My opinion on this book evolved as I read it. At first, I’m agitated at the hillbilly vernacular and the vague writing style that causes the reader to piece together perspectives from multiple characters in order to understand what’s happening. I had to do a lot of re-reading of passages. I also found Faulkner’s characters are cut from a similar cloth and it takes time (and pages read) to suss out their subtle nuances, but they are there. By the end, I appreciated not only the level of difficulty it would be to write in this style, but also how it enhanced my appreciation of the many layers infused within a mostly simplistic plot. I see Faulkner’s manner of storytelling here as reflective of the nuances of life, a reminder that things are rarely as straightforward as they appear, and that each of us is uniquely shaped by the choices we make and values we hold. I also fairly or unfairly applied some Legend of the Fall seasoning to this tale — seeing similarities in how both stories are steeped in strong-willed characters, chaotic family dynamics and countryside farm-and-wagon imagery.