If you’re finding the novel a bit confusing — and really, who wouldn’t? — you might take a look at some of the information on this page from William Faulkner on the Web, a site at the University of Mississippi.
If you’re finding the novel a bit confusing — and really, who wouldn’t? — you might take a look at some of the information on this page from William Faulkner on the Web, a site at the University of Mississippi.
April 3, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Wow, that makes so much more sense. I was confused as to who drilled the holes in the coffin. I thought, at first, that it was the father but that didn’t make sense to me. Although the writing is a bit confusing, I have found, so far, that I rather enjoy this version of the stream of conciousness writing-which surprises me since I so adamately disliked the writing of Gertrude Stein.
April 3, 2008 at 4:11 pm
I haven’t found this style of writing all that confusing. I realize that at some points the reader isn’t sure who the narrator is talking about when using all the pronouns, but it isn’t too confusing. Actually, I recently wrote a short story in which there were two different stories being told at once. Although, it was different becasue the narrator remained the same throughout the story. It wasn’t as if the thoughts were being told through narration. Still, the reader is able to figure out who is talking about what through other clues in the text.
April 3, 2008 at 7:15 pm
While I was reading As I Lay Dying, I was confused at first about the style that Faulkner illustrates: the absence of announcing speakers, numerous narrators, etc. However, I found that it simply isn’t a casual read; I needed to slow down and actually think about what I had read and how it influenced what I was currently reading. What Mr. Dudley explained in class, it is much more “real life” than many other works in that the reader needs to pick up on the situation, almost as if the story had been taking place in a parallel dimension; the reader just came into it at a confusing point in time.
April 3, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I agree with Kellen in that this story was not that confusing to read. I have not read much of Faulkner’s work, but found this story very interesting. It made me feel almost like I could have known the person they were speaking of and that I should know them because of the style it is written. I find it interesting and almost like a puzzle because, while reading, the reader has to fit together the clues from each person’s perspective to figure out the details of the story as a whole. While I can see this story may cause difficulties for some to read, I found it very intriguing and out of the ordinary, in a good way.
April 4, 2008 at 10:50 am
When I began reading I was a little confused, presumably because of the lack of context. Once I skimmed over some of the summary from the website, however, everything seemed to click. Now I’m having almost no problem identifying what is happening and who is being referred to in the pronouns. I only read the first section of the summary, so as not to spoil the entire story, but just that little bit of information was enough to bring it all into context and make it much easier to understand. Now I actually find myself enjoying the story. I like that I need to “fill in the blanks” in some parts. That is one of the things that really helps keep me focused when I’m reading. I also enjoy that Faulkner doesn’t spell out everything about the scenery, giving the reader a chance to put in their thoughts and opinions as well.
April 4, 2008 at 11:14 am
It’s clever how Faulker uses a different style of writing to tell his story. Life doesn’t have a narrator explaining every situation so I like how he makes the reader try to figure that characters out and who is who. I also like how he is very true to human nature in that he displays people’s true reactions. Such as the lady who is talking about her cakes, it’s what everyone is thinking but rarely display. Like it was said in class, it’s not that people don’t truly care but life has to move on and since it’s not directly affecting them (they aren’t the one dying) they are still thinking about other things that moving on with their life. This is how life is, and Faulkner does a good job of conveying human nature along with the grotesque.
April 4, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Personally, I find this book quite a bit confusing due to the fact that there are a lot of pronouns and a lot of characters thrown around randomly in the plot. Also, I do not really like this book because I find the plot a bit boring, and- yeah, I would have to agree with Emily- Faulkner does do a really good job of writing in a way that is true to life, or humanistic. However, I do not really like this way of writing because I like to read books to escape life, so this is why I find this book rather boring and I don’t like it too much so far (although I haven’t had very much time to read much of it yet). I just hope it gets less confusing and more interesting as the plot will hopefully thicken.
April 5, 2008 at 11:51 am
At first, I was confused about who was talking in the sections and who they were talking about, but after I kept on reading it, it got better. Also, the website posted and some summaries helped make it more clear. At first I didn’t like this style of writing at all, but now after reading it more and more, I am starting to really like it. The style or writing is kind of confusing, but it really is the way that people think. It makes sense to write that way.
