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A review by megancortez
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
4.0
I think overall, I would have liked an even level of personality variety for the women in this novel as for the men but I'm not so unhappy with that as to discount the whole thing.
The perspective shifting and the narrative style differences are brilliantly done and really truly believable. After the first like 3 or 4 changes, you really get the hang of the different characters' styles and don't really need to look at the chapter headers anymore.
Each character feels like a well developed and interesting (not always likable but fairly realistic) person, well rounded, with realistic motivations and reactions, rather than caricatures or stereotypes (possibly Anse excluded.. he's kind of a mess).
The cynical, sardonic humor is not so overwhelming as some modernist novels and the touching humanity of Darl, Vardaman, and Dewey Dell, especially, is enough to satisfy my emotional self.
Overall, I absolutely understand why this novel is a modern classic and why Faulkner's writing is so influential (especially to the modern novel). I read this for a class but would absolutely read it again for fun.
The perspective shifting and the narrative style differences are brilliantly done and really truly believable. After the first like 3 or 4 changes, you really get the hang of the different characters' styles and don't really need to look at the chapter headers anymore.
Each character feels like a well developed and interesting (not always likable but fairly realistic) person, well rounded, with realistic motivations and reactions, rather than caricatures or stereotypes (possibly Anse excluded.. he's kind of a mess).
The cynical, sardonic humor is not so overwhelming as some modernist novels and the touching humanity of Darl, Vardaman, and Dewey Dell, especially, is enough to satisfy my emotional self.
Overall, I absolutely understand why this novel is a modern classic and why Faulkner's writing is so influential (especially to the modern novel). I read this for a class but would absolutely read it again for fun.