A review by richardleis
Sanctuary by William Faulkner

2.0

The two stars I'm rating the book are likely more about me than the book itself, which is intricately crafted but, to me, too opaque, as if the South itself is a humid atmosphere under which meaning is fleetingly glimpsed. Faulkner describes a wasteland that is alien to me, in a way the other pulp fiction books I've read recently are not. Even at their most evil, the other books contained something I recognized, some grounding elements that kept me in the story. Here I could not figure out who was talking, why they were saying what they were saying, or what was being implied. I could not figure out or understand anyone's motivations. I could not imagine what Faulkner was attempting to say. I don't understand the purpose, but I don't believe for a moment that Sanctuary is just "a cheap idea, because it was deliberately conceived to make money."