On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

Wow. This one was a best seller for William Faulkner. Here's the place to kick off the discussion of Sanctuary. When you meet Popeye, you'll never think of him as only the Sailor Man again.

I thought some scenes read just like a movie script so vivid

I just got my copy in the mail yesterday. an ex lib. copy from Clatsop community college library. what a great name!. Can't wait to dig into this one with you all.

Just started. Interesting so far. It seems sort of straight narrative technique so far (only a chapter or so in), but I'm waiting for the other foot to drop. So, I'm taking it that this isn't the Popeye that eats spinach.
Jane, that comment about the movie script is spot on. Exactly how it is so far.

Several years ago I picked up a Vintage Books reprint from 1967. Any thoughts on whether I should stick with this version or try the recent "corrected text" version?

I'm excited to read this Faulkner that I haven't read, but I'm reading Desperation Road too, and I'm afraid if I read them together, I'll combine the scenery and characters and end up with one really southern gothic book in my head! Does anybody else do that?

Belinda, I can only read one book at a time unless one of them is short stories or essays, for exactly that reason. I am deep into this one right now, and don't know what I think yet, except that I was completely lost for the first few chapters.

I can't wait for this conversation to start, since I have lots of questions for those who have any idea what is happening. We can start with the baby in the box.

I did read an analysis of this book after I finished, and it seems that Popeye is based on a real character named Popeye Pumphrey. He was told about him by a girl in a nightclub who knew the gangster and was held involuntarily by him in a brothel.

Oh yes , the baby in the box what can it mean, protection ? Death tone ? Who are the rats eh ?

The baby never did anything but lay there, except for whimpering now and then so we knew it was still alive.

So I suppose it is like Temple s situation

Wow, Jane. That is a brilliant deduction.

Oh Diane ;)

Thank you ;)

I just saw a piece on the news last night about "baby boxes". Just a box with a mattress inside, it's considered safer for newborns that a crib or sleeping in the same bed with parents. And low cost, so even poor people can use one! Faulkner was ahead of his time.

I am several chapters in and am struck by a few things. Faulkner's descriptions of the characters are really amazing. I found I could almost feel their presence (and often didn't want to) or I could see their setting. I'm enjoying the Faulknerian prose, as always, but these are some mighty odd people and events.

The first few chapters had me totally lost. Reading an analysis of the book helped me somewhat.

Slightly confusing so I read the first 100 pages twice

I've been reading very slowly, interspersed with other books, and seem to be picking up some strange threads between chapters and characters. I hope I don't need to read it again but who knows!

Okay, now that I've officially finished a really big Russian novel, I can officially devote my time to trying to figure out Sanctuary. It sounds like I might need the extra time. This is definitely a one book at a time kind of experience.

I think it is fascinating so far. Faulkner's prose is the high point but that's to be expected. his turns of phrase and descriptive abilities always surprise me.

I must admit to being very frustrated with Temple's behavior at Goodwin's house, all of that freezing up and panicking and not running away after being told repeatedly that she needs to get out of there. I don't need to be sympathetic to a protagonist (if she ends up being that) but it is rather a chore to read about someone who is so much like a deer in the headlights.

As I'm reading this section, I'm struck by how similar Faulkner's writing seems to Tennessee Williams' stage directions. Williams was known for detailed instructions so that readers can "see" his plays. When Temple is at Goodwin's, some of the scenes are written the same way.

Temple's movements within and outside of the house are often very clearly described. I'm reminded of The Old Man as far as how easily his storytelling moves from an almost slowed-down, even photographic description of what is specifically happening to a dreamlike mix of metaphor and simile and description and memories, all flowing in and out of each other, and often parenthetically. like a reporter reporting on a scene, while on acid.

I read in one analysis that Temple Drake was Faulkner's second favorite female character. (His favorite was Caddie from "The Sound and the Fury"). I was not so fond of her myself, such a spoiled little rich girl who refused to see the danger she was in. Maybe I will like her character better when I get around to reading "Requiem for a Nun"

I'm on ch. 11 liking it just ok so far. I agree that Temple should listen and just get out of the house.