April 5, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I’m actually rather enjoying the style. ‘Tis a pity such styles aren’t seen more often. But then, I can think of a few examples. First person is just a rare tense to swap point-of-view in. Still, most every dream I have does just that, so I’ve found flowing into the novel easy enough. It makes me curious as to the other books in the series, especially given it’s primarily the early books we hear about from Faulkner.
April 6, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I thought it was fairly interesting that in the beginning of the book when the neighbors came over to visit Addie on her death bed, her son Cash is outside constructing his mother’s coffin. It makes sense that he was preparing for the death of his mother but at the same time it was as if he were burrying her before she was even dead. The beginning scene sets the mood for the entire book which is full of awkward situations that leave you pondering Faulkner’s intentions.
April 6, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I found this book to be quite confusing while reading. At first I did not like all the different narrators, but as I kept reading I enjoyed viewing different peoples perspectives. I was often times lost as to who was doing what to whom, but after researching for some background information I found the story to be quite interesting. Faulkners plot is full of twists and turns which keeps the readers interested, if they can follow along. Faulkner would not have been an author I would ever think about reading for fun, but he does know how to write a good story.
April 6, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I also, have never read Faulkner before, and before starting to read the story I went to the website that Dr. Dudley had posted. If I had not gone to the website it could have been very difficult to have followed the storyline. I find myself enjoying this story. I like the random thoughts that Faulkner gives the characters. It’s how we think in real life. We have random thoughts whether we sitting in class, watching tv, or talking with our friends. It gives us a greater insight to the personality of the characters that we wouldn’t have otherwise. We learn more of their quirks and gives them more depth.
April 6, 2008 at 8:12 pm
After reading that site you gave us a link to, it made more sense. The story has a lot of characters and was confusing to link them all together. The setting was easy to imagine and Faulkner gives good detail and you can really picture the scenes as if you were there. Faulkner is one of my favorite authors and so far I really enjoy reading this story!
April 7, 2008 at 8:45 am
I found this type of writing difficult at the beginning. I was confused on where the story began. As I have read further along it is getting easier to understand, and I can distinguish the setting. The family map that we discussed in class helped a lot because now I know who everyone is, and I understand the story better. Faulkner’s way of writing was difficult to read at first, but after reading some more I am understanding the story a lot better.
April 7, 2008 at 8:58 am
The site you recommended to us was a huge help to me. With all of the different characters and unique style of writing, I was getting frustrated with the story, but after reading the brief summary, it makes it a little simpler and allows me to see the story in a new light. Though a tad confusing, I find the characters very interesting especially involving the sub plots, such as the fact that Jewel is not Anse’s real son, but nobody besides Darl really seems to catch on to that. I admit I was clueless to it as well until it was cleared up in class.
April 7, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I think the style Faulkner uses is pretty confusing. The website is helpful, though, in figuring out what is going on. I like that the style is unique–like you mentioned in class, he writes how people probably think. Your ideas jump around and a lot of times, if you were to write out exactly what you are thinking, you would be a bit confused about that as well. I think as I read more things are starting to come together for me.
April 7, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I must agree with Andrea, while Faulkner’s style is unique and definitely separates him from the others, the novel is none-the-less extremely intriguing and engrossing.
April 7, 2008 at 4:41 pm
As I Lay Dying by Faulkner is, in my opinion, more morbid than confusing (even though it is at times difficult to follow because of Faulkner’s use of the stream of consciousness). It is for this reason though, that I actually really am enjoying this writing! Instead of reading about boring events and, at times, droll conversation between characters, I really enjoy Faulkner’s nonchalant approach to the grotesque (and trust me, I’m not a gore fiend). Lets examine what we have here. We have a dead woman, lying in her bed, decaying. A son who lures his brother away from their dying mother because he does not want her favored son to be present during her dying momments. And a disarrayed young boy who accidently drills holes in his mother’s face. And Faulkner delivers all of this horror with indifference because of lack of a narrator. I think the confusion comes from the stream of conciousness that flows from the individual characters during their accounts of the events. Instead of a simple, linear plot, the reader is almost overwhelmed with the thoughts of individual characters(the cake conversation comes to mind immediatly). All in all though, I am enjoying As I Lay Dying quite a bit.
