Rating: 
Summary: Gimme Shelter
Review: "Sanctuary" has a double meaning in this novel -- the sanctuary we seek against the cruel events that occur in life and sanctuary against those things in ourselves that are most primitive, volatile and evil. Faulkner's characters here are in search of sanctuary in both meanings, although the theme is not well-developed and the plot is so misshapen that it detracts from the overall impact of the main theme."Sanctuary" is Faulkner's stab at writing noir-ish detective fiction. You'd figure he would take to the genre like a duck to water (at least I did) given its emphasis on mood, place and moral struggle. All of these elements show up in the novel, but haphazardly. I think Faulkner was probably prevented from writing the noir novel he really wanted by the spirit of the times, which weren't supportive of the degree of brutality he intended to display in the novel (We get a glimpse of this when we see the stained corncob that Popeye used to violate Temple Drake). He would later half-heartedly repudiate "Sanctuary" as a failed attempt to make some money, an excuse probably designed to get his neighbors in Oxford, Miss., off his back and to satisfy the sob sisters in the national media who were ready to crucify him for writing a novel containing violence of almost pornographic intensity. When reading "Sanctuary," think about how each one of the characters -- save for Popeye, Mrs. Goodwin and DA Eustace Graham -- loses himself or herself in some form of self-delusion to avoid dwelling on the worst parts of their own character and existence. Even Horace Benbow's courageous decision to defend Mr. Graham against charges of murder is little more than an attempt to distract himself from his marital woes and the fact that he is so obviously out of place in his own home town now. "Sanctuary" could have been Faulkner's masterpiece and some current-day critics suggest that perhaps it is. It's not. Faulkner should have re-written the book, smoothed the plot, fleshed out the characters far more than they are in the current text and allowed for a more leisurely examination of man's struggle for safe haven, both physically and spiritually. "Sanctuary" is a very powerful examination of the evil that men and women do and, in that sense, it is a very Catholic novel. I would not recommend its use in high school or lower-level college undergraduate survey courses. It's simply too intricate to be useful for students at those levels. But for an upper-level course in American lit, American culture, religion or philosophy, "Sanctuary" is an appropriate text with quite a bit to say about modern man and the chains that bind his soul.
Rating:
Summary: Sleaze with panache
Review: Even when Faulkner is writing to sell books, as he admits he is doing with "Sanctuary," the master of impressionistic Southern fiction can be quite sublime. The novel's racy subject matter and lightning-strike narrative have the feel of pulp fiction, but the rich descriptions and illustrious prose reveal that Faulkner never strays far from the top of his form. As expected, its base locale is Mississippi's Yoknapatawpha County, that endless wellspring of Faulkner's imagination. It's prohibition, and business is good for moonshiners like Lee Goodwin, living in a large but decrepit antebellum house with his "wife" Ruby and baby son, who is kept in a box hidden behind the stove to protect him from rats. Goodwin, while not a bad man himself, associates with a number of hoodlums, including a sympathetic young man named Tommy and a cruel cretin called Popeye who harbors a nasty secret about his past and his libido. One night, a drunk named Gowan Stevens and his girlfriend Temple Drake, the privileged daughter of a judge in Jackson and a college girl with a wild side, get into a car accident and end up spending the night at Goodwin's house, where Gowan had been planning to buy some whiskey. Temple, warned by Ruby that the house is no place for a girl like her, and abandoned by Gowan the next day, finds herself in a nightmarish predicament when Popeye brutally robs her of whatever innocence she had, drives her to Memphis, and puts her up at a cathouse fronting as a respectable hotel, run by a careworn but charitable madam named Miss Reba. But Popeye and Temple have to answer for the murder of Tommy, who was shot around the time they left. Goodwin gets arrested, and a friendly lawyer named Horace Benbow, himself on vacation from his nagging wife, decides to defend him at the trial. This leads to some detective work to find Temple, who is being held prisoner by Popeye in that Memphis hotel and would provide valuable witness testimony. The manner in which Benbow manages to do this proves Faulkner's skill in characterization, as he employs two members of the infamous Snopes family to comic as well as narrative effect. "Sanctuary" has two very memorable morbid, but poetic, images: the first involving Flaubert's doomed Madame Bovary, of all people; and the second describing a funeral for a small-time hoodlum that is transformed into a bacchanalian celebration by the fatalistic sensibilities of the Memphis underworld. This is a scene which could be conjured only by a William Faulkner (or a Nathanael West). This novel is an odd brew. It feels messy yet still exhibits an unquestionable professionalism; its characters are grotesque but all the more interesting because of it. Faulkner's writing is never explicit; you must be attentive to clues and details because you'll be expected to piece together the puzzle later. This is the main challenge confronting his readers, but understanding Faulkner means being willing to accept this challenge.
