victorward's review against another edition
4.0
3,75⭐
+ :
The Lottery
Flower Garden
The Witch
The Renegade
Got a Letter from Jimmy
Of Course
Seven Types of Ambiguity
The Dummy
Like Mother used to Make
My Life with R.H. Macy
- :
Elizabeth
A Fine Old Firm
The Villager
Afternoon in Linen
Dorothy, my grandmother and the Sailors
+ :
The Lottery
Flower Garden
The Witch
The Renegade
Got a Letter from Jimmy
Of Course
Seven Types of Ambiguity
The Dummy
Like Mother used to Make
My Life with R.H. Macy
- :
Elizabeth
A Fine Old Firm
The Villager
Afternoon in Linen
Dorothy, my grandmother and the Sailors
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Stalking, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Sexism, Mental illness, Child death, Medical content, Violence, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Blood and Child abuse
carriepond's review against another edition
5.0
"The Lottery" itself is the prime example of a thread in many of the stories in this collection-- an increasing sense of doom as you realize that the people you believed to be judgmental/self-involved/overly concerned with appearances are capable of something much more sinister.
birdbrainreads's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
The stories in this collection had a bit of a slow start but quickly garnered my interest in book two which had some of my favorite stories. My rating is as follows for the top five stories in this collection: 1. Charles, funny seemingly lighthearted, and a little disturbing how much parents believe about their children and the behavior they exhibit while not in their care. 2. The Witch, purely because of the strangeness of it all and the complete 180 that the story takes halfway through. 3. The Renegade, Jackson does the ‘long suffering housewife’ extremely well and although the message of the story is a little more blatant in the end, I love the build-up. 4. The Daemon Lover, had me feeling BAD for this lady, like bad bad, the terror, humiliation, and paranoia, its all too MUCH. 5. Trial by Combat, Jackson writing politeness as people's undoing is TOO good. Also the subtle war going on between these two women, is unspoken but not and its so crazy when you consider that what the older woman is doing is an extreme violation of privacy like WHAT? The best part in her writings is when you can clearly see where the other has won even if it is not expressed outwardly.
emiller1018's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
oddly's review against another edition
5.0
Shirley Jackson's short works (barring perhaps her most famed tale "The Lottery") may not have the intensity and shocking impact of her longer, more well-known novels (especially the Gothic ones), but she is a master storyteller nonetheless.
The stories in The Lottery and Other Stories comprise much of her early short fiction, published in magazines and such from 1941 to 1949. These stories show many of the themes that she focused on for her entire career, including female protagonists who don't quite fit in, children, and the dark and strange.
The stories almost exclusively center around one character, following their innermost thoughts and actions. She relies heavily on description and inner thought; her writing doesn't use as much dialogue. The stories often focus on naive people who are often preyed upon or manipulated by others or people who are pretending to be something they are not. Jackson is interested in upsetting the status quo that everyone follows so blindly. People in Jackson's stories are the picture of refinement, perfect in dress and manner, but there is always something dark bubbling beneath the surface. Social norms are overturned with small but creepingly insidious actions, like an old lady stealing inconsequential things from someone in her boarding house ("Trial By Combat") or a child who tells tales about a bad kid in class only to have it come out that he was the bad kid all along ("Charles").
Often, the stories also swivel into the absurd, such as in "Like Mother Used to Make," where a fastidious man ends up ceding his dinner and his apartment to his loud and sloppy neighbor when she invites herself in and claims, in front of her guest, that his place is in fact hers.
Jackson is interested in what divides people: age, class, gender, race—her stories often look at social structures and how these rules we impose on ourselves have a detrimental effect on us. One thing I loved about these stories is that they often feel almost mundane, but then there will be a sting right at the end of the story that leaves you wondering and rereading to see what you missed. She has a way of writing about the mundane that will leave the hair on the back of your neck standing up.
