As I Lay Dying
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HOW HAVE I NEVER READ THIS BOOK BEFORE NOW. This is may be one of the best books the English language has to offer. The Bundren family embark upon an Odyssey adventure across Mississippi to bury their mother and wife, Addie Bundren. Like the Odyssey, it is a story of hubris, tragedy, loss, and mostly avoidable misfortunes if people weren't so damn selfish and stupid.
When I read this book, I could hear Faulkner's influence in other more modern writers I enjoy: Barbara Kingsolver uses the same first-person narrator from each of the characters in her book The Poisonwood Bible. Hernan Diaz uses a similar repetition and overlap of time and repetition in In The Distance. And I'm not sure exactly why or how I think this, but Cormac McCarthy definitely read his share of Faulkner. Those are just a couple of examples I can think of. I will definitely be reading this book again, probably soon.
When I read this book, I could hear Faulkner's influence in other more modern writers I enjoy: Barbara Kingsolver uses the same first-person narrator from each of the characters in her book The Poisonwood Bible. Hernan Diaz uses a similar repetition and overlap of time and repetition in In The Distance. And I'm not sure exactly why or how I think this, but Cormac McCarthy definitely read his share of Faulkner. Those are just a couple of examples I can think of. I will definitely be reading this book again, probably soon.
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