Book Review #1: As I Lay Dying

This is the first of an 8-part series, begun as a team bonding exercise. I resolved to read one book beloved by each of my teammates as a way of getting to know them better and discovering new, good literature.

The book behind today's review is courtesy of Amy Ledin: William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.

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It's one of the most challenging books I have ever read. Bear in mind that I have a generally fast reading speed in English and am accustomed to cruising through books of Harry Potter length in 2 days or less. However, Faulkner deliberately toys with language, not merely to obfuscate the plot's direction (though it is tempting to believe this sometimes!) but rather to present the thoughts of his characters in a far more compelling manner than a simple summary of their ideas could ever do.

The book details the plight of the Bundren family, which is almost elemental in its tragedy: matriarch Adie slowly fades from life and her husband and children seek to bury her in her county of birth, as she requested long before. The real story, though, lies in the interaction between the characters as each tells their perspective in idiosyncratically narrated, non-numbered chapters. Key to this are the feuds between the siblings--as Amy pointed out to me after I'd finished reading, main narrator Darl constantly describes the actions of his hot-blooded younger brother Jewel, usually with an eye toward putting him in his place. Occasional narration by outsiders to the family keep at bay the natural inclination to take this sad clan at face value, showing just how pathetic they appear.

This unique structure forces the reader to read between the lines and infer what has happened to horrify or upset each of the characters. Faulkner repeatedly takes simple events, usually bad decisions, and describes them in ways that draw out their pathos and suggest the futility of man to overcome his own inhumanity and petty problems. Fire on one character's clothes, for instance, is described as flowers of sparks blossoming into holes in the fabric--beautiful in the abstract, awful in practical effect. At times the work bears hints of the despair that surfaces more clearly in some of Faulkner's other novels.

Though quite a bit of effort, in my opinion all the confusion and disparate opinions coalesce brilliantly in the powerful final chapter. I don't dare spoil it, and if I did it would have nowhere near its impact without explanation--not unlike a joke's punchline. This wisecrack, though, is not meant to draw forth laughter.

SUMMARY

Appreciated the deft characterization through narration style as well as viewpoint, descriptive power, tour-de-force of an ending

Disliked the pace of the story, which occasionally plodded along; the clearly evil hearts of the characters, though true to life in this respect;

I would recommend this book to adventurous, experienced readers looking for a change of literary perspective, with both a strong stomach for tragedy and quite a bit of free time.

Disclaimer--As I Lay Dying includes sexual immorality and disturbing situations, even though described in cryptic ways