Take a photo of a barcode or cover
_hayley_ 's review for:
The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
This book is so peculiar, but in a bad way. The writing is so confusing to read, which I believe is just a bad stylistic choice as opposed to keeping in theme with language of the time period. The novel had some really solid ideas in terms of the children being possessed by evil spirits, they just were not executed correctly. I do find the subtext that James wove into the story quite interesting however, and that is the only thing that stopped me from giving this book one star.
There is some queer undertones occuring between the governess and Mrs Grose, their feverish and secretive meetings are suggested to have been about more than discussing ghosts. They would lock themselves in the schoolroom "having everything out" which resulted in the "climax to the series of mutual challenges" they had faced together. On another occasion, they talked and Mrs Grose "went all the way" with the governess in which they both describe one another as looking "queer" and strange. The word queer is used several times in this book and is always somehow related to one of these two women.
There is also a suggestion of abuse that Miles had suffered at the hands of Peter Quint, as Mrs Grose describes Quint as "much too free" in reference to his relationships with other members of staff. She further says that "it was Quint's own fancy. To play with him, I mean-to spoil him." I wish this would have been explored further as it would have made what happened to Miles all the more heartbreaking, turning into the man that had hurt him the most.
There is some queer undertones occuring between the governess and Mrs Grose, their feverish and secretive meetings are suggested to have been about more than discussing ghosts. They would lock themselves in the schoolroom "having everything out" which resulted in the "climax to the series of mutual challenges" they had faced together. On another occasion, they talked and Mrs Grose "went all the way" with the governess in which they both describe one another as looking "queer" and strange. The word queer is used several times in this book and is always somehow related to one of these two women.
There is also a suggestion of abuse that Miles had suffered at the hands of Peter Quint, as Mrs Grose describes Quint as "much too free" in reference to his relationships with other members of staff. She further says that "it was Quint's own fancy. To play with him, I mean-to spoil him." I wish this would have been explored further as it would have made what happened to Miles all the more heartbreaking, turning into the man that had hurt him the most.