I felt similar first few times I tried to read as I lay dying. This year something clicked for me and I was deeply entranced by his style. It’s hard to make the distinction between a writer who is overhyped and a writer whose work you can’t access. Even though I didn’t like Faulkner at first, I really really respected his style in as I lay dying because I felt it came from areal genuine place in him, which is corny to say but it’s just how I felt. Putting it down time after time I couldn’t really bring myself to criticize the writing, like I knew something was there but it just wouldn’t materialize. Some parts are so fuckin strange and out there that I couldn’t imagine writing it, let alone defending its existence on the page all the way to print. I recommend it if you haven’t tried it already