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leah_bee's review against another edition
3.0
The reviews and description made me expect it to be a lot more horrifying than it was. It was just…kind of sad.
charlie_pearson's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ampersunder's review against another edition
4.0
Devoured this book in one day. My favourite stories, which I still think about every once in a while, were "Not One of Us," "The Terrors of Basket-Weaving," and "Old Folks at Home." Mostly I appreciated how alien such a social circle as the one in the first story is to me, identified with the creepy feeling of knowing something you didn't think you knew in the second, and got to feel self-righteous about not having kids in the last. I hadn't read any Highsmith before (just seen the Hitchcock movies, pretty much all of which, contrary to my nature, I saw before reading the book), but I will seek out her more famous works for sure.
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‰ЫПDiane felt that she had lost herself. Since repairing that basked, she wasn‰ЫЄt any longer Diane Clarke, not completely, anyway. Neither was she anybody else, of course. It wasn‰ЫЄt that she felt she had assumed the identity, even partially, of some remote ancestor. How remote, anyway? No. She felt rather that she was living with a great many people from the past, that they were in her brain or mind (Diane did not believe in a soul, and found the idea of a collective unconscious too vague to be of importance), and that people from human antecedents were bound up with her, influencing her, controlling her every bit as much as, up to now, she had been controlling herself.‰Ыќ (From ‰ЫПThe Terrors of Basket-Weaving‰Ыќ)
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‰ЫПDiane felt that she had lost herself. Since repairing that basked, she wasn‰ЫЄt any longer Diane Clarke, not completely, anyway. Neither was she anybody else, of course. It wasn‰ЫЄt that she felt she had assumed the identity, even partially, of some remote ancestor. How remote, anyway? No. She felt rather that she was living with a great many people from the past, that they were in her brain or mind (Diane did not believe in a soul, and found the idea of a collective unconscious too vague to be of importance), and that people from human antecedents were bound up with her, influencing her, controlling her every bit as much as, up to now, she had been controlling herself.‰Ыќ (From ‰ЫПThe Terrors of Basket-Weaving‰Ыќ)
sshabein's review against another edition
4.0
Finally, a break from the constant murderin’. Oh sure, people still die, but The Black House features fewer sudden blows to the head. Most of the time, the characters act with good intentions, only to have their situation spin out of control.
Unlike some of her other short story collections, The Black House is likely the one that’s most appealing to a wider audience — entirely compelling and complex, in an easy bite-size form.
(Full review can be found at Glorified Love Letters)
Unlike some of her other short story collections, The Black House is likely the one that’s most appealing to a wider audience — entirely compelling and complex, in an easy bite-size form.
(Full review can be found at Glorified Love Letters)
sparrow843's review against another edition
3.0
3.5, really.
SPOILERS*****SPOILERS*****SPOILERS
SOMETHING THE CAT DRAGGED IN
Ehh.
NOT ONE OF US
Damn. That’s more like it.
THE TERRORS OF BASKET-WEAVING
Interesting, but it was hard for me to understand or relate to what she was feeling.
UNDER A DARK ANGEL’S EYE
Had potential but didn’t quite get there.
I DESPISE YOUR LIFE
I didn’t understand this one. Why would his father be so uncaring at the end?
THE DREAM OF THE EMMA C
Good story.
OLD FOLKS AT HOME
Made me a little uncomfortable. Basically, couple makes impulsive life-changing choice, can’t deal with consequences.
WHEN IN ROME
Not sure what to make of this one. Don’t get (or stay) trapped in a crappy marriage, I guess?
BLOW IT
Mediocre guy who thinks a lot of himself strings along two women (“girls” in the book, but whatever). They prove to be more mature than he is.
THE KITE
Damn.
THE BLACK HOUSE
It was their “castle.”
——————-
It was greater than the sum of its parts. I’m definitely interested in reading more of her work.
SPOILERS*****SPOILERS*****SPOILERS
SOMETHING THE CAT DRAGGED IN
Ehh.
NOT ONE OF US
Damn. That’s more like it.
THE TERRORS OF BASKET-WEAVING
Interesting, but it was hard for me to understand or relate to what she was feeling.
UNDER A DARK ANGEL’S EYE
Had potential but didn’t quite get there.
I DESPISE YOUR LIFE
I didn’t understand this one. Why would his father be so uncaring at the end?
THE DREAM OF THE EMMA C
Good story.
OLD FOLKS AT HOME
Made me a little uncomfortable. Basically, couple makes impulsive life-changing choice, can’t deal with consequences.
WHEN IN ROME
Not sure what to make of this one. Don’t get (or stay) trapped in a crappy marriage, I guess?
BLOW IT
Mediocre guy who thinks a lot of himself strings along two women (“girls” in the book, but whatever). They prove to be more mature than he is.
THE KITE
Damn.
THE BLACK HOUSE
It was their “castle.”
——————-
It was greater than the sum of its parts. I’m definitely interested in reading more of her work.
victoriaknow's review
3.0
The book was a gift and not something I would have chosen for myself but I enjoyed the stories more than I thought I would. Some were basically just descriptions of a few normal days in the characters' lives that it was a wonder how the author managed to weave interest and dysfunction through the telling enough to make a story out of it. In other stories, the tag line on the book about the characters being victims trying to act like protagonists really rang true. None were terrible enough to make me want to stop reading, which is what I originally feared. A good diversion from my usual fare.
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