As I Lay Dying - Faulkner is as Good as it Gets
Uploaded by CatLover on Jun 19, 2005
Faulkner is a genius. He might be the greatest writer of this century and that opinion is based on two novels that I have read of his. The first one I completed was The Sound and the Fury, which became my all time favorite book, and I didn't think he could come close to matching that work of art. As I Lay Dying comes close, however, to reaching the greatness Faulkner achieved to the prior. In terms of creativity and originality in writing style it might even be better (although it lacks the same level of genius, complexity, and power that The Sound and the Fury had.) Yet, this is a masterpiece it its own right. Dazzling, complex, and startlingly original, this is a novel that dares to lead you down a daring, unorthodox, dreamlike flow of words, and takes you into a world like no other.
The story is not complicated, but rather simple and straightforward. It is the characters and writing style that makes this book a phenomenon. As I Lay Dying has fifty-nine chapters, told in alternate by various family members and outsiders who are observing. Every chapter is told in first person, and with every character, the writing style is brilliantly changed in order to fit the pathos of the individual who is telling the story. The plot simply is this: A dying mother has a wish to be buried in a town a considerable distance from her own, and makes a request of her family to take her there and bury her when she has passed on. The novel takes us on that journey to bury her, told by her sons, her daughter, her husband, and other outsiders. The most ironic element is that most of the characters have their own selfish, alternative motives for wanting to make the voyage into town to bury their dead mother. Whether it be buying some new teeth or wanting to find a doctor to perform an abortion. Nothing is as it seems here.
One of the main characters is Darl, a son of Addie (the dying mother), who is viewed as insane by the rest of the family, when in actuality; he is the sanest one of all. Darl's sections are told in beautiful, poetic, sublime, and even hypnotic storytelling. The others sons of Addie are Jewel, Cash, and Vardaman. Cash is extremely methodical and can only concentrate...