Book Review of William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" (59/365)

[HawaiianYoda]

JEWEL'S MOTHER IS A HORSE!!!!!!!!!

[TripleA90000]

i have to do a book reading of this tomorrow and I've only made it to page 97

[120perfecthalf]

juciest lips i ve ever seen on youtube!!!!

[kless001]

In English class we were assigned various books this semester. I just finished "In Our Time" by Hemingway and the next book is "As I Lay Dying". I'm starting to think that the juxtaposition of (what I feel) easy to hard is the professor playing a cruel joke on us.

[UltimaGravitas]

Well, Faulkner's language/prose is complex because the characters that "speak" to you, the readers, are complex. The language is a manifestation of their undulating psyche on printed pages.

[UltimaGravitas]

Well, I am reading through this. It's funny to be honest with you, darkly humorous.

The part where Darl and Cash suspect their brother Jewel is sneaking out in the nights to do something immoral is superbly well-done and surprising. Faulkner plays with our expectations and shatters them like a bash from a hammer...and there is that Vardaman...

[GeorgesBarras]

'Dewey Dell' - think female genitalia. Seriously.

[readwriteread]

How come you stopped doing book reviews?

[torosalvajebcn]

Hi Katina, you reviewed the book perfectly, and you are extremely hot, just the perfect combination, good literature and good looks ;)

[trendhater73]

I loathe this book. I've been trying to read this for 4 days now. I'm on page 144. I loved Sound and Fury. Not this one though. It is painfully boring.

[SoulBane]

what a riveting review for such an exciting book

[katinatreesee]

@SoulBane LOL oh sarcasm! :)

[smoke420allthetime]

...nice review...

[Xonipher]

I never read it, just sparknoted

[MangH0]

a dewey dell is a vagina

[311ed]

Perfect. Thank you for this bit of information.

*****

-Eddie

[sk8acdc]

My mother is a fish.

[katinatreesee]

@sk8acdc and with that you have established yourself as awesome

[TheEmman94]

its metalcore

[KrfNYC2]

I'm halfway through this book now. At my normal reading pace, I would be done by now, but I'm trudging through this piece of work because frankly..I don't like it. I'm sorry, I just find it boring and hard to follow at times. I can't wait to finish it for all the wrong reasons.

[smoke420allthetime]

@KrfNYC2 i was the same way at first.

this site helped me out. once you understand it, you'll love it. read it in two days after seeing this website. i just read Sanctuary...dark stuff.

[KrfNYC2]

@smoke420allthetime I don't see a website. Anyway, I'm long done with the book. It's out of my life.

[exxodus29]

@KrfNYC2 I am currently trying to read this book. And I do placed emphasis on "trying." I shall never understand why William Faulkner is considered to be such a great writer. His long run-on sentences and repetitious wording is beyond annoying and hard to understand. I bought this book back when Oprah suggested it as a part of her book club reading. And I haven't finished reading them yet. I think people who claim to be Faulkner experts are just trying to make themselves seem intellectual.

[exxodus29]

@KrfNYC2 I completely understand. William Faulkner's writing is beyond complicated and it makes for tedious reading. I love a good book just as much as the next guy, but if I can't follow what you're saying, you lose my attention very quickly. So it is with William Faulkner's writing. I think people who claim to understand his work are just trying to make themselves seem super intelligent when they don't have a clew as to what this man is saying.

[KrfNYC2]

@exxodus29 I feel you. That may be true. I feel like we (meaning critics and readers) act as though a work is superior or just all the more brilliant simply because it is difficult to comprehend. I don't see the logic in this. Peace.

[katinatreesee]

@KrfNYC2 @exxodus29 interesting convo you have going on. Some reads are difficult and ridiculous, easy and brilliant, easy and ridiculous, or difficult and brilliant depending on the person. I personally am fascinated by Faulkner, but that's me. Have you tried reading it as an analogy to Biblical stories?

[KrfNYC2]

@katinatreesee Of course there are different types of stories and styles of writing, all different variations of good and bad. I just feel as though something like a novel should be a pleasure. It shouldn't be homework. I like to think and analyze, but not when it comes to works of art. I save that for philosophy and politics (even though I'm not very political). I feel that, when a novel is used as a vessle for social statements and metaphors...the art suffers greatly. Just my humble opinion.

[spidamantruck]

@exxodus29 I think you should get it out of your head that the only people who like Faulkner are pseudo-intellectuals, its pretty condescending. As a fan of Faulkner, I agree his writing can be complicated and that probably comes from that fact that he was a kind of failed poet, so you can expect to get some turgid writing. I just wouldn't give up on him. I would suggest reading Light in August, the most conventional of his big four, it is funny, disturbing and everything in between.

[exxodus29]

@spidamantruck I wasn't trying to be condescending nor have I completed abandoned Faulker's work. I would even admit that I have a weird fascination with his writing. I just don't understand why a work of literature is considered great based on how difficult it is to understand. Reading some of Faulkner's prose is like fighting your way through a thick jungle of thorns and thistles at night. Then there are spots in his writing that's like a stroll through a beautiful meadow. It just seems to me

[exxodus29]

@spidamantruck Falulker is guilty of violating one of the main rules of English which is be clear. Being complicated for the sake of being complicated is a turn off for me. I guess good writing like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Yet, I haven't completely written him off. I'm currently reading As I Lay Dying. I also have Light In August and The Sound and the Fury. But if As I Lay Dying is a foreshadowing of what Faulkner's other works are like then I don't think I'm up for the challenge.

[katinatreesee]

Responses to your question being uploaded... approve as a video response!

[katinatreesee]

@TomFrankSurfs It's okay... Robert said that my name was Kathleen LOL... yall will eventually get it right (I hope...?) :)

[TomFrankSurfs]

@katinatreesee I was closer then that haha