Reviews with content warning for Sexism - The Lottery

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

10 reviews

sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Since I have read We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House, I thought it was appropriate to return to how I knew Shirley Jackson- for scaring the shit out of me in 7th grade.

This collection was, as always, a fantastic read. I love Jackson’s dark humor and was genuinely surprised at how well some of her stories have aged. Many of the ideologies and circumstances the characters find themselves in felt very relatable to my own experience as a young woman. Some of the stories did feel a little confusing and abrupt, hence why I only rated it 4 stars, but to sit down and read The Lottery again made it so worth it.

I would recommend this collection to anyone interested in Shirley Jackson’s writing as it provides a much wider berth of her genius that her books may have not captured. It’s also just a great spooky, feminist read, ironically written before the second wave.

Content Warnings

46jjsg's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have ranked and bolded must reads of each section. Shirley Jackson your mind!!!

Section 1 Ranking

1. "The Daemon Lover"

2. "Like Mother Used to Make"
3. "The Intoxicated"
4. "Trail by Combat"
5. "The Villager"
6. "My Life with R.H.Macy"

Section 2 Ranking
1. "The Renegade"
2. "The Witch"
3. "Charles"
4. "After you, my dear alphonse"
5. "Flower Garden"
6. "Afternoon in Linen"
7. "Dorthy and My Grandmother and the Sailors"

Section 3 Ranking
1. "The Dummy"
2. "Come Dance with Me in Ireland"
3. "Colloquy"
4. "Seven Types of Ambiguity"
5. "Elizabeth"
6. "A Fine Old Firm"

Section 4 Ranking
1. "The Lottery"
2. "Got a Letter from Jimmy"
3. "The Tooth"
4. "Pillar of Salt"
5. "Men with Their Big Shoes"
6. "Of Course"

Content Warnings

thewellbitch's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think I would have enjoyed this more if I hadn't been led to believe they were horror. The writing is very good and many of them are unsettling/slightly creepy, but it's more social critique than anything. The narrators did an amazing job at portraying the characters.

Content Warnings

rory_john14's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Content Warnings

ziopera's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

Content Warnings

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious reflective

4.75

Content Warnings

readerette's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Some of the stories didn't match the quality of the others, which is often the case in short story collections, of course. It was great to read "The Lottery" for the first time (for me), and a number of the other stories reached or even exceeded that level of creativity and engagement for me. Well worth reading for the quiet tension-building I've come to associate with Shirley Jackson.

Content Warnings