As I Lay Dying (William Falkner)

 

I always tell my students there are three types of books:

- candy (which is fun to eat....but if you eat it all the time, you get sick. However, now and then, it's a great treat)

- just right books

- challenging books

If you read challenging books all the time, reading is not fun. However, now and then, they're great. 

This was a challenging book for me. I'd read a bit and not really understand any of it....so then I'd watch a few youtube videos with lectures on Faulkner and I'd catch a few themes or character explanations and interesting symbolism and it would motivate me to continue on. If I had read this book by myself, it would have just been garbley goop. I'm really glad I read it though! Thank you book club for pushing me on. 

We always rate books at the end of our meeting. I wanted to refrain from rating this one. I feel like it's a book that if I were reading it solely on engagement, potential for discussion and writing style, I'd give it a 1 or a 2. However, having experts explain it really helped me appreciate it more and I'm sure if I actually studied it rather than casually read it, I'd like it even more.

This book made me reflect on my experiences compared to those of people in my family as my brother struggled through a cancer diagnosis and then passed away. We each had our own unique experience and the way Faulkner captured the unique experiences of each of the people in the Bundren family is really something else.

Goodreads says:

As I Lay Dying is Faulkner’s harrowing account of the Bundren family’s odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Narrated in turn by each of the family members -- including Addie herself -- as well as others; the novel ranges in mood, from dark comedy to the deepest pathos. Considered one of the most influential novels in American fiction in structure, style, and drama, As I Lay Dying is a true 20th-century classic.

This edition reproduces the corrected text of As I Lay Dying as established in 1985 by Noel Polk.