Rating: 
Summary: My Southern reading list
Review: Excellent book. I had a little difficulty following the characters at first but I couldn't put the book down. Unlike a lot of todays authors he doesn't take sides but presents life in the raw.
Rating:
Summary: The dark side
Review: I found this a bleak, disturbing novel - Faulkner seemed to me to want to immerse the reader in the most unattractive sides of the human psyche. If you're not in the mood, I suppose that this could be a deeply depressing work - the treatment of Temple Drake, and her resultant decline as a human being would ensure that. As it is, I don't mind being taken on such journeys into the dark side, not least because I think it acts as a warning or reminder. Added to which, I found the writing interesting - I've only read a few Faulkner works, but he intrigues me in that I find that his style, whilst oblique (the best word I could summon up at the moment), is nonetheless highly effective in relating atmosphere and mood. This novel is essentially claustrophobic - the tension is palpable. All the female characters are treated badly by the men, albeit in different ways. This perhaps says much about the social roles of the time and latent brutality therein. But what I thought was more interesting, and might be worthy of deeper thought was why otherwise honest, peaceful people are passive or even cooperate in the face of injustice, brutality and violence? Is there a case for saying that once violated, each of the women in the novel did little or nothing to protest and even cooperated with their violaters? Extending this somewhat outside of the novel, why do we find criminals so interesting when essentially their behaviour threatens us - or have I answered my own question? A thought-provoking novel.
Rating:
Summary: Tough read but worth it.
Review: I read this book because I had never read any Faulkner before. I guess I thought I was missing something in my library or maybe it was time to lay off the nonfiction I mostly read. I found Faulkner's style and word choices difficult at first. He assumes the reader is not lazy and will keep up with him and his stream of consciousness approach. I must admit I read half the book, became disinterested and put it down for several weeks. I then made up my mind to give it a second chance and really enjoyed it. The story is dark and slightly twisted. There are very few admirable characters but I found myself sympathizing with most of the characters. Everyone except maybe Temple Drake has reasons for their misdeeds. I felt Faulkner was trying to convey the injustice of the time and just plain bad luck as reasons for the poor behavior or lack of optimism of the characters. I highly recommend this book. It is gripping and real. The story got to me.
Rating:
Summary: She sells Sanctuary
Review: Imagine it's 1929 and you're reading a book about bootlegging, couples living in sin, rape, whorehouses, with near-explicit sex scenes. Faulkner's SANCTUARY must have been mind-blowing to the genteel masses. They were reading material that they still don't show on network television today, in an age where such things are so commonly discussed in the media that we hardly look sideways at it. This book must have arrived like an explosion, shaking the sensibilities of readers everywhere, daring booksellers to put it on their shelves. SANCTUARY is not an easy book. You'll find yourself, if you're like me, rereading passages to understand exactly what's going on. The characters, though precisely described, can be difficult to picture in your mind, especially as we move further away from the Jazz Age, with its unusual expressions, costume, and mores. Imagine Tennessee and Mississippi when cars were relatively new to the roads, when the various social strata -- some wearing suits, some overalls -- began mixing together more easily. Imagine being a teenage girl acting as a woman trapped in a moonshiner's shack, far away from the protection of her home, encountering men like creatures in a horrific play who drink liquor and watch her lie under the covers, her only protector passed out beside her. Faulkner's reintroduced introduction is a godsend that will help you decipher the book somewhat. The editor's notes at the end of the book will help you understand much of the jargon and the motivation of the characters. A good read in any age.
