One of the most compelling arguments for resisting syllabi is the freedom it affords to encounter authors precisely at the opportune time and place for you.

Four years ago was the perfect moment for me to discover the great Sam Beckett. His works opened up a new world of thought and expression.

Eight years ago, I found myself in the legal labyrinth of Chancery with Charlie Dickens. His vivid characters and complex plots kept me enthralled.

Eleven years ago, it was time to share a bowl of mulligan stew with Gilbie Sorrentino. His unique writing style added a touch of magic to the literary landscape.

This year, my literary excavations have been extensive. Among the treasures I've unearthed are the works of D.H. Lawrence, Henry James, and now, the electrifying Bill Faulkner.

Everyone who has already been influenced by Faulkner knows the joys of his divinely inspired prose. So, when you're ready, I highly recommend delving into this iconic masterpiece. It will surely leave you spellbound.

"Hard to read", "strange", "disgusting". In my opinion, these words are part of the eerie atmosphere of "Go Tell It on the Mountain". Throughout reading the book, I felt that I was facing something other than just the story and the writing, something similar to a whirlpool. As soon as I started reading, I fell into this whirlpool and the more I progressed, the deeper I fell and I couldn't catch my breath. The children of the Breedloves, in my view, were all crazy except for Pecola. Except for the one who finally went crazy at the end. The Breedlove family lived in their own chaos and had a crazy appearance; Annie and her six children and her husband's funeral in a coffin with the lice that accompanied them... This group of people had no shortage of madness at all! Toni Morrison also made me crazy and sick, and moreover, I'm sure that if this book was translated with a less broken language, it wouldn't have had this impact. The translation is a ghoul's translation. If he uses broken writing to translate "Go Tell It on the Mountain", he is so proficient in words and language that the mouth of the standard language and the lack of broken writing will be frustrated! "Go Tell It on the Mountain" couldn't have been like this if it wasn't for the translation of this ghoul!

Siamo soli - "Mi sento come un seme umido e selvaggio nella calda terra cieca"

Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" is a complex and profound work. Addie Bundren is on the verge of death, and her family is set to fulfill the promise of burying her in Jefferson, her hometown. The journey is filled with challenges as nature, in the form of an alluvion and the overflow of watercourses, tries to block their path, revealing an unheard-of force and violence that transforms the familiar landscapes. However, the promise must be kept, and they must find a new balance.

The writing style of Faulkner is both captivating and challenging. He throws the reader into the events without much explanation, making it like a treasure hunt to piece together the story. The descriptions of the landscapes are vivid, painting a dense atmosphere that makes the reader feel the fetid air of the dark South. The structure of the book, with 15 voices and 59 chapters of monologues, circumscribes a single voice and perspective, highlighting the solitude of each individual. Each character is trapped in their own ideas, emotions, and fears, and as a result, "the reason for living was to prepare to be dead for such a long time."

Here we go then, embarking on yet another dark journey into the southern gothic heartlands.

The psychological exploration of delving into the minds of each member of the impoverished white trash Bundren family is truly captivating. We get a plethora of different perspectives. The children are far from being the brightest bulbs in the socket, and the father is perhaps the most loathsome character in literature, with his false teeth adding to his repulsive nature. This is the driving force behind Faulkner's narrative. In terms of time, place, and the language used by these rather dull individuals, I can find no fault. However, upon re-reading it now, I don't think it's as ingeniously structured as it might have seemed back then. It's yet another American classic that leaves me with a mix of feelings. I like the fact that despite its ultra-realism, there is an eerie, ghostly, almost otherworldly mystery to it. I had absolutely no emotions towards the dead mother, who, even in the afterlife, was still a vindictive bitch, uttering some truly unpleasant things about her family. I couldn't even muster up pity for the disabled son.

I was not a fan of The Sound and the Fury at all, and I found this a better read than that. However, it didn't quite reach the heights of Light In August, which I found truly engaging.

This work definitely gives Cormac McCarthy a run for his money when it comes to bleakness. If I'd been in a more depressive 'winter blues' state of mind, I might have even considered following in Sylvia Plath's footsteps and sticking my head in the oven. Come on, Spring, hurry up already!

William Faulkner once again astonishes with his mastery in "As I Lay Dying".

This complex novel is not only about structure and narration but also about the characters.

