How was it?

Reading truly can be an extremely enjoyable activity, wether it be because of great characters or an intense story line. Personally, I read all the time back in elementary school - chapter books, I should add - but since I've had trouble finding interest in reading, and I've little understanding of as to why. Occaissionally I found a book I loved, such as Fahrenheit 451, but then I'd have trouble finding something of equal caliber of interest. I essentially had yet to find myself as a reader. Throughout this past half-year or so, I have however think I've found the key to the mystery: writing style.

I've read Mrs. Dalloway earlier and As I Lay Dying incorporates some similar techniques, most predominantly stream of consciousness. I think this may be my favorite device used by any author and it adds a lot to reading experience by giving us greater character insight. The added complexity is also nice for someone like me who likes solving puzzles of various sorts. It always brings me excitement to connect the dots and figure out hidden secrets that other characters don't know about, such as Dewey Dell's pregnancy.

In addition to having helped me find myself as a reader, As I Lay Dying is possibly my favorite book of all time - if it's possible to have one. This mostly relates to my paragraph above, but I also find the specific story line to be of intrigue and absurdity, in a sense. Despite my love for the stream of consciousness and this book, I still missed out on several key ideas, primarily as the book is so dense in detail and analysis. Missing a single page worth of information could potentially leave you stranded in understanding the characters. For example, while I understood that Darl was a very insightful character, I never picked up the fact that he knew the other characters' secrets. In fact, I didn't detect the secrets of half of them myself!! It was a shocking revelation when talking with Mrs. LaClair about the ending earlier today.

And this is one of the reasons as to why the book is AP worthy. The characters are hugely complex, changing in subtle, yet dramatic ways throughout the novel, to the point where they seem like different people at the beginning and end. It was impossible to uncover everything the novel had to offer when reading it the first time - especially on my own. I couldn't bounce off ideas and I missed many details (if you didn't catch that earlier in the post). Rereading the novel would help me pick up on these specific, yet integral pieces of information. The novel can also be read on multiple levels, from just following the Bundren's journey to Jefferson to analyzing every last character's single thought.

As I Lay Dying is a challenge, but in all the right ways. The characters, the plot line and the unique stylistic choices all make this a worthy book, both in AP and outside. I would recommend reading it in a group, however, if you so choose to read this. Which you should, because the book just opens your mind to a greater possibility for a novel can be. It's not constrained to a certain format, as it constantly evolves new devices throughout the novel, such as unusual spacing in sentences and an evolution in the characters' narrations. I'd highly recommend the book, if for nothing else, just the experience of something different to the traditional novel.