Rating:
Summary: Amazingly Twisted A++++++
Review: Sanctuary is another brilliant tale that reveals exactly how amazing Faulkner is as an author. This story, by far, is one of the most "twisted" tales; the unexpected occurs throughout. All through the book, I was in complete awe and in disbelief. By the end of this book, I was in complete shock. What occurred in the last 50 or 100 pages left me in surprise and in utter astonishment. I had never suspected any of what had occurred. How Faulkner was able to conjure up such an original story is beyond me! In short, the story is about the kidnapping of a rich girl of 18 and the trial of a man accused of murder. However, the plots are not nearly this simplistic. Faulkner ventures into life and its evils, revealing that it does not matter how a person is raised, the choice of evil is his own; sometimes those of low class are more true and kind than those of high society. This is a book that, I believe, breaks the shell between class stereotypes. This book is a definite must read. Not only is it unbelievably entertaining, but it also leaves you thinking. It's a fairly easy read despite the various numbers of characters involved (if you are anything like me, you might want to take notes on who's who). In addition, I would also recommend reading this book closely; don't just give it a skim. You might miss something important!
Rating:
Summary: Not Faulkner at his best, but it's still Faulkner
Review: SANCTUARY is, by all standards, an odd book. A minor work by a major talent, it blends elements of Greek tragedy and tawdry potboiler to create an unusual amalgam. Faulkner himself was quite up front about it being his great attempt to write a bestseller, lathing the book with a bevy of cheap effects, yet still to imbuing page after page with one striking phrase after another. Although not major Faulkner, it is still Faulkner, and is definitely worth reading. It is set in Yoknapatawpha county, and features many characters who either appear in other books or whose relatives appear in other books. Furthermore, the key female character in the book, Temple Drake, reappears as the major character in REQUIEM FOR A NUN, written twenty years after this one. While I do not rate this anywhere nearly as highly as many of his other books, being something of an oddity, it is nonetheless absolutely not a waste of time. While there are many sensationalist elements, there are still many magnificent sentences that read more like poetry than prose, and many of the characters are memorable. If one is wanting to read only one or two books by Faulkner, I would not recommend this one. I would recommend instead AS I LAY DYING or, if one is feeling more ambitious, ABSALOM, ABSALOM. But if one is planning on reading all of the major works of Faulkner, then this is a book one should not skip. Minor Faulkner is better than the major works of many other writers.
Rating:
Summary: My Southern reading list
Review: There are too many Southern book to name them all, and even so, not all of them are worth mentioning. But of the many I've come across over the years, a few stand out as absolutely remarkable achievements. They are: Sanctuary
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
The Bark of the Dogwood
Flannery O'Connor collected stories
To Kill a Mockingbird I realize others may have a different opinion, but for me, these were the best. Of course, my idea of "the best" changes from year to year, but for now, this is it!
Rating: 
Summary: The reviews are much better than the book
Review: This was my second shot at trying to appreciate William Faulkner. I read Light in August a few years back and gave it 3 stars. I'm a big fan of Steinbeck, a contemporary of Faulkner's, who is often compared to Faulkner. Some reviews have said if you like Steinbeck you will like Faulkner. I disagree. Steinbeck writes clear and concise stories that are carried by his creativity and a reflection of the life he led. To describe Faulkner's style in Sanctuary, I will borrow from another review that said it was "oblique and distracting". I finished the story with a half-hearted understanding of what I had just read. By reading all of the other reviews on this site I now understand so much more about the book. That's a problem, I don't connect with Faulkner....
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