They are the ones who bring to life a magnificent story that represents a final journey for each of them.

Yoknapatawpha comes alive again with the Bundren family. After the mother's death, they will proceed in a procession to bury her in the place that was her last wish in life.

Thus, family members and acquaintances will be responsible for fulfilling this last request while we, as readers, get to know the thoughts and the history that surrounds each of them through their own narrations.

It is a wonderful technique that only a great writer like Faulkner can offer with great ingenuity and originality.

Faulkner's ability to create such rich and multi-faceted characters, and to tell their stories in a unique and engaging way, is truly remarkable.

"As I Lay Dying" is a testament to his literary genius and a must-read for any lover of great literature.

While I was reading,

I thought of Joyce and all the linguistic experimentation of the postmodern, I thought of Verga, of the Malavoglia, that is, the invention of impersonality, I thought of the difficulty of understanding, of knowing where Faulkner ends up, of the collective and monologuing construction... of the strict, circular, ascending reading; I thought of the voice of literature, that is, the language proper to the author, highly recherché, elaborated, by no means a peasant or elementary voice... but at the same time, magically... yes, the very voice, wise and stammering of Darl, obtuse and monotone of Anse Bundren, mournful and aware of the dying Addie, naïve and tenacious of Dewey Dell, truculent and aggressive of Jewel, enchanting and dreamy of the little Vandarman, devoted and obedient to the destiny of Cash.

And I thought that history itself, with its symbolic and visionary power, its elementary plot little by little had taken me, bent me and won me. Extraordinarily and because of that implicit magic in narrative language.

And yet "I thought of how words go straight up in a thin, rapid and harmless line, and of how terrible it is that doing proceeds along the earth, remaining attached to it..." and of how only in literature saying and doing perfectly know how to coincide so that in good and in evil the balance is always and will always be perfect.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Wow, this book has been perhaps one of the strangest experiences I've had during my two-year quest to read as much as possible while I'm able.

I have no clue how I ended up reading this particular work. The closest comparison I can make is watching a David Lynch film like Eraserhead or Mulholland Drive. Both of those films initially left me a bit underwhelmed. They made no sense at all and required a re-watch, and even then, I still didn't fully understand them.

As I Lay Dying was definitely a challenging read. The story is told through the perspectives of a dozen or so characters involved. We get to read about how each character views the same events and their own psychological and emotional outlooks. At times, I was completely lost. However, when I was really engaged and "up for it," I seemed to have a better understanding.

Thank goodness for SparkNotes! I last used this resource after reading Julius Caesar by Shakespeare. It was even more helpful this time around, and I'm truly grateful. SparkNotes is my friend.

The story is about the Bundren family's journey to bury their dead mother in her hometown of Jefferson, which is roughly 40 miles from their home in the 1920s in the northern part of Mississippi. It's a farce and, in many ways, darkly funny. Some of the comical moments include Ma's putrefying corpse, Cash's smelly broken leg, Pa's lack of teeth, and the drill holes in Ma's head, which are cleverly covered by a veil. I actually chuckled out loud a few times. It was horribly funny.

Regarding the characters, I really loved Cash. His practicality, lucidity, and stoicism were impressive. Nothing seemed to faze this eldest boy. Perhaps he saw himself as the father figure? He was so much more of a father than the useless, ignorant, and selfish father they already had. Cash's concrete cast would have been quite a sight (and smell) to behold.

Jewel, the bastard son, was someone I just couldn't warm to. He was completely erratic and self-absorbed, with a curious and inexplicable relationship with his horse. However, learning about how he came to be shed some light on the reasons for his behavior. It also explained why Anse (Ma) seemed to worship him, much to the dismay of the over-pious and self-righteous Cora.

Darl was the character with the most to say in this book, and indeed, he seemed to be the most articulate and insightful. But this quickly got out of control, and I found his eventual circumstances particularly sad. In fact, I believe his downfall was probably because he was the most perceptive of this motley, dysfunctional crew.

Addie (Pa) was a real jerk, I think. He was as selfish as they come and quite dim-witted. But this foolish man did provide some comic relief. His final act was a total shock, but in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have expected any better.

The youngest son, Vardaman, constantly harping about his mum being a fish was just too strange for me to understand, and it still is. I'll have to work on that. It still disturbs me.

