedy and Psychological Realism - By: Mike London, 02 Nov 2007 
I just got thru reading As I Lay Dying for a college class. As I have read no other Faulkner, I cannot compare this with his other works. Although it takes time to get adjusted to it, the novel itself is grand, a tour de force as Faulkner called it. The family experiences Addie's loss.
Each character is fully realized, & every last one of them (in the family, anyway) is insane. Jewel is constantly cursing & using violence to express his love & anger. This isin direct relationship with his mother, because she did so with him. The very thing that defines him is when he calls his horse "You sweet son of a b----". That he how he relates to the world. He is a very angry young man, & cannot express himself properly without resorting to foul language.
Darl is a very interesting character. Although you may not catch it less you are paying attention, he has a telepathic ability, to read into people's mind. He is very perceptive. So perceptive,in fact, thatin one chapterin the first part he describes what is happening at the house as Addie Bundren dies, & he & Jewel are away from the house selling materials. His relationship with Addie is strained at best. She loves Jewel best. In manner of speech, Addie & Darl are closest, being very poeticin speech.
Cash is 28/29 & Vardaman's age isn't given. He is a little boy. Cash makes the casket for his mother. Vardaman becomes very confused during the duration of the novel, because he catches a fishin the beginning. The fish dies & they eat it (this is a correlation of the family being like buzzards during the journey). One chapter consists of a single sentence. "My mother is a fish". It is also foreshadowing of one of the more comic eventsin the novel. Darl says of Jewel, whose relationship with his horse is based after his relationship with his mother, that his mother is a horse, speaking metaphorically. Vardaman takes that literally also. If Jewel's mother can be a horse, he insists his mother can be a fish.
Tull is the only sane onein the story, & he is not a member of the family. He is a neighbour who is helping with the family. Cora, his wife, serves Godin a cliche way, & is generally niave. Brother Whitaker, without revealing too much of the plot, is important. Anse, the father, is hilarious. He says he cannot sweat because of some illness he got when he was 20. He won't do a damn thing. He won't be "beholden" to any man, which he says all the time. But he really doesn't want to do anything, & wants others to do it for him.
Dewey Dell is a very simple creature. She gets pregnant, & wants to have an abortion. She doesn't understand morality. Her intellect palesin comparison to Darl's; however, they have a psychic link together. Someone like this God would not judge harshly, because she does not have understanding.
Addie Bundrenin the single most important characterin the novel. Her chapter is a little past the center of the novel. The reason, one interpretation goes, is that Addie is like the spoke of a wheel, where the spoke isin the center, & everything is connected to it & comes out of it. She is a very hateful person. Although very poetic, she hates words, thinking them meaningless.
Sex to the Bundren family is not governed by morality (or at least they don't think it is). My teacher likened it to barnyard sex: animals are not governed by morality, & they just have sex. This is much the approach of this family, although of course they are wrong. Man is above animals, & morality governs this matter. Dewey Dell, of which much of the imagery associated with her is sexual, is very simple & knows nothing of sexual morality. Her name suggests her simpleton sexuality. Dewey Dell means "Moist Valley". Not to much of a stretch of an imagination to know what that means. She gets pregnant by Lafe. Dewey Dell is such of limited intelligence that she goes to the pharmacy at the end of the novel to get an abortion. The soda jerk tells her to come back, & then he has sex with her. She curses afterward, saying that won't cure anything. Darl & Cash masturbated while growing up. Addie is still lonely even though she has sexual relations with her husband, so goes elsewhere to find it. (Her children were there to cure her loneliness. An important lesson is lurking here: sex & children are two of the most precious gifts from God: they are exactly that - gifts. One must know Christ to have a truly fulfilled life).
Dark humour is very prevalent thruout the entire novel. Everything from Addie making her water trip to Anse getting those teeth to them dragging the body, stinking up everything, the novel is hilarious. Anse says he owes it to Addie to take her there, saying he won't disgrace her. Yet the whole journey is disgraceful. It is one of the funniest booksin a dark sense that I have readin a long time. To speak to much of this would ruin some of the moments; but rest assured, if you properly imagine the events, it should strike you quite funny.
In conclusion, Faulkner has created a portrait dysfunctional family. He said he wrote this, & knew if he never picked up a pen again he would live or die (reputation wise) by this book. (Quote paraphrased) He also does his stream of conscious & multiple narrators, making this foray notable because of it. Each is fully drawn, with excellent psychological realism. The characterization is excellent. Read it.