April 7, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I finished reading the book this evening, and all in all I didn’t find it that confusing at all. It definitely isn’t a book that you can “speed read” through, but one that you have to take your time with so your mind can fully absorb the words. The thing I am wondering about is the ending, but I’m the professor will explain that in class. Otherwise I thought it was a decent novel. Sometimes I just got plain frustrated at the Bundren family with their deliverance of Addie to Jackson. That family really does have bad luck. I’m just eager to hear the discussion about the book in class.
April 8, 2008 at 1:52 am
I thought As I lay Dying was both interesting and confusing. The use of so many narators (19) makes it hard for the reader to really get to know any of the characters. Without a connection with the protagonist the book is kind of hard to get through. Although the book is meant to be funny, I don’t know if I am a fan of this type of morbid humor. An interesting way to look at the novel is as a response to the recent popularity of female authors and local color novels which were predominately written by female authors. Faulkner was making fun of both of the women and the stye of writing. Addie Bundren is the female author. Do any of the women in the story have anything significant to say ? Are they all stereotyped?
April 8, 2008 at 9:41 am
Once I figured out the characters, the reading got much easier. I really like the way Faulkner writes. As I Lay Dying is written in a very poetic manner. His style is artistic and in my opinion, flows very well. I like how he often repeats phrases in order to emphasize a point or make clear what is important to the character writing the passage. It reminds me of “The Making of Americans”, because it is written almost as if it were a stream of consciousness. I like this style because I believe that it helps me to better connect with the characters and understand what they are feeling.
April 8, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Although
April 8, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Ignore that although and start with this one…
Although I didn’t think the story was confusing, I understood it as each characters stream of consciousness. What is a little confusing to me is the little details that I keep missing. Especially Dewy Dells story. I find myself having to reread parts in order to get the little bits I missed.
The aspect of the story I most enjoy is how each character has a unique voice and the comments they make about each other add to our knowledge of the other characters.
It is a way of writing that I am not very familiar with but over all I think it works and the story is interesting. At least it is as long as I have someone there to point out the details I missed.
April 8, 2008 at 8:26 pm
I find it fascinating that Faulkner can write so much about something that is so simple. Addie passes away and in turn must be buried. Seems simple enough to me, but all of the events that lead up and past and around the event of her death create this confusing, intricate, and almost irritating story line. By reading the text at a slower than usual pace and keeping track of what is what and who is who makes understanding the random situations a little easier.
April 9, 2008 at 8:53 am
I have fairly enjoyed Faulkner’s crazy writing style. While reading the story, I wondered for what purpose he wrote As I Lay Dying from every character’s point of view. One thing that I noticed that relates to Gertrude Steins style of repetition, is how about each character narrating the novel repeats their thoughts over and over again as if to reassure themselves. One example of such is when Dewey says, ” I believe in God, God. God, I believe in God” as if to reassure herself (Faulkner 1901). Another instance of repetition is when Darl is thinking about the similarities of death and sleeps, ” In a strange room you must empty yourself for sleep. And before you are emtied for sleep what are you. And when you are emptied for sleed, you are not” (Faulkner 1888). These passages in Faulkner’s work show a great resemblance to Stein’s The Making of Americans in repetition and the seeming reassurance that Faulkner’s characters give themselves as Stein gives to her audience.
April 9, 2008 at 10:01 am
I will have to side with those who found this work a bit confusing. When I first started reading, I was attempting to make a mental note of the characters. However, the characters seemed to be devoid on any pattern as far as their importance or the order in which they were presented. I turned to SparkNotes to end my confusion. While I would never rely solely on SparkNotes, they did help me identify the characters with a bit of background information. Having the characters identified with background information helped me read through the story. I have read ‘Barn Burning’ and I was expecting the verbiage and diction to be similar to that work, but I imagine that with the number of narrators in this story a certain variance in vernacular would have to be maintained. Faulkner has a style that is all his own and for the most part it works for me.
April 10, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Faulkner’s way of letting the reader see into the mind of each character is extremely interesting. It not only provides for a dynamic and multi-faceted story, but also represents the subjectivity of the interpretation of life. While this style does inhibit the reader’s ability to follow the story line, one becomes much more attached to each of the characters as he/she shares his/her intimate thoughts. Furthermore, each of the characters seemed to be much more human because of the intricacies and realities that were exposed through their own thoughts and others thoughts of them. As the reader becomes more familiar with each character, it becomes harder for he/she to have a protagonist or antagonist. Instead, one just ‘goes along for the ride’ taking in all of the different personalities and perspectives. This makes for an unbiased reader and yet another interpretation of reality. Because I believe life to be more about the people than the plot, I was able to relate quite well to this writing style.
