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A review by fastasashark
The Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost Stories by Henry James
2.0
True rating: 2.5/5
Ended up feeling a bit disappointed by this, but there were still a few stories I liked. Reading this also kind of clarified again for me why I prefer to read gothic fiction/horror by women authors. Women authors tended to use ghosts/hauntings to subvert traditional gender norms of the time, whereas men seemed to use them to maintain those norms. Almost as "warnings" on how women should/shouldn't act. Imo, a lot of the ghosts in James' stories have more to do with his anxieties about women/feminism. Or at least he imagines a lot of the ghosts haunting his women characters as the result of those women having too much "pride", "obsessing" over men, and toxic relationships of jealousy between women.
Romance of Certain Old Clothes - 2/5 - It was alright but didn't do much for me, story ultimately about jealousy between sisters, of course over a man
The Last of the Valerii - 2.5/5 - The reason I liked this one a little more was because there were moments where Conte Valerio's descriptions of paganism were just really beautiful and enjoyed them a lot, despite that the story at its core seemed pretty xenophobic to me (which is generally another common theme in British and Anglo-American early gothic/horror, particularly by men).
Sir Edmund Orme - 3/5 - This was probably my favourite story in the first half of the book. It was the first story that actually was really spooky in any way. That sort of hovering ghostly apparition creeps the shit out of me. I also found the relationship between the main character and Mrs. Marden hilarious. There were a few times when I wasn't sure if they were intentionally meant to come off as flirting, but the fact that the main character and the mother of his "love interest" had conversations like:
"She's a bit of a coquette, you know"
"Don't say that - don't say that!" Mrs. Marden murmured
"The nicest girls always are - just a little," I was magnanimous enough to plead
"Then why are they always punished?"
"What do you know of their punishment?"
"Well - I was a bad girl myself."
"And were you punished?"
Oh my, Mrs. Marden! lmao I couldn't help but cackle my ass off at that and similar dialogue between the two characters. Sometimes it seemed like the main character was more into Mrs. Marden than her daughter, lol. Simultaneously creepy and funny story.
Owen Wingrave - 2.5/5 - Can't say this one did much for me but liked the theme of it
Friends of Friends - 2/5 - Also didn't do too much for me and kind of felt anti-climactic
Turn of the Screw - 3/5 - I originally bought this book specifically for this story. It was definitely really creepy and a good October/Halloween read for intense build-up, but I feel like the ending ruined it a bit for me and missed the mark/wasn't really what I was hoping for, I guess you could say. Also reading the "analysis" in the intro afterwards also kind of ruined it. Honestly I don't see anything wrong with the way the governess herself acted, but if the analysis of it is true then just seems like another anti-woman type story. Also as I started reading this I suddenly got the impression that it was familiar and realised that the movie "The Others" is based on it. Will have to re-watch it.
Third Person - 3/5 - This one was also really creepy (may or may not have scared myself lol), but again quickly focused itself around "jealousy over a man" and the relationship between women becoming toxic because of it
Jolly Corner - 3.5/5 - This was my favourite story in the whole book. It kind of came out of nowhere for me, I hadn't expected to like it much going into it. The whole concept was really cool actually, rather than the traditional kind of haunting with the "haunting" becoming the "haunted" and just...yeah. Very cool. The build-up was awesomely intense, not to mention that I feel like James' actual writing was at its best in this one.
Ended up feeling a bit disappointed by this, but there were still a few stories I liked. Reading this also kind of clarified again for me why I prefer to read gothic fiction/horror by women authors. Women authors tended to use ghosts/hauntings to subvert traditional gender norms of the time, whereas men seemed to use them to maintain those norms. Almost as "warnings" on how women should/shouldn't act. Imo, a lot of the ghosts in James' stories have more to do with his anxieties about women/feminism. Or at least he imagines a lot of the ghosts haunting his women characters as the result of those women having too much "pride", "obsessing" over men, and toxic relationships of jealousy between women.
Romance of Certain Old Clothes - 2/5 - It was alright but didn't do much for me, story ultimately about jealousy between sisters, of course over a man
The Last of the Valerii - 2.5/5 - The reason I liked this one a little more was because there were moments where Conte Valerio's descriptions of paganism were just really beautiful and enjoyed them a lot, despite that the story at its core seemed pretty xenophobic to me (which is generally another common theme in British and Anglo-American early gothic/horror, particularly by men).
Sir Edmund Orme - 3/5 - This was probably my favourite story in the first half of the book. It was the first story that actually was really spooky in any way. That sort of hovering ghostly apparition creeps the shit out of me. I also found the relationship between the main character and Mrs. Marden hilarious. There were a few times when I wasn't sure if they were intentionally meant to come off as flirting, but the fact that the main character and the mother of his "love interest" had conversations like:
"She's a bit of a coquette, you know"
"Don't say that - don't say that!" Mrs. Marden murmured
"The nicest girls always are - just a little," I was magnanimous enough to plead
"Then why are they always punished?"
"What do you know of their punishment?"
"Well - I was a bad girl myself."
"And were you punished?"
Oh my, Mrs. Marden! lmao I couldn't help but cackle my ass off at that and similar dialogue between the two characters. Sometimes it seemed like the main character was more into Mrs. Marden than her daughter, lol. Simultaneously creepy and funny story.
Owen Wingrave - 2.5/5 - Can't say this one did much for me but liked the theme of it
Friends of Friends - 2/5 - Also didn't do too much for me and kind of felt anti-climactic
Turn of the Screw - 3/5 - I originally bought this book specifically for this story. It was definitely really creepy and a good October/Halloween read for intense build-up, but I feel like the ending ruined it a bit for me and missed the mark/wasn't really what I was hoping for, I guess you could say. Also reading the "analysis" in the intro afterwards also kind of ruined it. Honestly I don't see anything wrong with the way the governess herself acted, but if the analysis of it is true then just seems like another anti-woman type story. Also as I started reading this I suddenly got the impression that it was familiar and realised that the movie "The Others" is based on it. Will have to re-watch it.
Third Person - 3/5 - This one was also really creepy (may or may not have scared myself lol), but again quickly focused itself around "jealousy over a man" and the relationship between women becoming toxic because of it
Jolly Corner - 3.5/5 - This was my favourite story in the whole book. It kind of came out of nowhere for me, I hadn't expected to like it much going into it. The whole concept was really cool actually, rather than the traditional kind of haunting with the "haunting" becoming the "haunted" and just...yeah. Very cool. The build-up was awesomely intense, not to mention that I feel like James' actual writing was at its best in this one.