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Lie Down in Darkness Paperback – March 3, 1992

by William Styron (Author)
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 630 ratings
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William Styron traces the betrayals and infidelities--the heritage of spite and endlessly disappointed love--that afflict the members of a Southern family and that culminate in the suicide of the beautiful Peyton Loftis.
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  1. Print length
    400 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Vintage
  4. Publication date
    March 3, 1992
  5. Dimensions
    5.15 x 0.89 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0679735976
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0679735977
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

William Styron traces the betrayals and infidelities--the heritage of spite and endlessly disappointed love--that afflict the members of a Southern family and that culminate in the suicide of the beautiful Peyton Loftis.

From the Back Cover

William Styron traces the betrayals and infidelities--the heritage of spite and endlessly disappointed love--that afflict the members of a Southern family and that culminate in the suicide of the beautiful Peyton Loftis.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; First Vintage International Edition (March 3, 1992)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0679735976
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0679735977
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.15 x 0.89 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 630 ratings

About the author

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William Styron

William Styron

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William Styron (1925-2006) , a native of the Virginia Tidewater, was a graduate of Duke University and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. His books include Lie Down in Darkness, The Long March, Set This House on Fire, The Confessions of Nat Turner, Sophie's Choice, This Quiet Dust, Darkness Visible, and A Tidewater Morning. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the Howells Medal, the American Book Award, the Legion d'Honneur, and the Witness to Justice Award from the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation. With his wife, the poet and activist Rose Styron, he lived for most of his adult life in Roxbury, Connecticut, and in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, where he is buried.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
630 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Erda
5.0 out of 5 stars A book for the ages: Read it again.
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2011
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I first read "Lie Down in Darkness," Styron's first book, when I was barely 20. In that first reading, I identified passionately with Peyton Loftis, the daughter who cannot survive her father's obsession or her mother's hatred. I saw Peyton as a free spirit, albeit spoiled, trapped in a South I knew only from reading Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor and Tennessee Williams. Re-reading the book nearly 50 years later, I understand better that her parents are trapped too, unable to cope with their failed expectations and their own desperate need to be loved.

Make no mistake about it, this is a story of alcoholism and mental illness born of both nature and nurture. As we learn from Styron's writings about depression, and from his daughter's recent memoir, so many of the images in this book come from his own struggles through childhood and adolescence. Styron's mother was chronically ill and died when he was very young, replaced by an almost stereotypical "evil stepmother" who becomes a model for Helen Loftis. As Milton Loftis lurches from one tragic drunken event to another, Styron takes us inside his head so compellingly that you're convinced he has been there himself - and he has.

And yet, in a novel that is painfully depressing, the words and the images they summon are excruciatingly beautiful: Every foot of an incoming tide, every flower blooming or wilting, every tacky mile of the Virginia Tidewater region, even Peyton's delusional reveries about flightless birds. Some elements of the book may appear outdated and no longer politically correct: for example, characterizations and descriptions of the African American community. But Styron cannot lie about the time (the 1930s and 1940s) or the place. You can hear it, feel it, smell it, taste it - good and bad.

"Sophie's Choice" and "The Confessions of Nat Turner" brought Styron fame and fortune, but it is this first book that established him as one of the great American writers. "Lie Down in Darkness" will haunt you forever.
83 people found this helpful
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Joel Marks
4.0 out of 5 stars Rich psychological portrayals
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2018
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Note: Although I won't give away plot details, I want to speak freely about this novel; so there might be a few things some potential readers would consider spoilers.

While unrelentingly grim (with one brief exception to be noted), and consisting mainly of long episodes -- including an excruciatingly long stream of consciousness at one point -- the writing in this novel is so consistently fine, and the characters so rich, that it is well worth reading and may be a classic.

It's no secret that the impetus of the story is the suicide of the daughter of the other protagonists (or really, antagonists), her parents, Helen and Milton, at the end of WWII. Most of the story takes place in Virginia, their home state. The dynamic between the parents presumably accounts for the fate of the daughter, Peyton. (Their other child, Maudie, had already died of a congenital malady.)

Although there are several flashbacks, one of the unsatisfying aspects of the novel is that one (or at least this reader) can never make out how the marriage's unraveling started. This may well have been intentional by the author, given that one of the characters muses, "and who finally, lest it be God himself, could know where the circle, composed as it was of such tragic suspicions and misunderstandings, began, and where it ended?"

Certainly there is no lack of candidates, and specifically, Helen and Milton themselves, whose flaws are the marrow of the book (colliding externally in the destruction of the marriage and, one could surmise, internally in the destruction of Peyton). These two characters are richly drawn. But I for one sensed a bias in favor of Milton, suggesting that his weaknesses and transgressions owed their origin to his loving Helen too much, despite her incorrigibility. Given that the author is also male, there is always a lurking suspicion about such things. So if in fact an even-handed condemnation was intended, more background would have been helpful to show that the problems of both had existed from the start. Of course that begs the question: "The start of what?" The marriage? But of course there are long stories before that, and before those ... so ultimately no Answer is to be found (and hence as well, I'd say, no cause for condemnation). We can't just say, "Eve did it!"

