A review by hilikus_00
The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

5.0

Initial Thoughts...

The first few stories didn't capture me, which I was disappointed by as a lover of We Have Always Lived... Short stories have never really been my cup of tea but I was hoping this book would change my mind.

I decided to flip to The Tooth and...wow. The ability of that stoyr to evoke such intense feelings was just amazing and worthy of all the 5-star ratings in the world.

I read it on the bus and was feeling so claustrophobic, disoriented, dizzy and deeply unsettled by the end of the story. I almost had to stop reading it. Jim (who is a recurring character in Jackson's stories) was just terrifying. I am now convinced that the story has some magical powers because that is the only way to explain how I ended up feeling that way.

After You, My Dear Alphonse is another favourite. I deeply appreciate that ShirleY Jackson touched on issues of race here by taking a critical look at a mother's assumption that her young son's Black friend needed to be saved from his circumstances. LOVED that.

Shirley Jackson touches on important themes. She also challenges tradition in THe Lottery where a town has an annual lottery wherein one person gets chosen randomly to be stoned by the other townspeople. Nobody critiques it but instead just continue doing it because after all, its tradition.

Excellent.