I often felt that the stories were metaphorical, meant to poke holes in the way of life that Shirley herself found so stifling. In "The Renegade," a woman is faced with the entire town (and even her family) insisting that she put down her dog as it has been killing chickens. But the story seemed to be less about the situation and more about the woman and how as a newcomer to the country lifestyle she feels unprepared and undervalued by her family. Life as she knew it is snuffed out while those around her look on and see nothing wrong.
My favorites of the collection are:
"Pillar of Salt": In which a woman and her husband go on a trip to New York City. At first everything seems glamorous and exciting and new, but after a few incidents, the wife begins to experience crippling anxiety.
"The Tooth": In which a woman takes a bus to the city to have a tooth extracted and falls into a strange fever dream where she forgets who she is.
"The Lottery": This one is a classic for a reason. What struck me on this reading was the blind adherence to something considered a tradition for no other reason than "that's the way we've always done things." They are all happy with their ignorance even though they know full well how heinous and pointless it is. Since it doesn't affect them and they aren't really to blame for the end result, they can continue to ignore it. Sound familiar?
There is so much depth in these stories—I could go on about them for ages.
This review is part of my #summerofshirley read through of all of Jackson's works, 2020.
The stories in The Lottery and Other Stories comprise much of her early short fiction, published in magazines and such from 1941 to 1949. These stories show many of the themes that she focused on for her entire career, including female protagonists who don't quite fit in, children, and the dark and strange.
The stories almost exclusively center around one character, following their innermost thoughts and actions. She relies heavily on description and inner thought; her writing doesn't use as much dialogue. The stories often focus on naive people who are often preyed upon or manipulated by others or people who are pretending to be something they are not. Jackson is interested in upsetting the status quo that everyone follows so blindly. People in Jackson's stories are the picture of refinement, perfect in dress and manner, but there is always something dark bubbling beneath the surface. Social norms are overturned with small but creepingly insidious actions, like an old lady stealing inconsequential things from someone in her boarding house ("Trial By Combat") or a child who tells tales about a bad kid in class only to have it come out that he was the bad kid all along ("Charles").
Often, the stories also swivel into the absurd, such as in "Like Mother Used to Make," where a fastidious man ends up ceding his dinner and his apartment to his loud and sloppy neighbor when she invites herself in and claims, in front of her guest, that his place is in fact hers.
Jackson is interested in what divides people: age, class, gender, race—her stories often look at social structures and how these rules we impose on ourselves have a detrimental effect on us. One thing I loved about these stories is that they often feel almost mundane, but then there will be a sting right at the end of the story that leaves you wondering and rereading to see what you missed. She has a way of writing about the mundane that will leave the hair on the back of your neck standing up.
I often felt that the stories were metaphorical, meant to poke holes in the way of life that Shirley herself found so stifling. In "The Renegade," a woman is faced with the entire town (and even her family) insisting that she put down her dog as it has been killing chickens. But the story seemed to be less about the situation and more about the woman and how as a newcomer to the country lifestyle she feels unprepared and undervalued by her family. Life as she knew it is snuffed out while those around her look on and see nothing wrong.
My favorites of the collection are:
"Pillar of Salt": In which a woman and her husband go on a trip to New York City. At first everything seems glamorous and exciting and new, but after a few incidents, the wife begins to experience crippling anxiety.
"The Tooth": In which a woman takes a bus to the city to have a tooth extracted and falls into a strange fever dream where she forgets who she is.
"The Lottery": This one is a classic for a reason. What struck me on this reading was the blind adherence to something considered a tradition for no other reason than "that's the way we've always done things." They are all happy with their ignorance even though they know full well how heinous and pointless it is. Since it doesn't affect them and they aren't really to blame for the end result, they can continue to ignore it. Sound familiar?
There is so much depth in these stories—I could go on about them for ages.
This review is part of my #summerofshirley read through of all of Jackson's works, 2020.
amcloughlin's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best short story collections I've had the pleasure to encounter. Understated, atmospheric, and haunting in a way that rarely involves ghosts. Jackson allows us to slip into other skins, other living rooms, other lives. Well worth reading.
declancity's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
emmacraig's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75