It starts a bit slow, but worth the read. It provides excellent perspective of prison life in the 1870s for women as well as familial roles, especially that of the female. The surprise ending is dark, although a total "gotcha".

There are parts I liked and parts I did not like. Times I wanted to put it down and not finish due to the repetitive theme of the main character feeling like a worthless southern woman. The sections on WWII and female flyers was excellent and could've been elaborated on more. Character development is poor and overall the book is not as well written as Fried Green Tomatoes, so if you're expecting a repeat, you'll be disappointed.

Our book club had an excellent and spirited discussion about the book - - Although everyone agreed that initially, it was very difficult to get into the book and understand who are the characters are and how they relate to one another or the story. We all were motivated to finish reading it, despite struggling at the beginning - As we wanted to know how it ended... It is strange and dark and some of us wondered why it was written at all...What was the point. And WHY it is considered a CLASSIC? Research on Faulkner indicates that he was an alcoholic and womanizer....Perhaps he was drunk when he wrote As I Lay Dying, as it makes about as much sense as if a drunk person wrote it.

Parts of this book are wonderful and others parts are painstakingly slow. The second half of the book skips around in terms of time chronology, which is annoying and difficult to follow. Character development is above average. Some characters are very inspiring. Overall a good story and provided very good discussion at bookclub, although I don't believe it deserved the pulitzer prize.