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A review by jennyyates
The Bird's Nest by Shirley Jackson
3.0
This is an imaginative but uneven short novel, and since it was written in the 50s, it must’ve been one of the first treatments of multiple personality syndrome.
The main character, Elizabeth, is really interesting, and Jackson moves among her personalities very deftly. The doctor, who gets some first person narrative of his own, is erudite and a bit pompous. He gets aggravated every once in a while and decides to stop treating Elizabeth, so he’s a bit more human than your average wise doctor in fiction. He’s pretty clear that he has no idea how to treat this woman.
Elizabeth’s aunt Morgen is a prominent character, but she never really came together for me, since her dialogue veers wildly. At one point, we see her house’s decor through the doctor’s eyes, and this gives us some clues about her character. Of course, we often see Morgen through Elizabeth’s eyes, so maybe that’s why she seems so fragmented.
There’s a lot of dry wit in the writing, and one of the funniest scenes is when the doctor, Elizabeth and her aunt go to visit a rather boring couple, Mr and Mrs Arrow. Mr Arrow attempts to make conventional conversation out of the doctor’s wild ramblings.
This novel resists the urge to tell us what Elizabeth’s childhood trauma was all about, so we’re just left with a lot of hints. It does wrap itself up rather nicely, though.
The main character, Elizabeth, is really interesting, and Jackson moves among her personalities very deftly. The doctor, who gets some first person narrative of his own, is erudite and a bit pompous. He gets aggravated every once in a while and decides to stop treating Elizabeth, so he’s a bit more human than your average wise doctor in fiction. He’s pretty clear that he has no idea how to treat this woman.
Elizabeth’s aunt Morgen is a prominent character, but she never really came together for me, since her dialogue veers wildly. At one point, we see her house’s decor through the doctor’s eyes, and this gives us some clues about her character. Of course, we often see Morgen through Elizabeth’s eyes, so maybe that’s why she seems so fragmented.
There’s a lot of dry wit in the writing, and one of the funniest scenes is when the doctor, Elizabeth and her aunt go to visit a rather boring couple, Mr and Mrs Arrow. Mr Arrow attempts to make conventional conversation out of the doctor’s wild ramblings.
This novel resists the urge to tell us what Elizabeth’s childhood trauma was all about, so we’re just left with a lot of hints. It does wrap itself up rather nicely, though.