Faulkner, William. Novels 1930 – 1930: As I Lay Dying, Santuary, Light in August, Pylon. New York: The Library of America, 1996.
As I Lay Dying is terribly sad. Through a stream of consciousness every character tells the tale of Addie Bundren’s dying days. Addie’s five children, husband, neighbors and doctor all chime in. Strangely enough, even Addie expressing herself…from her coffin. I’m not exactly sure what Anse (Addie’s husband) did besides being selfish and greedy but Addie’s final revenge on her husband is to have him bury her in her birthtown of Jefferson – a long and difficult journey. Even the kids have something against their father. In one chapter Cash doesn’t look at pa and in another, Dewey doesn’t look at pa. Eveyone has something bad to say about “pa” but, the one thing I find admirable in Anse is that he sticks to his promise saying, “I give my promise. She’s counting on it” (p 92).
One of my favorite lines is from Addie when she says, “I could just remember how my father used to say that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time” (p 114).
BookLust Twist: From Pearl’s first lust book, Book Lust in the chapter “Southern Fiction” (p 222).
~*LunaSea*~ 