Reviews

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

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froggin_around's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

philodora's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

miffy4real's review against another edition

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4.0

I liked this but it gave me the prickling feeling that you get when you're too warm in your coat on the subway and there's so many stops before you get off. Shirley Jackson is really good at writing literature that makes you feel all turned around. I like her!

pasarmalam's review against another edition

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5.0

Pernah liat ada yang menyebut karya-karyanya Shirley Jackson sebagai "domestic horror". Horor yang bersembunyi di balik ramah-tamah, kehangatan rumah, keseharian dan rutinitas, yang familier sekaligus yang asing. Menurutku sebutan itu cocok sekali. Cerpen-cerpen di sini sekilas tampak sedeharna tapi sebetulnya punya lapis demi lapis yang semakin kamu kupas, semakin kamu ngeri menyadari apa yang kamu temukan. Favoritku cerpen berjudul "Pillar of Salt", seumur-umur baru ini aku ketemu cerita yang bisa akurat menggambarkan perasaan takut yang sangat spesifik kurasakan, bertahun-tahun menghantuiku, yang nggak bisa kujelaskan juga nggak dipahami orang lain; hebatnya, bisa ditulis oleh Shirley Jackson tujuh puluh tahun lalu.

scarvill96's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

3.0

slettlune's review against another edition

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3.0

I didn't know The Lottery is apparently a fairly well-known short story (I guess as far as short stories go), and as a tireless missionary of Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle I figured I might as well go all in and read a collection of her shorter works while I was at it.

The Lottery is last in the book, and funny thing is it's incredibly dissimilar in tone and concept to the 24 preceding stories. The feeling I got working my way through them was the inane absurdity of mundane life; how everyday powerless people (all but two stories centering women) can dream of power or wealth or independence, but because they've never experienced it they're unable to actually conceptualize it or work towards it -- an urge that's overwhelming but incomprehensible.

I guess I keep discovering these single-author short story collections always feel less impactful than experiencing each short story in isolation or a multi-author selection. At times 25 of Jackson's short stories started feeling drab and frustrating and depressing when read in quick succession.

I enjoy Jackson's knack for mundane dialogue, the meaningless chatter of other people that is so evocative in how idiotic strangers' conversations seem to be when you can't help being subjected to it. But it's just the top layer of a crushing sense of convention and politeness and expectations. Characters seethe and hate but still they have to channel it through polite words and empty gestures. They have panic attacks and mental breaks -- but internally, in secret, because they're so painfully aware the veneer of manners and etiquette is the only way they can preserve their current tiny measures of comfort and safety. There's nothing directly stating these stories take place in the 50s, but the strictness and obsession with a very specific variant of gender roles silhouettes the era better than any in-story dates and calendars ever could.

And then there's a story at the end about a village doing human sacrifices. And it's good but it's... pretty different.

Personal favourites:
1. My life with R.H. Macy
2. Seven types of ambiguity
3. Trial by combat
4. The renegade
5. Dorothy and my grandmother and the sailors