As I Lay Dying: a chat with Steve at the end of Faulkner in August

This year's William Faulkner groupread in August was As I Lay Dying. Thanks to the crew of hosts and the wonderfully active members of the Voxer discussion group who expanded my experience of the novel.
Faulkner in August founders Allen and Brian ‪@bighardbooks770‬ ‪@BookishTexan‬
All the co-hosts:
‪@HannahsBooks‬
‪@BookChatWithPat8668‬
‪@aaronfacer‬
‪@anotherbibliophilereads‬
‪@RaynorReadsStuff‬
‪@knittingbooksetc.2810‬
‪@JimReadsTooSlow‬
‪@TheCodeXCantina‬
‪@M-J‬
Join us next August for Go Down Moses.

[@BookishTexan]

Great discussion. Your videos with Steve are my favorite way to close out Faulkner in August.

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@BookishTexan thanks Brian. It was a great group this year, wasn't it?

[@ariannefowler455]

I really enjoyed As I Lay Dying. It was my first Faulkner, and I'm actually glad I started with this one, but I think that is because of the group read experience. I cannot stop thinking about this book. It is one that will stay with me.

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@ariannefowler455 I am really happy to hear that. I think as a groupread it was ideal. I got more from it myself.

[@belindaguerette4249]

Ending the book discussion with a video discussion is brilliant! AILD was my first Faulkner, too. The action made me love it as a first book. Never a dull moment! The voxer group really helped me think about a lot of other perspectives, too. Thanks for all your great input! Now, let’s all go have a banana!

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@belindaguerette4249 thank for being part of the discussion group. It added a lot to my appreciation of the book. I want teeth not bananas.

[@bighardbooks770]

@@belindaguerette4249 😂

[@RaynorReadsStuff]

Excellent discussion Rod and Steve. Really enjoyed this video. This was my first novel-length Faulkner and I loved his writing. I will certainly read more. I read Ulysses in June and July and really think coming off the back of that helped with the stream of consciousness stuff. 😊

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@RaynorReadsStuff you are kind Debs. I can imagine coming to it off the back of Ulysses would put its supposed difficulty into perspective. I did enjoy Ulysses but it stretched my reading muscles. Have you read The Waves by Virginia Woolf. That would be the logical next book now you are on a roll.

[@barbarahelgaker390]

Very interesting discussion! Thanks

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@barbarahelgaker390 thanks. I love getting Steve involved in a conversation.

[@HannahsBooks]

This was wonderful discussion! It is always terrific to see you with Steve. I was especially taken with Steve's comment about empathic understanding of characters.

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@HannahsBooks thanks. Steve would be quite disappointed now if we didn't make a F in A video.

[@archaic_way]

First Faulkner In August and first time reading As I Lay Dying, not what I was expecting and I would agree it is very much dark humor I'll use the teeth part as reference, I laughed could not help it😂. Looking forward to next August and thanks for another lovely video.

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@archaic_way look forward to your company next August. Oh the new teeth.

[@bighardbooks770]

@@archaic_way 💯

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

Ros and Steve, I enjoyed hearing your thoughts about the novel. It was a terrific experience reading this book with the group. Thank you! (Ros, I actually wasn’t a co-host. Rather, I was just an enthusiastic participant. 😉)

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@BookChatWithPat8668 an tremendous participant so you felt like a host. Next time we'll tie you down for it.

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

@@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711 thanks, Ros. You are very kind. I’d be honored. 🥰

[@bighardbooks770]

Yea! Glad to see/hear from you, again, this season, Steve 🤠 Cora's righteous indignation is quite irksome (so say the least)! Ive got another video to do (after I finish my #Faulknerinaugust painting) 🎨 Your roundups of our novels are always special 😊 Thanks, Roz 🤗

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@bighardbooks770 you did me a great favour drawing me into Faulkner in August. It's an annual ritual for me and Steve now.

[@bighardbooks770]

@@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711 Love it! 🤗 That makes me happy to hear 🤠

[@knittingbooksetc.2810]

My first Faulkner as well. It worked for me very well because I loved his way of writing . I found it brilliant. I’ll need to read Light in August then. And all the others that I missed. I liked all of the children. The parents however…

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@knittingbooksetc.2810 Light in August was the first Faulkner in August book and is beautiful but less impenetrable I think.

[@ianp9086]

My first Faulkner was Intruder in the Dust and I loved it but really must reread it someday. I have sometimes suggested that as a good starting point but only really because it worked for me! After the voxer discussion I wondered whether the content of many of his books might have been really hard reading in the 1930s as they portray a pretty brutal and unflinching picture of rural Mississippi - maybe we are sufficiently distant from that world now that we can actually appreciate the values of the novels? It was my fourth reading of this one and I ended up feeling so sad for Dewey Dell 😢

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@ianp9086 yes I think we may feel more strongly for Dewey Dell than Faulkner did. And I wonder how his compatriots from Mississippi felt about the novels at the time.

[@M-J]

Oh goodness! Thanks for the tag, but I’m not a cohost. I only promoted the event and signed up to read it. ☺️

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@M-J sorry. I went with Allen's list and didn't want to leave people out. Lovely you got to meet Hannah and Greg.

[@M-J]

@@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711 no worries ☺️