Als ich im Sterben lag (1930)

Divertidísima tragedia sobre rednecks. ( )

Anse Bundren has promised his wife Adde that when she dies he would take her to Jefferson to be buried with her kin. At the beginning of this book, Adde is alive, but dying. The children, Case (making her coffin), Dari, Jewell (good with horses), Dewey Dell (17 year-old pregnant daughter), and Vardaman (the youngest and a fisherman) are trying to deal with her death in his/her own way. Unfortunately, rain storms come as they try to take Adde to Jefferson with bridges being washed out causing them to have to go a much longer way than the more direct 40 miles to Jefferson. ( )

I hate reading a book and not knowing what’s happening. All I figured out was that someone was dying. I assumed the narrators (it changes with each chapter) were all family members, but as I continued on and there were so many, I figured it had to be more than family. The woman did die, and the family took a trip with the coffin… somewhere to do something? Presumably to bury her somewhere?

I didn’t like this. I was bored, didn’t really follow what was happening, and didn’t like the writing style. There was a lot of repetition of dialogue. I learned more about some of the things that happened in the story from the reading guide after I’d finished than I figured out while actually reading the book (when I get bored, I skim and take in very little). “Classics” are hit or miss for me, and this was my first Faulkner; I’m going to assume Faulkner will generally be a miss for me. ( )

addie's chapter carries this book for me ( )

I'm glad I finally read this novel. I was impressed with the multiple points of view as well as the character development throughout the plot. How someone can turn a simple burial journey into a life-changing event is incredible. ( )