I really felt sorry for the poor girl (the only daughter), Dewey Dell. She had the best of intentions, but her wretched situation made me sad. I wish I could have bought those cakes from her. Poor lass.

I won't go through all the characters, but they are an interesting bunch. The author sheds some interesting light on morality and religious ambiguity, and also highlights the importance of perception, how each of us views the world through our own prism of reality.

I wish I had studied these books when I was in school and university, rather than at 57 with a drug-addled (therapeutic, not recreational) brain. There's no doubt that this wonderful book requires a certain amount of mental agility. I will re-read it again in 2021, hopefully, and this time, I'll be more prepared so I can extract a bit more from this substantial piece of work.

As many of you may know, this story has been said to be "impossible to film." This makes me eager to watch James Franco's attempt to direct a movie of the same name. I have no idea how he could do justice to this story at all.

There were times while reading this book when I thought it was a 1-star effort, and other times when I thought it was a 5-star classic.

4.5 stars, rounded down for exhaustion.

4 stars

I recently went on a trip, and it was supposed to be a fun and exciting adventure. However, things didn't quite turn out that way.

During the trip, I had to deal with my step-mom, and let me tell you, it was not a pleasant experience. She was constantly complaining, being bossy, and making everything more difficult than it needed to be.

I tried to be patient and understanding, but it was really hard. She just didn't seem to get along with me or my dad.

By the end of the trip, I was exhausted and frustrated. All I wanted was to go home and get away from her.

I guess sometimes things don't work out the way we expect them to, and this trip was definitely a lesson learned. Maybe next time, I'll think twice before going on a trip with my step-mom.

\\"While I am dying, the woman with the dog's eyes does not close my eyes when I am already descending to Hades\\" Agamemnon to Ulysses, book XI, 'The Odyssey', Homer.

Whenever one undertakes the reading of a book by William Faulkner, whether one knows the author or not, one knows that one will face an interesting literary challenge.

The narrative technique that made Faulkner one of the best American writers of all time distinguishes his literature from the rest, although it has certain ties in common with writers of the caliber of James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, or Virginia Woolf.

Written \\"in six frenzied weeks\\" according to Faulkner in 1930 while he was working as a fireman in a power plant, it was the fifth of his literary production.

This great author, capable of narrating us a story using multiple narrators, fifteen in total, the use of temporal jumps in the story as in \\"The Sound and the Fury\\", his most famous novel, or \\"Light in August\\", and monologues of stream of consciousness, forces us to pay attention to what happens in his novels.

In \\"As I Lay Dying\\", we have a story, that of the Bundren family, a poor family from the south of the United States, who live in a part of the imaginary state of Yoknapatawpha created by the author.

All of them propose to take the recently deceased Addie Bundren from where she is dying and dies to be buried six days later! in the neighboring county of Jefferson, traveling their funeral journey on top of a cart with the simple wooden coffin in which Addie rests in the sun and with an intermediate accident that includes the fall of the cart in the middle of the river and a series of other events that I will not reveal out of respect for those who have not read this novel.

But the most important thing about this and his other stories does not lie precisely in the plot but in the way the events are narrated from the different characters.

That is what makes Faulkner's writing so wonderful.

All of them have protagonism and interference. From the dying Addie Bundren, through her husband Anse Bundren to her children, all of them different and even dysfunctional, like Cash, the eldest who is also a carpenter and builds the rustic coffin to transport his mother; Darl, the most volatile and impulsive who will protagonist a violent act; the supposed illegitimate son of Anse, whose striking name is Jewell (Jewel) due to his health problems, the seventeen-year-old Dell Dewey who carries a secret on her back and finally the youngest, Vardaman, whom the author uses to develop impressive childish monologues, demonstrating how original and versatile he was when it came to writing.

\\"As I Lay Dying\\" develops a complete plot of unique psychologies in the characters and Faulkner wastes them throughout the novel, in the form of a collage while he tells us a story that includes a large number of twists and turns in time that forces us to pay attention.

I notice a similarity between this novel and \\"The Waves\\" by Virginia Woolf and I think they are very similar in terms of discourse.

Every time I pick up a book by William Faulkner, I submit to the same pressures and the same turbulent journeys of his characters and it is those emotions that an author like Faulkner can achieve, and that demonstrate his literary quality and why he is and will continue to be an enormous writer.

The first book that I read from Faqir, of course, I listened to it in audio form.

