But I don’t think I could give you a decent analysis, even if I wanted to. But in this case, I’d say it’s half a cop-out… True, I’d rather simply tell you about my reading experience than give you a lengthy theoretical treatise. And that preface is not usually a cop-out for me. But don’t look for clever analysis or deep explanation of the psychological aspects of the characters, or so on I just want to tell you what I thought.

Now, I just admitted I was an English major. It’s just not right to have grown up where I did, have gone to school where I did, even be who I am – a distant relative, a Mississippian – without ever reading a Faulkner novel. I recently picked up As I Lay Dying, and jumped in.

I think I’d had “A Rose for Emily” at least three times. I mean, I’d read a couple of short stories in some survey courses. When I finally did manage to get into a writing course that taught a Faulkner novel, I had to drop it because of unforeseen difficulties in commuting to the branch. Then in college, I never could work out my schedule to include the Southern lit class I so desperately wanted to take. So can someone please explain to me how I never read a Faulkner novel, either in high school where, as I said, Faulkner was revered and beloved, or at Ole Miss, where he was possibly more revered and beloved? And I was an English major, for crying out loud… I guess it’s just that even though all my high school teachers taught a Faulkner novel most years, I somehow fell in the year that skipped him – all four years. I’m even a (very) distant cousin to the man. One of my classes met once at Rowan Oak, Faulkner’s home, because, well hello, how do you attend Ole Miss and not visit William Faulkner’s home at some point? So, as you can see, a lot of Faulkner for me. I went on to attend Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi – where Faulkner lived as an adult. I went to New Albany High School, where Faulkner pride was contagious and inescapable. I lived much of my childhood about two miles or so from his childhood home. These are the timeless classics that everyone has read – everyone, that is, except the reviewer, who is finally getting around to reading a book which somehow slipped through the cracks and trying to see if it’s really all it’s cracked up to be. Through the cracks is a review series focusing on the ones that got away.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner