The Turn of the Screw (American Classics Edition)
When a young governess arrives at a remote and dreary country estate to take care of two charming little children, she is initially thrilled. However, the longer she stays, the more she realizes that things aren't quite right. The children, while beautiful, are strangely distant, and she feels as if she is being constantly watched. When she witnesses the children speaking with the ghostly apparitions of a man and woman the housekeeper has claimed to have died long ago, she realizes that the estate is not only haunted, but that the darkness plaguing them has only one goal: to take the children. Determined to protect them, the governess must figure out just how far she's willing to go, and whether saving the children is worth her life. While best-known for The Turn of the Screw, Henry James wrote many ghost stories during his illustrious career. "The Romance of Certain Old Clothes" and "The Ghostly Rental" are two of those short stories included in this edition.
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Community Reviews
I was not impressed with this book. To difficult of a read, run-on sentences that rambled, and no distinct ending. If it wasn't for being in a book club, I would have stopped reading it after 10 pages.
A little perplexing. The language made it a little difficult to read. I’d love to see this produced as a gothic horror period piece by the BBC.
I won’t pretend I wasn’t hooked, especially at certain points, but I think it was mostly in anticipation for an explanation or chilling lack thereof (ideally for the narrator as well as myself) that didn’t come. I love an unreliable narrator, but her being additionally wordy and vague will have me combing through sparknotes for a little bit to wrap my head around what just happened. On the bright side, it intrigued me enough that I want to look further into it.
Victorian ghost story - all very proper, and this was delightfully written. I had always wondered about this particular classic. It is well worth the read and this audio version was very well read.
I listened to the audio through Craftlit, as part of the older episodes. I wasn't sure what I expected and I'm still not sure about it. It's tagged as a ghost story novella and I can get why it's a "big deal". But I'm in the area of "What a good plot!" and "Why can't it sound....less laborious?".
Classics, especially Victorian era classics, do have a certain method of speech and I get that, however this made me feel pulled out of the story more than it made me interested. Honestly, if not for Heather's commentary about the story, I would have missed a lot.
The plot is good and nicely ambiguous. A young governess is hired by a man to look after his niece and nephew. Mrs. Grose is the housekeeper and is the governess' confidante throughout the story. The young boy, Miles, has been kicked out of school for unknown reasons and the young girl, Flora, appears to be a sweet young girl.
The governess starts seeing ghosts and, once described to Mrs. Grose, finds the ghosts to be the former employees, including the former governess. Things start getting weird because we just aren't sure what is happening. It's clear she saw the ghosts. But does she continue seeing them? Are the children seeing them? Is the governess just losing her mind?
It's interesting to see her spiraling downward and seeing where it eventually ends up. The ending was crazy abrupt and still so up in the air that I'm not sure yet what really happened.
Since it's so short, I wouldn't tell people NOT to read it, but if you can focus on the plot and the twists and turns instead of the language, you will probably enjoy it.
Classics, especially Victorian era classics, do have a certain method of speech and I get that, however this made me feel pulled out of the story more than it made me interested. Honestly, if not for Heather's commentary about the story, I would have missed a lot.
The plot is good and nicely ambiguous. A young governess is hired by a man to look after his niece and nephew. Mrs. Grose is the housekeeper and is the governess' confidante throughout the story. The young boy, Miles, has been kicked out of school for unknown reasons and the young girl, Flora, appears to be a sweet young girl.
The governess starts seeing ghosts and, once described to Mrs. Grose, finds the ghosts to be the former employees, including the former governess. Things start getting weird because we just aren't sure what is happening. It's clear she saw the ghosts. But does she continue seeing them? Are the children seeing them? Is the governess just losing her mind?
It's interesting to see her spiraling downward and seeing where it eventually ends up. The ending was crazy abrupt and still so up in the air that I'm not sure yet what really happened.
Since it's so short, I wouldn't tell people NOT to read it, but if you can focus on the plot and the twists and turns instead of the language, you will probably enjoy it.
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