And I really enjoyed it. Despite the large number of characters, we can't forget these simplicity so easily. In fact, I became very emotional for each and every character, and more than that, I'm sad that I don't have the book.

It's truly a remarkable piece of work that has left a deep impression on me. The story, the characters, and the overall atmosphere of the book are all so engaging and captivating.

I can't wait to get my hands on the actual book and read it again, this time in print. I'm sure it will be an even more immersive experience.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves good literature and a great story. It's definitely worth reading.

Without straying from his inimitable voice, Faulkner presents a more professional and calculated work in As I Lay Dying compared to the previous year's The Sound and the Fury. This novel has more novel-y elements, and Faulkner showcases his mastery of the slow or late-reveal, which can be described as reverse-foreshadowing. For example, he provides a character scene filled with emotion, history, and meaning, but without explaining the context. There is a sense of dramatic electricity, and we expect to understand the situation despite the lack of any adumbrations. This is because Faulkner is not actually hinting at future events; he is showing us something that we cannot understand without the promise of future textual elucidation. We have to trust that he will come through, which he always does via hints that come after the event. This can be a bit uncomfortable and makes the reader reread certain passages obsessively, assuming that something has been missed. However, this way we get to experience the drama first with disorientation rather than with understanding.

I have read several confusing novels, but no writer seems to use this method of disorientation as deliberately and effectively as Faulkner. He puts us at his mercy, making us play by his rules. This aspect can make people uneasy or unhappy with his works, but in reality, it is a gift. It leaves us with the rawness and incomprehensibility of life, which only begin to make sense in hindsight through the functions of memory and our desire to find order and purpose. Along with stream of consciousness, this gives Faulkner as much of a claim to the title of Modernist as any of his contemporaries. He provides us with a hyper-reality via a unique, non-straightforward narrative structure.

Overall, As I Lay Dying is a great book. The characterization is, for the most part, fantastic. The story is told from various points of view, usually in two- or three-page chapters. About ten characters contribute to the story, with Darl being the primary narrator. Darl is the second eldest son of Addie Bundren, the plot-mover of the story. His character arc is perhaps the only thing that keeps this novel from being a masterpiece for me. He is described as intuitive and special, an oddball but a nice and thoughtful kid. His own narration supports this; he is the wise one, the amateur philosopher, and his narration is filled with difficult words and surprisingly correct grammar. However, something happens to him towards the end of the book that didn't quite work for me. Faulkner's main philosophical exploration in this novel is relativity regarding both morals and sanity, and Darl does something that confirms the others' suspicions that he is a little crazy. Given the absurdity of the situation the characters are in, Darl's action actually makes some sense. From a certain point of view, it is perfectly understandable. So far, so good. Only one character, Darl's older brother Cash, recognizes that Darl may not actually be crazy. But then, inexplicably, Faulkner decides that Darl is, in fact, insane. In the course of Darl's final narration, he exhibits previously unseen schizophrenic behavior, complete with nonsensical ramblings addressing himself in the third person. This criticism stems from the contents of a two-page chapter, and fortunately, it can be ignored with a little mental effort. There is also the possibility that I missed some crucial hints in the book due to Faulkner's storytelling style, in which many things only make sense later.

One of the fascinating aspects of this novel is that it can be read as either a tragedy or a black comedy (or a tragicomedy). The case for the former is straightforward considering the events of the book, especially with regard to Darl. The bleak comedic aspect comes from the story's McGuffin - to fulfill Addie Bundren's last wish of being buried in her family's hometown, which becomes increasingly absurd as it proves logistically improbable to carry out. All kinds of misfortunes occur as a result of her spineless husband's uncharacteristic firmness in fulfilling this wish, a resolve that is made even more unbelievably absurd by the book's final five words. It is all too tragic to be funny, but it is pure genius.

Kora prayed for me because he thought I didn't see the sin. He wanted me to kneel down and pray too, because

those people for whom sin is just a few words and honesty is also just a few words.

I thought that sin, love, and fear are just voices that those people who have not sinned, not played with love, and not been afraid, bring out of themselves for something that they have never had and can never have, except when they forget those words.

It seems that in this world, people often simplify complex emotions and concepts into mere words. But in reality, these things are much deeper and more profound. We should not just look at the surface but try to understand the true meaning behind them. Maybe then, we can have a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us.