April 12, 2008 at 9:01 am
I found all the characters in this story to be very intriguing. There was Darl who was the most intelligent, the cognizant of what was going on all around him, and the most fractured which leads to his breakdown. Anse a selfish, lazy man who does everything in slow motion-with the exception of getting a new Mrs. Bundren. Vardamon who is young and confused and needs someone to give his a hug. Cash, who is very detailed and precise in what he does, and not wating to be a bother to anyone. Addie who is angry and seems to not have love for anyone, not even Jewell who is her favored son. Jewell who seems to have inherited all that anger. This is one messed up family, they are a perfect example of dysfunctionality.
April 13, 2008 at 9:32 pm
This has nothing to do with the previous posts but I get a serious kick out of Faulkner’s use of grotesque and his morbid sense of humor. Or maybe it’s not a sense of humor at all, but it’s morbid to a point of being ridiculous and pretty funny/entertaining. For example, he compares the sun to a bloody egg, drills holes in Addie’s face, then water gets in her coffin and she starts decaying which causes her to stink all the way through town. This takes some serious thought and a bit of a twisted mind (in a good way) to come up with this stuff.
April 14, 2008 at 9:23 pm
First off, thanks for the link. I will admit that I found ‘As I Lay Dying’ a rather confusing story while I dragged myself through it. It was like I had all these little mangled puzzle pieces of thought from these fictional characters, and it was my place to try and fit them together. Now, I must admit it wasn’t the constant shifting between chapters and various characters’ thoughts that I found misleading, but more the hidden meanings. For example, I hadn’t even figured out that Dewey Dell was pregnant through her chapter on page 1880 until it was revealed in class. I figure I missed that detail, because I was reading the story in a casual manner. Faulkner’s works are apparently not meant for casual reading. His works are meant to be read in a slow patient pace which is usually used for poetry.
Yet, despite Faulkner’s rather interesting writing style, once I got the meanings behind the word play I will admit I love that man’s twisted head. “As I Lay Dying” was this wonderful grotesque mixture, not of death, but more of the living and their personal greed. It was like the story was an embodiment of greed with all its sad realities. Yet, despite that, there was one chapter that I found rather intriguing which didn’t deal with the family’s personal goals. Case in point, Vardaman’s entry of “My mother is a fish” (p 1889). I laughed the first time I skimmed over it and yet, after the class lecture, it struck me as something more. Despite all the greed and selfishness lingering in the storyline, Vardaman thought of his mother as a fish; a being reborn and free of this world in the form of a fish. Now, that’s just my point of view. There’s little telling if that was what Faulkner was trying to tell through the short chapter or not.
April 14, 2008 at 11:49 pm
After completing the novel, I cant help but admire the unique style of Faulkner’s writing. It spares the reader some of the monotony associated with reading a novel, but requires the reader to pay closer attention to detail. I am surprised that this made Oprah’s book list because its a somewhat difficult read with a somewhat disturbing story. It seems more geared toward younger readers who wouldn’t be disturbed with topics such as mutilating a dead body or the natural decay of a body.
April 16, 2008 at 12:46 am
Faulkner definitely has his own style of writing. The hardest part of this book was getting started. After awhile I became more aware of the dialogue and was able to know who was speaking when the narrators changed. I have to agree that Faulkner’s writing doesn’t leave the reader bored because they have to constantly be paying attention in order to follow along. I still don’t know how I feel about the book itself. It is hard to tell at times if the author is taking a humorous approach or a disturbed gruesome approach. However, he definitely does give very strange vivid descriptions.
April 29, 2008 at 3:03 pm
The book was confusing at times to follow along who was actually narrating the story but it got better the more I read. I don’t really know if i found the book all that humorous…I would say maybe ironic is a better term for it. The decaying body was probably the most disturbing point of the book and for me and how Faulkner included Addies son accidentally drilling holes through her head, i didnt really understand why that had to be put in the story. I guess the story was entertaining but it was just a little to grotesque for me.
May 1, 2008 at 11:00 am
I would have to say, my favorite part of the book was when Vardaman thought his mother was a fish. It cracked me up. I suppose Faulkner was trying to be crazy or prove how disconnected Vardaman was with the whole situation of Addie’s death, but I still thought it was funny.
