As I Lay Dying (1930)
0.1185Canon Score · ranked #221 all time
Aggregated from 5 of 14 authoritative lists, weighted by authority and adjusted for each list's scope and age. How scoring works →
About the book
Written in stream-of-consciousness style with multiple narrators, the story follows a journey wherein the family of a dead woman try to transport her body to her birthplace in Mississippi in accordance with her wishes. When a ford across a river is flooded they are forced to take a roundabout route and it becomes a desperate race to complete their mission before the body begins to decompose.
Why it ranks #221
Every list on which As I Lay Dying appears, with its position as published.
| List | Authority | Position |
|---|---|---|
| The Novel 100 (Burt) | Editorial list | #92 / 100 |
| OCLC/WorldCat Top 500 Novels (2019) | Editorial list | #282 / 500 |
| Guardian 1000 Novels (2009) | Critics' canon | Selected |
| Bloom, The Western Canon (1994) | Editorial list | Selected |
| Observer 100 Greatest Novels (2003) | Editorial list | Selected |