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brittbee07 's review for:
The Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have such mixed feelings about this book. I read it because I am the assistant director/stage manager of the play, The Haunting of Hill House adapted by F. Andrew Leslie, for my local community theatre, and wanted to get a sense of the source material. The play does not diverge much from the novel by Shirley Jackson, it just formats the story better which will please the audience. I cannot imagine putting this book, as it stands, on the stage.
The reader is briefly introduced to Hill House, a stately and imposing mansion that has been left empty for eighty years. We get a single paragraph to introduce this majestic character and then are whisked away to a quick introduction of Dr. John Montague and his interest in the property. We then get a short overview of why Eleanor and Theodora are selected to join him at Hill House (putting emphasis on Eleanor - the first time we get the sense of who the real main character is) and then a paragraph to introduce the final member of the quartet, Luke Sanderson. We are then treated to some 15 pages of Eleanor's journey to Hill House and her fretting internal monologue. The reader receives no such accounting for any of the other members of the group, cementing Eleanor's main character status. That's fine, except the reader never gets a good sense of the other members of this experience. Theo, Dr. Montague, and Luke are all painted over superficially with a large brush - Theo is crass, bombastic, and probably a lesbian; Dr. Montague is knowledgeable, somewhat fatherly, but absent-minded (else he would have sent Eleanor packing long before the house really had hold of her); Luke is the playboy, funny-man of the grouping who probably has a lot to offer if Jackson had given him the chance. The addition of Mrs. Montague and Arthur was so unnecessary that I hardly paid them any attention. And Mrs. Dudley was exactly what she needed to be, present (although I didn't think it was overly necessary to keep bringing her into the scene).
Plotting wise, the story is very slow. Most of the first chapter is given to Eleanor and her argument with her sister. Initially, you side with Eleanor, but even in the first few pages, you understand that Eleanor is unstable and that her sister was in the right. Nothing to be done, though, so you follow along as she drives to Hill House. The rest of the party arrives, we are treated to introductions that introduce no one, which is followed by their first night in the house. And nothing. Okay. I don't mind suspense being built, but the story flat-lined. The scariest thing was that the old doors wouldn't stay open...arguably not very scary for a house they all assume is haunted.
The real haunting begins that night. I was enjoying the build-up to it, the moment the house would come alive and scare everyone. And it fell flat. Again. Now, I know I am aware of the plot, but I didn't get a sense of urgency or dread during this part of the story. And then everything is washed away in the morning light. Interesting. Immediately, Eleanor starts to fall for the house - she is happy, happier than she has ever been. The leap from totally afraid to at peace was far too abrupt. And very little discussion about what happened, instead they take notes. Writing out each individual experience is important, but if they had taken more time to analyze what happened, they might have gotten Eleanor out. And the first time her name was written out should have been all the omen they needed to send her on her way. For all Dr. Montague blathered on about them leaving as soon as they feel the house taking hold of them, he really didn't follow through.
Over halfway through the book, the pacing started to improve. More was happening within the house that felt like real terror. I was with Eleanor as she raced through the house, I was with her on the stairs ready to jump. Sadly, I was also taken out of the story by the choppy way the other characters were handled. Were they deliberately being mean to her one moment and kind the next? Was the house making Eleanor hallucinate or was it taking possession of the others? The setup for the end of the book left too many questions that could have been resolved with a short conversation. Theo asking Luke if he's noticed anything odd about the way Eleanor was acting or making comments about memory lapses. Jackson didn't have to come out and say it exactly, but a few stray statements could have cleared up a lot about what was happening to Eleanor without giving the reader more than what Eleanor learned. (I know she is paranoid and being manipulated, but it would have been nice to be clued in a little. I mostly felt like Jackson didn't even know how the House worked).
