As I Lay Dying: Shmoop Learning Guide [NOOK Book]

Not worth it.

All I have to say is that this book is not enjoyable. The writing style is horrid in the present-tense it takes. This plot is not linear which add to the confusion, and then you are reading from someone else's point of view every two pages. It's a book you have to stop every chapter and think about. You can get what it is saying, but just because you can comprehend it doesn't mean it gets any better. The story moves at a pace that is almost standing still. I tend to like books where it will keep you up at night because you want to know what happens next. Instead, this book will have your mind wandering from place to place because you don't really care what happens next. While some may say that this has "literary merit" I begin to question exactly what that means. Is literary merit writing that is actually involving and fun to read, or writing that is tedious and over-complicated? It's up to you I guess to decide what it is to you. I'm just giving you my opinion. I'd rather read something else.

6 out of 12 people found this review helpful.

As I Lay Dying

Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is an outstanding book, however, it is extremely confusing. My English teacher, who required that we read the book our freshmen year in high school, told us that it's usually a book meant for grad students to read. The book is confusing, but Faulkner's style is unique and will definitely influence your own. His novel requires readers to stop and judge characters, it is necessary to constantly analyze. This is an excellent read for budding writers such as myself, because his style has had so much of an impact on my own. Read it not for enjoyment, because it is boring, but for the improvement of your own writing! It'll improve it so much, you'll notice it yourself.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Worth The Read

When reading Faulkner, you always wonder whether the book doesn't make sense or if you are just not as intellectual as is he. I like to think I'm not as intelluctual so my brain is stiumlated by the endless meaning and layers within his books. As I Lay Dying is not a happy story, but that is kind of evident within the title. The syntax and diction used is spectatcular. You find meaning in the way the text is written and the format of the words. In order to understand the novel, you have to read with a pencil in hand, underlining anything that seems important or significant because it most likely is signifcant. The characters are all narrators to the book. I believe, 17 total different point of views. The tricky part is figuring out whose story it is and what is the main theme. I always look at the book and try to figure out what is the meaning. As I Lay Dying gave me endless meanings and i loved being challenged to find them. Although it is simple with language and style, it is close to impossible to decipher the deeper meanings. You constantly second guess yourself because it is hard to know what is "the right answer." But after reading I felt accomplished, and dare i say, smart. There are so many meanings and none that probably come close to Faulkner's original message but it is worth discovering your own meaning to the story. I believe not only this book but all of his books give readers the opportunity to gain their own message within the text. Faulkner is brilliant and I recommend all his books. They are challenging and I believe are best with discussion groups just so you can hear what other meanings are found. I really enjoyed this book it is short, easy to read just hard to decipher bigger meaning. I find it challenging yet enjoyable. I hope you enjoy as much as I did :)

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

2 Down...11 More to go.

So, I just finished reading "As I Lay Dying" this morning on my way to work. Let me start off saying that this is the second novel that I have read by William Faulkner. I became intrigued by Faulkner's works when a co-worker told me that "The Sound and The Fury" is frequently called one of the toughest novels to read, and he would be impressed if I finished it. So of course I read and somewhat followed it, and feel comfortable in saying that I enjoyed it. That said, starting with "The Sound and The Fury" made reading "As I Lay Dying" feel like a cake walk. I completely and totally enjoyed this novel, and would read it again as well as recommend it to friends. Now I feel prepared to take on more of his novels..next on my list is "Sanctuary".

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

I Would Recommend As I Lay Dying.

In the book As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, Addie, a wife and mother, becomes ill and dies. After giving birth to her second child, Addie had requested to be buried in Jefferson, Mississippi. Addie's husband, Anse, respects his wife's request and he devotes himself to getting her buried in her hometown of Jefferson. Anse does not realize at this time that the journey to Jefferson will be a long and challenging one, for many unfortunate events happen to the family before they reach their destination. One of these events being that all of the bridges on the way to Jefferson have either been flooded or washed away. The book also takes place in the 1920's so all they have to get her there is a wagon and horses which makes the trip even more challenging. Instead of having one set narrator, the author chose to let each person in the family and all of the people they encounter tell the story through their feelings and how they experience the events that take place. Addie is a mother to Dewey Dell, Jewel, Darl, Cash, and Vardaman who all react to their mother's death differently. All of the children are dynamic characters in the book. As I Lay Dying shows how everyone is affected by Addie's death.

