As I Lay Dying
(William Faulkner)

William Faulkner was introduced to literature in New York and Paris where he encountered many different cultures and innovative writing techniques. Faulkner was one of the first, and certainly one of the most successful, writers in his style. He employed modern writing techniques involving experimentation with language, and he developed unusually deep, psychological characters.

“As I Lay Dying” was one of the most sterling examples of Faulkner’s modern writing style. It was published in 1930, and the technique was, at that time, unique, fresh, and daring. Rather than writing from one person’s point of view, he wrote from the view point of fifteen different characters so the reader is constantly getting a different side of the story. “As I Lay Dying” was also one of the Yoknapatawpha County novels, which Faulkner wrote incorporating many of the same characters and can be read as one long novel.

Yoknapatawpha County is the fictional version of Lafayette County, Mississippi where Faulkner grew up, and he felt that he should base his novels in an area he was familiar with. Faulkner’s unique writing style is incorporated into all of his novels, and mixing the unique style with the ability to read all of the novels as one extended novel makes him a true innovator.

His style is extremely complex, intelligent, and sophisticated beyond what many other authors have ever dared to attempt. “As I Lay Dying” is one of Faulkner’s best-know novels and one of the greatest examples of his grasp on literature and language.