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A review by tits_mcgee
Sanctuary by William Faulkner
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Faulkner writes with an intensity that forces you to pay attention, complement this with some beautiful, introspective prose and southern USA dialect and the payoff can be huge; it is a payoff that immerses you in his gritty world among the cruel and the downtrodden, the prostitutes and the bootleggers and rapists.
This intense immersion was held at a distance for much of this book though; what I mean is, the immersion, which relies heavily on Faulkners talent for mood and atmosphere, was broken up by what seems like an attempt at focusing more heavily on the plot, and the plot was nothing to ... write home about. It's no surprise to me that this was considered his more accessible work, but it just felt like watered down Faulkner when compared to the immensely good Light in August.
Of course the writing style was still good, it was still Faulkner, so I don't want to slate this book as much as I want to express my disappointment after reading Light in August - a book that began my fascination with the Southern Gothic genre and easily sits in my top 10. The writing in fact still gifted me with some of the best passages I have ever read, some quotes below which hopefully express the better parts of this book:
"She thought of them, woolly, shapeless; savage, petulant, spoiled, the flatulent monotony of their sheltered lives snatched up without warning by an incomprehensible moment of terror and fear of bodily annihilation at the very hands which symbolised by ordinary the licensed tranquillity of their lives."
"I am too old for this. I was born too old for it, and so I am sick to death for quiet."
"I have but one rift in the darkness, that is that I have injured no one save myself by my folly, and that the extent of that folly you will never learn."
6/10
This intense immersion was held at a distance for much of this book though; what I mean is, the immersion, which relies heavily on Faulkners talent for mood and atmosphere, was broken up by what seems like an attempt at focusing more heavily on the plot, and the plot was nothing to ... write home about. It's no surprise to me that this was considered his more accessible work, but it just felt like watered down Faulkner when compared to the immensely good Light in August.
Of course the writing style was still good, it was still Faulkner, so I don't want to slate this book as much as I want to express my disappointment after reading Light in August - a book that began my fascination with the Southern Gothic genre and easily sits in my top 10. The writing in fact still gifted me with some of the best passages I have ever read, some quotes below which hopefully express the better parts of this book:
"She thought of them, woolly, shapeless; savage, petulant, spoiled, the flatulent monotony of their sheltered lives snatched up without warning by an incomprehensible moment of terror and fear of bodily annihilation at the very hands which symbolised by ordinary the licensed tranquillity of their lives."
"I am too old for this. I was born too old for it, and so I am sick to death for quiet."
"I have but one rift in the darkness, that is that I have injured no one save myself by my folly, and that the extent of that folly you will never learn."
6/10