In my opinion, As I Lay Dying is a book worth reading. Faulkner makes the reader think about objects and ideas different from a way that they are used to. His use of stream of conscientiousness narration with each character telling the story allows the reader to choose whose story is the most reliable. Finally, his themes are ones that the reader can relate to and make their own opinion on. Towards the beginning of the book Addie's husband, Anse, says, "The Lord put roads for travelling: why he laid them down flat on the earth. When he aims for something to be always a-moving, he makes it long ways, like a road or a horse or a wagon, but when he aims for something to stay put, he makes it up-and-down ways, like a tree or a man. And so he never aimed for folks to live on a road, because which gets there first, I says, the road or the house?" (Page 35-36). Although from this quote we can question Anse's intelligence, this is one of my favorite descriptions because you have to actually think about what he is saying. Most people don't base an objects movement on whether its upright or not.

The biggest theme that I recognize in the book is the questioning of existence and identity. Darl says, "Yet the wagon is, because when the wagon is was, Addie Bundren will not be. And Jewel is, so Addie Bundren must be. And then I must be, or I could not empty myself for sleep in a strange room. And so if I am not emptied yet, I am is. (Page 80-81). This confusing quote is important because after Addie dies Darl starts questioning the existence of everything. He believes that since his mother is dead she is now a "was" and not an "is". He thinks that if she doesn't exist then he has no mother and he cannot exist. Existence is something that everyone has their own opinion on and I can relate to this theme and Darl because if certain things did not exist I know that my life could not go on. The author often uses quotes like this and his words appear to be a riddle that you have to sort out and decipher. This language makes the reader actually think about what is being said and when you do figure out what it is actually saying it does make sense.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

As I Lay Dying

This is my first Faulker book and I now have promised myself to collect all of his books alog with Cormac McCarthy, Edgar Allen Poe, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. First of all, I love the whole plot and technique of this novel and all the characters are all amazing. I read one review that said that people say they like this book just to sound smart, but I thought to myself, maybe he/she just had trouble reading it and gave up. I had trouble with some parts of the book so I just read the spark notes after reading that one troubling section.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Difficult and Rewarding Journey

It's probably most unlike anything you've ever read, as it is more of a collection of thoughts than a novel. The story centers around a family coping with their mother's death, and their journey to take her to be buried. It is very difficult to establish a sense of the characters in the beginning, but once you've figured it all out, the book becomes a many-layered and intricate beast of a beauty. It yields layers and layers of nuance and insight, creating a glorious web of intricacy and philosophy that is absolutely astounding. If you have a few weeks, take up this book. Read it, ponder it, and read it once more. Faulkner truly brings the human experience to life. If you read it with care -- with open eyes and open mind -- what you reap from this novel will last you a lifetime

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Book Review

The book AS I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner is written in a type of writing that only he could pull off. It's nothing like you've read before. It shows how the family copes through carrying their mother's rotting body to the town she wants to be buried in. It's very confusing in the beginning but once you get the jist of it it becomes a little easier to understand. What I found was hardest was figuring out who was who. You¿ll find that this book is harder to put down the deeper you get into the book. As you go through the family¿s tragedies and mishaps you¿ll find that it brings them closer in the end. In the end, although their mother is missed, the family must learn to adapt without her.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Somewhat tedious

I can understand why this book is given so much esteem from a literary viewpoint, but in regard to entertainment, I'm at a loss. Faulkner's ability to speak through his characters is amazing. How do you get into the heads of so many different characters? He makes you believe you're hearing the voices and original dialect of these characters. As far as plot goes, I am glad I did not live in rural Mississippi during the 1930's, and I'm certainly glad I'm not a Bungren. The novel is almost painful to read, because the action is centered along Addie Bungren's death. It creeps along like a tortoise. In regard to Cash, I didn't realize it took so long to build a coffin. Reading about this is like watching farming.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

POOPY

EGGS AND POOPYNESS

I absolutely hated this book.

I absolutely hated this book.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Worst book ever

Horrible horrible horrible. Why did this guy win a nobel prize???

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Go to res seven

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Kind of confusing, but a good book

I read this book as it was required for school. I found the narration confusing at times, as multiple different people tell the story. Some of them tend to make more sense than others. However, I enjoyed to concept of having multiple perspectives. It challenges the reader to consider the reliability of each speaker - why are they saying what they are, and who is the most honest? I did end up enjoying this novel, and would recommend it as long as you don't mind a bit of a challenge.

