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A review by bumble_abi
The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
'Passing through the outskirts of the city, she thought, It's as though everything were traveling so fast that the solid stuff couldn't stand it and were going to pieces under the strain [...]. She knew she was afraid to say it truly, afraid to face the knowledge that it was a voluntary neck-breaking speed, a deliberate whirling faster and faster to end in destruction.'
I was struck by just how easy these stories were to fall into. The exposition in each feels nonexistent (although it must simply be hidden, because Jackson never leaves the reader confused) and there's a wonderful immediacy to the prose. Within a paragraph, you're right there in the room with the characters.
I liked how this collection was structured, in sections each with it's own epigraph, marking steps downward to a more intense weirdness, or more mundane evil, or more egregious disappointment. It marks the difference between an anthology made to gather stories, and a considered, complete work of art. It's a generous collection, containing twenty-six stories, almost all of which feel at home here (with a few duds hidden among the pack). The Lottery is last, the finale to this cacophony of everyday shudders. It's fabulous, totally deserves to be this collection's namesake, but I'll refrain from telling you more about it because you should read it yourself.
Whenever I read Jackson's work I notice how fine a balance she is able to strike between the splashy and the simply uncanny, how her writing carries this incredibly classy subtlety, to look at ordinary things sidelong and point out under her breath the terror hidden inside. Some themes that I was surprised to find in here: the hurtling destructiveness of city life; the facelessness of corporate employment; the mask of pity worn by casual racists. While many of her characters are anchored in space and time, the attitudes in here are remarkably contemporary - reading her work almost feels like reading historical fiction by the writers of today rather than reading works written more than seventy years ago. If you're a short story enjoyer, check this bad boy out.
I was struck by just how easy these stories were to fall into. The exposition in each feels nonexistent (although it must simply be hidden, because Jackson never leaves the reader confused) and there's a wonderful immediacy to the prose. Within a paragraph, you're right there in the room with the characters.
I liked how this collection was structured, in sections each with it's own epigraph, marking steps downward to a more intense weirdness, or more mundane evil, or more egregious disappointment. It marks the difference between an anthology made to gather stories, and a considered, complete work of art. It's a generous collection, containing twenty-six stories, almost all of which feel at home here (with a few duds hidden among the pack). The Lottery is last, the finale to this cacophony of everyday shudders. It's fabulous, totally deserves to be this collection's namesake, but I'll refrain from telling you more about it because you should read it yourself.
Whenever I read Jackson's work I notice how fine a balance she is able to strike between the splashy and the simply uncanny, how her writing carries this incredibly classy subtlety, to look at ordinary things sidelong and point out under her breath the terror hidden inside. Some themes that I was surprised to find in here: the hurtling destructiveness of city life; the facelessness of corporate employment; the mask of pity worn by casual racists. While many of her characters are anchored in space and time, the attitudes in here are remarkably contemporary - reading her work almost feels like reading historical fiction by the writers of today rather than reading works written more than seventy years ago. If you're a short story enjoyer, check this bad boy out.