As I Lay Dying
-by William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying
By: William Faulkner
Type: Audiobook; Unabridged
Narrator: Marc Cashman, Robertson Dean, Lina Patel and Lorna Raver
Publisher: Random House Audio, 2005
Length: 6 hours and 55 min.
"As I Lay Dying" is a challenging, deep and experimental text . . . what great audiobook fun!
Faulkner breaks this story into 59 separate monologues, each spoken or thought by one of 15 characters. This unique style was considered an experimental narrative technique in his day.
"For range of effect, philosophical weight, originality of style, variety of characterization, humor, and tragic intensity, [Faulkner's works] are without equal in our time and country."
-Robert Penn Warren
Faulkner's is known for his distinctive and unique narrative structures. The uses of multiple points of view and the inner psychological voices of the character, makes its most successful incarnations here in "As I Lay Dying".
Faulkner was working the night shift at a local power plant as he could not make enough of a living from the sales of his novels. He was so determined to create his masterpiece that he completed it in about seven weeks. He clearly succeeded with this work "As I Lay Dying", and the result is one of the twentieth century's finest and most beloved novels.
At the heart of the novel beats a family's response to the loss of the most important person in their lives.
Many emotions are felt throughout all the characters...
- they laugh
- they curse
- they fight
- they bleed
- they break
- they love
- they endure
This sounds like the entire family was going through all of lifes emotions, during a very difficult time.
This amazing talking audio book takes us through the Bundren family's bizarre journey to Jefferson to bury Addie, their wife and mother. This being a promise her husband was asked to keep by Addie herself. Faulkner lets each family member, including Addie, and others along the way tell their private responses to Addie's life.
In conclusion, let's see what the author had to say about his masterpiece...
"I set out deliberately to write a tour-de-force. Before I ever put pen to paper and set down the first word I knew what the last word would be and almost where the last period would fall."
—William Faulkner
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