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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
It was the type of book that I couldn't put down, because I had to know what happened to Temple, but one that I was hesitant to pick back up because it was so unsettling. After reading Faulkner's _The Sound and the Fury_, _As I Lay Dying_, and several of his short stories, this showed a new side to his writing that I didn't know existed.
A couple notes about Sanctuary: http://ohwaitiforgot.com/?p=285
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I should probably take a few days to gather my thoughts. Story was dark, need to be cleansed after reading dark. I found the narrative challenging to fully understand but I absolutely loved the style despite the subject matter.
Ok. Where do I begin? This book was left behind by the previous owner, and I became the lucky recipient. I thought, "Well, look at that. I've been wanting to read Faulkner, and here he is!" Actually, I wanted to read 'As I Lay Dying', but this would do. The blurb was quite intriguing, also. "Psychologically astute and wonderfully poetic...a powerful novel examining the nature of true evil..." Bless my poor little heart, I had no idea! This was neither astute nor poetic. Was he drunk or high (both) when he wrote this? The way he rarely refers to one character, in particular, by name was especially frustrating. Her name is Ruby, not "the woman!" Why bother naming her if you're not going to refer to her as such? Have mercy! His sentences are so long and convaluted that I quit re-reading them trying to understand just what the fuck he was trying to say. It should not be this hard to read a story. Sometimes he wouldn't even finish a thought. It's left hanging there, hopelessly flapping in the wind. I was under the impression that this was about the kidnapping of a MS debutante. As far as I could tell, it was about the all too true story of a man being convicted for something he didn't do. I felt no connection whatsoever to any of the characters. I didn't like them or hate them. Who are these people, and why should I care about them? These two important questions were simply not answered. The story itself was utterly uninteresting. I kept telling myself it would get better. It never did. After reading this, it's highly unlikely that I'll read anything else this man has to offer.
A silly and flaccid story. The synopsis is very misleading: Temple doesn’t have any agency, and is only a victim for the entirety of the book. The most interesting thing about this book comes via a repealed introduction by Faulkner himself, where he claims/admits that this premise/book was just a cash grab. IMHO it would have been better if he had thrown it away, as opposed to rewriting it.
Goodreads should have content warnings for books clear in the book page and this one would have all the content warnings. Definitely very disturbing sexual violence and (obviously, written in 1931 about the south) a lot of n word. Lots of alcoholism and violence, kidnapping, murder, you name it. Not your relaxing read-before-bed book, but that being said I personally really like faulkners writing style which is sort of scattered and will follow characters for random periods of time and then switch to others. The story is not exactly in chronological order and you kind of have to puzzle piece things together. It is chaotic but I think it makes the story more interesting. Descriptive language that can be hard to follow. Although a lot of the characters could have been developed more I feel. Felt like a quick and engaging read despite the disturbing nature. Definitely not for everyone.
read with a reading group and it's typical Faulkner but very dark.