Originally issued on Amazon.com May 15, 2000
Stream of consciousness written in Deep South vernacular. Phew! - By: Trevor Coote, 25 Sep 2007 
Novels writtenin the vernacular can be problematic for the outsider. When they are additionally narratedin a pre-war stream of consciousness style & by a number of different individuals the difficulties are magnified. Of course, that is the point of the book: to convey the emotions & reactions of different members of a family about the same event; the event being the death of the southern matriarch Addie Bundren whose decaying body is transported far away to her home town for burial as she had requested. The journey consists of a series of grotesque & darkly humorous mishaps as relationships, disputes & bonds between family & neighbours are gradually revealedin around sixty extremely brief chapters of narration. It takes some unravelling & is really a question as to whether or not the reader feels it is all worthwhile. Maybe it is - just.
Stunning - By: M. Blackburn, 26 Jun 2007 
A stunning piece of literature that keeps coming back to you with new thoughts & ideas. It definitely warrants more than one reading.
Pilgrim's Progress to the Promised Land - By: Donald Mitchell, 05 Sep 2004 Faulkner's great accomplishmentin this novel is to use the most modern fiction techniques to create a timeless allegory that we would probably not acceptin a different style. His other great achievement is to leave so much spacein the story for us to participatein adding meaning. You have to pay attention to even notice what is going on, & then you can provide a variety of interpretations. This novel will never be the same for any two readers. It is a stunning accomplishment, as a result.
The story begins as Addie Bundren lays dying, fanned by her daughter, while her son makes her coffin. With her husband & five children, we make her acquaintance by learning about their actions & characters. Only once does she have a role as a narrator, & then, quite latein the story.
Her husband, Anse, has promised her that he will bury her with her family. Because of tremendous rains, the river has risen, knocking out bridges & making passage difficult. Despite this, the family perseveresin taking her unembalmed body to the intended burial site. Along the way, there are many mishaps & the family is burdenedin many ways by keeping this promise. As the burial comes closer, new elements of the story are exposed & develop that totally recast what you have thought was going on.
The story is a difficult one to read. So read this book when you have time to pay close attention & study the text word by word. Let me explain the difficulties you will encounter. First, the voicesin the book use a Southern patois that will be unfamiliar to most. This is the language of the rural poorin the 1930s, which few have heard. Second, the exposition is mostly through thoughts, often expressedin fragmentary form, rather than through action & a smooth narrative. Third, the narration is a partial mosaic of impressions of the characters, jumping back & forthin 2-4 page segments. Their perceptions are partial, & even more partially expressed. Objectivity is shunned by Faulkner. Fourth, Faulkner wants you to fillin the gaps, & the best way to do that is to expose the gaps slowly. Only after 3 or 4 narrations by characters will the gaps begin to emergein a way you can grasp them. Then, you still have to interpret them.
Few readers will miss the references to Moses & his search for the promised land, & the Christian parable of the Pilgrim's Progress. What is unstated is the connection to reading this book. Many poor Southern people of that time were taught to read with The Pilgrim's Progress as a primer. That experience helped to shape a perception & a sensibility that would influence their actions, & thus, this tale. That connection creates a wonderful series of circles here that build on one another.
At bottom though, it is clear from this book that there are secrets of the heart that are never exposedin public. When we come close to dying (our own or someone else's), these secrets begin to rise closer to the surface where we (and sometimes others) can see them.
Faulkner has one quirkin the book that I urge you to look for. While he is often conveying the thoughts of uneducated people, he will dropin magnificent phrases that are worthy of Shakespeare. He wants you to know that he is a learned man, hiding behind his humble bards. That pride creates flawsin the book, but flaws that are a delight to the reader, nevertheless. In fact, he takes this one step further by employing many of Shakespeare's favorite techniques from foreshadowing through nature's fury through using fools.
After you have read this book, I encourage you to consider what secret desires, actions, fears, & thoughts you have which you keep buried even from yourself. Then consider the potential benefits of making these known, before you lay dying.
Also, whenever things seem confused, consider how others may be perceiving what is going on. Like Vardeman, they too may think their mother is a fish. Accept their view of reality, & communicatein terms of that perception if you want to make contact. Otherwise, you will be alone evenin the middle of your family, as the Bundrens werein As I Lay Dying.
Enjoy this American masterpiece! I think you'll find it irresistible & moving.
