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loritian's review against another edition
5.0
An American Classic. It gives voice to my maternal grandparents' world. How they rose from such oppressive circumstances and bleak conditions to find joy, humor, and the will to lift themselves and others has been a constant inspiration to me. Faulkner reminds me how much of an outlier they were.
zoeythekat's review against another edition
4.0
"As I Lay Dying" is told in tidbits through multiple characters' perspectives. The premise, the writing, and the novel as a whole is intriguing. That said, the novel is somewhat sexist; the primary role of the women in the novel is as a womb.
whimsikl's review against another edition
3.0
Just hard enough to follow that it’s not exactly difficult but just really annoying and quite boring (how long does it take to build a coffin or cross a river?? I feel like that was 80% of the book). Maybe I just don’t like stream of consciousness
jodijay333's review against another edition
I keep trying to like Faulkner's work. There are at least three of his novels on the Modern Library's Top 100 list that I'm working on. This is the 2nd and I wish I could say I liked it. I did enjoy it more than The Sound and the Fury, if that means anything. I'm hoping Light in August will change my mind.
mitchellhb's review against another edition
5.0
I was unprepared for how funny this book could be. It was my first Faulkner, and I was expecting a fair amount of doom and gloom. It is, in fact, fairly grim—I mean, it's about a family's efforts to move their matriarch's body to her hometown to be buried, so there's no way for it to be exactly light-hearted—but the gallows humor piles up so fast that it's actually a pleasure to read in the darkest kind of way. There's something inherently, wrongfully hilarious and beautiful about a son pounding and sawing away at his dying mother's coffin right outside her bedroom window to let her know it's being made just right for her, just the way she demanded. Reading a book like this while traveling for my own grandparents' funeral turned out to be a strangely comforting and perfect choice.
genderoutlaw's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bdonbanks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
mary_kurtz's review against another edition
1.0
People seem to either really like this book or hate it. I hated it. I chose to read for pleasure and found myself bored or confused with his style of narration and stream of consciousness. I'd suggest reading multiple reviews as I did since opinions vary greatly.