As I Lay Dying languished ostensibly 'currently-reading' shelf for some months as I hadn't got to grips with it; while I could recognise the quality of the writing I was, frankly, struggling; partly it hadn't gabbed me, but mostly the difficulty of both the voices in which each chapter is written (the individual slants on the broad Mississippian dialect) and piecing together the story from these separate viewpoints was an impediment. Perhaps I am just getting lazy in my reading. 
 I returned to it last week, starting again from the beginning, and perhaps this is what helped things fall into place. While still not an easy book (and who says books should be easy) I was now able to both appreciate the writing and 'get' the book enough to enjoy it. 
 It tells the story of Addie Bundren's death and her family's efforts to transport her body for burial to the town of Jackson, in accordance with her wishes. Told from the points of view of the various characters - the several children of varying ages, her husband, assorted other people variously connected to events and, a couple of times, from Addie herself - the tale builds a complex and partial narrative, revealing secrets, ulterior motives and a web drives and agendas such as those behind all human activity and relationships, simple country folk or otherwise. 
 In the end, we are left with little resolution and more questions about this family than we had at the beginning, although perhaps this in itself a suitable conclusion as we step back out of their lives.