Also because the flashbacks did not serve ultimately to reveal any final Truth (except perhaps about the proximate source of Peyton's self-destructive personality), each succeeding long scene just meant we were in for yet another horrific social occasion. If you enjoy reading such things, this is your book. But if they mainly make you sad, then this could be viewed as much melodrama or social pornography. Well done, for sure -- but do we want to be exposed to human misery solely for the sake of literary entertainment?

Nevertheless, two aspects of this long sad tale did stand out for me as very well done indeed. One was an occasion when things seemed to be getting better, and in particular from Milton's point of view ... only to be terribly dashed. This really captured that sequence or phenomenon for me; I felt the ecstasy, and then the crash.

The other outstanding depiction, I thought, was of the consciousness of an alcoholic. "Under the Volcano" is sometimes touted as the ultimate rendition of this. But, as impressive as that novel is, I found it rather poetic, as opposed to the realistic psychological portrayal in this novel.

Helen's condition is also very well rendered, but, perhaps simply because there is no obvious name for it, I can't say this reader formed a clear impression of what it was.

All in all, a powerful read, if you can stand it.
51 people found this helpful
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crazee cat ladee
3.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed both of those books a lot
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2016
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I chose to read this novel as I had just finished Sophie's Choice and also had read The Confessions of Nat Turner 2 years ago. I enjoyed both of those books a lot. This book I did not enjoy. It wasn't that it was poorly written or that the plot was poorly conceived or anything from a technical writing standpoint. I just disliked nearly every character in the book. I had a difficult time finding a reason to keep reading because I couldn't find redeeming qualities in these people. Maybe that is a naive way to look at literature but getting through this book was quite a slog. I kept thinking there would be someone in this group that I could develop some affinity for, but it just never happened. Then, thankfully, the story ended. I think a better reader would fare better.
21 people found this helpful
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Wayne VCU
5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing happy about Port Warwick
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2015
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I guess if your from Newport News this will mean more to you " the Hearst stalled at 23rd & Virginia Ave" and for me it is a step back in time to places I have memories of, like the old train station. I enjoyed it- still thinking about why Peyton went nuts and how she had no place to go at the end-thanks to a pathetic jealous mother. Now I want to visit the golf museum at James River CC to see where Dolly got to check out Loftis' putter. Like Thomas Wolf this is way too descriptive and drawn out details-of coarse before TV people needed that - but what a great story. I finally figured out that they lived it what was Christopher Shores 50 years ago and I believe the cemetery they went to is where my Grandmother is buried. Quite an insightful look at human nature for a young first time writer. I can't help but believe there was a Helen in his life (or maybe in everyone's to some degree) to nail that one so succinctly. Daddy Faith of coarse was Daddy Grace- I was 12 when his funeral(one of many in each town where he had a church) stopped traffic. Speaking of Daddy's church-I noticed the last time I went through I 664 that the gilding has been stripped from the roof.
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Top reviews from other countries

Heather
5.0 out of 5 stars Moving densely emotional novel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2020
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So well written with complex family conflict. The Oedipal triangle outlined clearly within the family dysfunction. Really enjoyed the drama and the poetic prose. Towards the end of the novel the writing takes the form of stream of consciousness more overtly which adds to the trauma of the culmination of damage suffered by this troubled family.
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FRANCESCO
5.0 out of 5 stars The Epitome of the Southern Gothic Novel
Reviewed in Italy on November 6, 2016
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This book is a lot of things: arduous, painstaking, sad, disgusting, loving, enchanting, sweeping, graphic, and vague. As a southerner, it is the quintessential representation of growing up in guilt. It took me awhile to get into this book: more than a couple LLLOOONNNGG chapters; but I was adamant about seeing this through to the end, and I am so glad I did. I don't want to summarize a plot since so many other readers already have, so I'll just say that this book is in the same genre as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or A Streetcar Named Desire, both by Tennessee Williams. You will probably either love it or hate it, and also will most likely never want to read it again, regardless. It is a very specific plot with incredibly well-developed characters and a story that leaves you in shock by the end. Neo-tragic and beautiful, Styron's writing is unparalleled.
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Eva Dahllof
5.0 out of 5 stars A family in the hold of destruction by drinking father
Reviewed in Spain on February 26, 2014
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A fantastic sad book about the destruction of a family w a drinking father, totally egoistic and egocentric and therefore a mentally disturbed wife, who envy and hates her daughters affection for her drunk husband, who spoils the child. None of these parents give healthy guides to this daughter how to handle her future life and emotions. She stays emotionally as a spoiled child wasted by drinking, copying her affairs w other men and their attention to her like she did with her destructive attachment to her drunken father. It is a long book, but William Styron describes the human destruction and sick unhealthy emotions of these personalities far to well the book is well worth reading of American great writer.
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Margaret Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2018
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Heard about this book on radio and not disappointed.
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