What’s with his name? When I hear “Vardaman” I can’t help but think of a large, hairy, Russian man who is mad at you for spilling his Vodka. Not some little kid who thinks his mom is a fish and his brother’s mom was a horse.
May 1, 2008 at 5:26 pm
I really liked this story. I was amazed at how Faulkner could write so much about such a simple thing. Death. There are not many ways to portray the topic because of its simplicity. I really loved how the story was set up to reflect each person’s perspective of the event. You got to see different education levels and dive into the emotions of each person more than just having one narrator. I did find the book a bit hilarious, mainly because of the absurdity of some of the things that happened or some of the things the characters said. For example, when Anse is excited about getting teeth when they bring Addie into town for the burial. It’s a strange type of comedy, but it made me smile. Little things like this made me think that Faulkner portrayed the event of death very well as to what it might actually be like in real life. The strange things people do or say when they are grieving.
May 1, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I enjoyed the story. I actually found it easy to read. My favorite movies are like “As I Lay Dying” in the sense that there are multiple different stories that all coincide with each other in the end. I also think that the book was very humorous. It was funny to picture them chasing the coffin downstream while trying to gather the tools as well. Although it is their dead mother, the though of a bunch of people arguing and falling in the river was funny. The ending was also a bit shocking, which added to the humor. I thought it couldn’t have been written better.
May 1, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I found the story somewhat difficult to read. I enjoyed the various perspectives offered by the book, it creates something new of the same scene each time. The parts I didn’t enjoy were the vernacular and language used by the author. It was difficult to become accustomed to, and sadly, took me awhile. The website offered above helped me to clear up some of the problems I had reading the story.
May 1, 2008 at 11:18 pm
When I read this book for the first time, I found it a little confusing. After I got done reading it now for the second time it is not as confusing at all. The way the chapters are divided is a unique way to write a novel. There is not a nice flow to the novel. It is choppy because of the way the chapters are separated by readers. I believe the book could have been written a different way and the plot would still have been the same and it would have been easier to follow. I was not fond of the novel the first time I read it, and my feelings for it after the second time has not changed.
May 2, 2008 at 8:42 am
It is amazing how helpful the website provided was. It’s not that I was confused while reading, but more like I didn’t get to reading the entire thing. It helped fill in holes where I otherwise would have misinterpreted things. I like the fact that the narration is slightly scattered, and thoughts are interjected at will. I will say that I didn’t really find a lot of humor present when the coffin had gotten taken by the river. Much like the holes being drilled into the coffin, it was just brutally harsh.
May 2, 2008 at 12:32 pm
When you first start reading the text it seems like you are reading code. Especially with Daryl’s character. But as time progresses, you start catching how the author is writing and by the end, it flowed a lot better. The website was also a helpful guide, I agree with the post above, it did seem to fill in holes during some of the passages.
May 2, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I thought it was brillant to write a story in the perspective of everyone. Although it is very confusing to read you really get a chance to look through a number of peoples perspective unlike the usual one or two you get from a normal book. This is even more intriguing since the subject is death and so many people have different feelngs and thoughts about that subject.
May 2, 2008 at 9:32 pm
“As I Lay Dying” by Faulkner is an interesting look into analyzing different characters. At first when I started to read it, I was confused and overwhelmed with the amount of character detail he put into them. I eventually started to enjoy the individualism of each charcater, and how eventualy the stories unite into one main plot. Everyone has what they consider an odd family, but I think this one takes the cake. This is not a story to just skim, you actually have to read it to understand.
May 3, 2008 at 3:29 am
I think that that link really sheds some light on the entire book. I was getting thrown for a loop when it came to understanding what exactly was going on in each of the characters lives. Mostly since the book changes narrators 49 times and within those narrations, the narrator might talk in pronouns and you really have to dissect and digest the language that is presented within each chapter. I believe that this is one of Faulkner’s best pieces of work, mainly because it is so very unique and is very deep at the same time. I the booked progressed, I started to enjoy the unique and colorful characters that were presented and I thought by giving the viewpoint from the mother was really powerful and cool.
May 3, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I didn’t find this style of writing all that confusing, in fact I quite enjoyed it. It kept the reader alert as to who was talking, and probably caused me to pay more attention to the story and plot themselves. I would much rather read a novel in this style than in the traditional first person method.