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grumpypantsonfire 's review for:
The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
It is not, usually, to my own personal liking, to read or to write, be as it may, a most humbly inspired opinion, even if in all of it's glorious clarity it reveals finally the full purpose of the author's statement, which is obviously, most deeply - and I do understand the temptation of it, quite fully so - inspired by the style an author of whatever written work there may exist has chosen to express their story, clearly, in the brightest daylight, on paper - but, and it is in hindsight possibly most obvious that it should have come to this very moment of my admittance of humbleness for I could not (and how could I ever have, in the face of such beauty) resist the temptation of giving in to the writing of this very missive on which you now lay your eyes; I struggle for words, but alas I think I am forced to admit, it was a most difficult read.
I read this because it is the main inspiration for "The Haunting of Bly Manor" which I really enjoyed - but sadly, I did not really enjoy reading this. I think the "story" is really interesting. I am putting it in quotation marks because it is ambiguous as to whether there is actually something happening or whether the narrator is just going mad over nothing. And the ambiguity is really held up until the very last line.
However, given the fact that this is so ambiguously written means that basically nothing actually happens - it needs to still be plausibly all in the narrator's head after all. This really brings the writing to the absolute forefront in this novel and the writing is something else - it is just too convoluted and exaggerated for me. It took me maybe a hundred pages to get really into it / used to it. Sadly, by this point, the story is almost over.
I am also a bit disappointed by the ending. It's super abrupt and I would have loved to see some more.
I read this because it is the main inspiration for "The Haunting of Bly Manor" which I really enjoyed - but sadly, I did not really enjoy reading this. I think the "story" is really interesting. I am putting it in quotation marks because it is ambiguous as to whether there is actually something happening or whether the narrator is just going mad over nothing. And the ambiguity is really held up until the very last line.
However, given the fact that this is so ambiguously written means that basically nothing actually happens - it needs to still be plausibly all in the narrator's head after all. This really brings the writing to the absolute forefront in this novel and the writing is something else - it is just too convoluted and exaggerated for me. It took me maybe a hundred pages to get really into it / used to it. Sadly, by this point, the story is almost over.
I am also a bit disappointed by the ending. It's super abrupt and I would have loved to see some more.