Finally, and I hope this is just true of the ebook version I read, it was almost impossible to follow without rereading. The line breaks were all over the place, chapter breaks were non-existent, even though it was clear that chapters jumped in time and place on multiple occasions, but it took a line or two to figure it out because the break was missing, and the dialogue was crushed together so you couldn't follow who was speaking.
The reader is briefly introduced to Hill House, a stately and imposing mansion that has been left empty for eighty years. We get a single paragraph to introduce this majestic character and then are whisked away to a quick introduction of Dr. John Montague and his interest in the property. We then get a short overview of why Eleanor and Theodora are selected to join him at Hill House (putting emphasis on Eleanor - the first time we get the sense of who the real main character is) and then a paragraph to introduce the final member of the quartet, Luke Sanderson. We are then treated to some 15 pages of Eleanor's journey to Hill House and her fretting internal monologue. The reader receives no such accounting for any of the other members of the group, cementing Eleanor's main character status. That's fine, except the reader never gets a good sense of the other members of this experience. Theo, Dr. Montague, and Luke are all painted over superficially with a large brush - Theo is crass, bombastic, and probably a lesbian; Dr. Montague is knowledgeable, somewhat fatherly, but absent-minded (else he would have sent Eleanor packing long before the house really had hold of her); Luke is the playboy, funny-man of the grouping who probably has a lot to offer if Jackson had given him the chance. The addition of Mrs. Montague and Arthur was so unnecessary that I hardly paid them any attention. And Mrs. Dudley was exactly what she needed to be, present (although I didn't think it was overly necessary to keep bringing her into the scene).
Plotting wise, the story is very slow. Most of the first chapter is given to Eleanor and her argument with her sister. Initially, you side with Eleanor, but even in the first few pages, you understand that Eleanor is unstable and that her sister was in the right. Nothing to be done, though, so you follow along as she drives to Hill House. The rest of the party arrives, we are treated to introductions that introduce no one, which is followed by their first night in the house. And nothing. Okay. I don't mind suspense being built, but the story flat-lined. The scariest thing was that the old doors wouldn't stay open...arguably not very scary for a house they all assume is haunted.
The real haunting begins that night. I was enjoying the build-up to it, the moment the house would come alive and scare everyone. And it fell flat. Again. Now, I know I am aware of the plot, but I didn't get a sense of urgency or dread during this part of the story. And then everything is washed away in the morning light. Interesting. Immediately, Eleanor starts to fall for the house - she is happy, happier than she has ever been. The leap from totally afraid to at peace was far too abrupt. And very little discussion about what happened, instead they take notes. Writing out each individual experience is important, but if they had taken more time to analyze what happened, they might have gotten Eleanor out. And the first time her name was written out should have been all the omen they needed to send her on her way. For all Dr. Montague blathered on about them leaving as soon as they feel the house taking hold of them, he really didn't follow through.
Over halfway through the book, the pacing started to improve. More was happening within the house that felt like real terror. I was with Eleanor as she raced through the house, I was with her on the stairs ready to jump. Sadly, I was also taken out of the story by the choppy way the other characters were handled. Were they deliberately being mean to her one moment and kind the next? Was the house making Eleanor hallucinate or was it taking possession of the others? The setup for the end of the book left too many questions that could have been resolved with a short conversation. Theo asking Luke if he's noticed anything odd about the way Eleanor was acting or making comments about memory lapses. Jackson didn't have to come out and say it exactly, but a few stray statements could have cleared up a lot about what was happening to Eleanor without giving the reader more than what Eleanor learned. (I know she is paranoid and being manipulated, but it would have been nice to be clued in a little. I mostly felt like Jackson didn't even know how the House worked).
Finally, and I hope this is just true of the ebook version I read, it was almost impossible to follow without rereading. The line breaks were all over the place, chapter breaks were non-existent, even though it was clear that chapters jumped in time and place on multiple occasions, but it took a line or two to figure it out because the break was missing, and the dialogue was crushed together so you couldn't follow who was speaking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief
Moderate: Blood