Incredible. No other way to describe it. If you understand it,

Incredible. No other way to describe it. If you understand it, it will change the way you think about what a novel is.

Good Book, Critical Evaluation

Norton does what it does best in this book - critiques almost every aspect of the book As I Lay Dying. Throughout the story, each character captures you in their own way, and without these characters, a huge bulk of the plot would be lost. Not only is the original As I Lay Dying book great on its own, the Norton Critical version gives the reader and critic alike many more options on analyzing and evaluating the text. This is a great book for teachers and students to use in the classroom in that it gives each person their own "teacher." Definitely a good read and a great addition to anyone's bookshelf. In my opinion, better than the original version. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quality read, but it can become boring at points.

I Would Recommend As I Lay Dying.

In the book As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, Addie, a wife and mother, becomes ill and dies. After giving birth to her second child, Addie had requested to be buried in Jefferson, Mississippi. Addie's husband, Anse, respects his wife's request and he devotes himself to getting her buried in her hometown of Jefferson. Anse does not realize at this time that the journey to Jefferson will be a long and challenging one, for many unfortunate events happen to the family before they reach their destination. One of these events being that all of the bridges on the way to Jefferson have either been flooded or washed away. The book also takes place in the 1920's so all they have to get her there is a wagon and horses which makes the trip even more challenging. Instead of having one set narrator, the author chose to let each person in the family and all of the people they encounter tell the story through their feelings and how they experience the events that take place. Addie is a mother to Dewey Dell, Jewel, Darl, Cash, and Vardaman who all react to their mother's death differently. All of the children are dynamic characters in the book. As I Lay Dying shows how everyone is affected by Addie's death.
In my opinion, As I Lay Dying is a book worth reading. Faulkner makes the reader think about objects and ideas different from a way that they are used to. His use of stream of conscientiousness narration with each character telling the story allows the reader to choose whose story is the most reliable. Finally, his themes are ones that the reader can relate to and make their own opinion on.
Towards the beginning of the book Addie's husband, Anse, says, "The Lord put roads for travelling: why he laid them down flat on the earth. When he aims for something to be always a-moving, he makes it long ways, like a road or a horse or a wagon, but when he aims for something to stay put, he makes it up-and-down ways, like a tree or a man. And so he never aimed for folks to live on a road, because which gets there first, I says, the road or the house?" (Page 35-36). Although from this quote we can question Anse's intelligence, this is one of my favorite descriptions because you have to actually think about what he is saying. Most people don't base an objects movement on whether its upright or not.
The biggest theme that I recognize in the book is the questioning of existence and identity. Darl says, "Yet the wagon is, because when the wagon is was, Addie Bundren will not be. And Jewel is, so Addie Bundren must be. And then I must be, or I could not empty myself for sleep in a strange room. And so if I am not emptied yet, I am is. (Page 80-81). This confusing quote is important because after Addie dies Darl starts questioning the existence of everything. He believes that since his mother is dead she is now a "was" and not an "is". He thinks that if she doesn't exist then he has no mother and he cannot exist. Existence is something that everyone has their own opinion on and I can relate to this theme and Darl because if certain things did not exist I know that my life could not go on. The author often uses quotes like this and his words appear to be a riddle that you have to sort out and decipher. This language makes the reader actually think about what is being said and when you do figure out what it is actually saying it does make sense.

Review of "As I Lay Dying"

This book was very hard to read at the beginning. As you get thought the complications of finding out certain things about the characters and major style, such as stream of consciousness, then it becomes more understandable. Understanding the conversation that the characters have with other characters and with themselves, while wondering into their own thoughts, was easily misunderstood. Then having the character come back to reality and completing the conversation at hand was a very hard style to grasp. The writer William Faulkner has a very different type of writing style the can be hard to comprehend but once you get the hang of it the book could be pleasing to many readers. To me after understanding the book and the plot I didn't like or dislike it, but I understood the just and lesson it was trying to teach. All in all I did get a lot of the book on the southern literature aspect of it.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Horrible

It's horrible. It's dreadful. I think most people read it and claim to like it just to sound intelligent. It's the most ridiculous piece of literature ever invented.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Book-work

Read it in high school as an English AP requirement. Fell in love with it by the time I was done. Had read it three times before the class was over. Highly recommended for those who love to read.