DIane, my first impression of Temple was... Caddie 2.0

Does anyone know what size town/community this is set in?

It's funny...I don't dislike Temple so much as see her as, like Diane said, the spoiled little rich girl. But in addition, she is nowhere as smart as she thinks and only knows how to function in her own social setting. Sadly, she doesn't know this either and ends up acting like a lab rat. Probably a creature of her time and place.

Diane wrote: "I read in one analysis that Temple Drake was Faulkner's second favorite female character. (His favorite was Caddie from "The Sound and the Fury"). I was not so fond of her myself, such a spoiled li..."

Uhm, NOPE. You won't. GRIN. And, though it is not high on the literary critics' list, Requiem for a Nun is among my favorite Faulkners.

Guess I'd better add that to my plan.

I've been reading (mostly rereading) and teaching Faulkner for many years, but I almost never return to Sanctuary, unless I'm teaching a course just on Faulkner. It's just not great Faulkner--it's more a potboiler that he wrote to make money, a break from writing the novels that really wrenched his soul. There's an uncharacteristically straightforward meanness to the book that really puts me off. Yes, bad Faulkner is still better than 98% (or more) of novels being written by others, but still. . . . I probably shouldn't even be posting this, as I am not rereading Sanctuary with y'all. But I thought I would give my brief take on the novel.

Diane wrote: "I read in one analysis that Temple Drake was Faulkner's second favorite female character. (His favorite was Caddie from "The Sound and the Fury"). I was not so fond of her myself, such a spoiled li..."
I have no idea if Temple was Faulkner's 2nd favorite female character but there is no doubt Caddy was #1, I believe he described her as his heart's darling.

Robert, thanks for that comment. I am working my way through reading all of Faulkner for the first time, and there are a lot of his that I will re-read at some point, but Sanctuary will not be among them. My favorite so far are the books in the Snopes trilogy.

My two favorites are Absalom, Absalom! and Go Down, Moses. Both of those just grow richer with every return to them, though of course that's true with almost all of Faulkner.

My favorite are The Snopes too

well, shucks! (sry couldn't resist) this finally started to make a little bit of sense 200 or so pages in.

http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/fa...

http://www.shmoop.com/

Here are two sites that have helped me over the years with Faulkner , especially when it comes to genealogy..

Thanks John, I'll check these out.

Were readers in Faulkner's time smart enough to know what on earth is going on in this novel as it's unfolding? Temple sounds like she's in the fetal position in some room in the barn, Tommy is real upset with "them durn fellows", and all those men seem real bad. I'm hoping they aren't doing what it sounds like they're doing to her, but it is very confusing. It's been years since I read The Sound and the Fury, but it seems like what happened with Caddie was vague and hard to figure out too. I have Volpe's Reader's Guide to Faulkner and Brooks' William Faulkner: The Yoknapatawpha Country, but I'm trying to read and understand without commentary the first time through. I love and hate the difficulty of classic books!

Faulkner is famously difficult to read and understand and I've had difficulty with some of the others, but they made sense in the end and it all came together. I can usually just let his beautiful language wash over me and do it's work in my brain. This one, however, just never really jelled in my head.

I agree, Diane. I usually love his long, smooth sentences. They're like a lullaby; even when I don't understand the words yet, the sound is comforting. But the language in this one seems shorter, more straightforward, so I am focused on what is happening more than caring about the world around it.

I did enjoy the portraits of the Snopes! and found there was some excellent writing though none of the stream of consciousness that I noticed. He seemed occasionally obscure (he was Faulkner, after all) but otherwise had a story with a beginning, middle and end, well a few endings.

Agree on your points, Diane, Sue and Belinda. I really have a much better appreciation now than I did years ago reading Faulkner in college.

Belinda, I too am finding this narrative and the language a little more straight forward.

Not to say that there aren't some bizarre happenings going on in this plot....it seems like there is quite a bit of symbolism in everything Faulkner projects to us, the reader, and we have to make sense and interpret. Sort of like a big literary puzzle, that Faulkner is.