rewildling's review
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
keelya's review against another edition
3.25
This wasn’t my favorite Shirley Jackson book, but I still enjoyed it. I like Jackson’s writing a lot. This is a book you need to read - don’t get the audiobook. There are so many details that need more attention then can be given an audio format.
steve_sanders's review against another edition
3.0
Turns out I had to go pretty deep into my Shirley Jackson completist quest to find one that was a slight disappointment.
amandatacklestbr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
macncheese_pdf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
gorecki's review against another edition
2.0
I don’t believe in astrology and the likes, but being a Gemini, I do hold a fascination for the concept of doubleness and having more personalities at the same time. Also, bizarrely as it may sound, I’m fascinated by the topic of insanity in fiction and literature. Probably this is why I was so excited about reading The Bird’s Nest by master of horror Shirley Jackson.
„Elizabeth, Beth, Betsy, and Bess, they all went together to find a bird's nest…” – nothing special about this, except that Elizabeth, Beth, Betsy, and Bess are variations of one and the same person. After Elizabeth starts suffering from ever stronger headaches and pain in her back, she is sent to a psychiatrist for further examination. When Dr. Victor Wright uses hypnosis to address the issue and after he discovers that what Elizabeth suffers from is multiple personality disorder, however, all hell breaks loose. Her 3 other personalities of different ages start surfacing, pushing the real Elizabeth deep down under and burying her in their bickering. The first two chapters of this book really made me bite my nails with anticipation - personalities switching between each other, the narration unravelling beautifully and going deeper into the Elizabeth’s psyche. But then…
… Then it became harder to follow and at moments even demotivating to try. I had the feeling that Jackson’s writing and messages were clear only to herself. There were constant references and hints to something horrible that has happened, which was mentioned on and on, but never named. There was a contradictory search for and at the same time running away from a person named Robin, which made me weary. And when at the end of the novel this extremely horrible thing is finally named and you get some of the answers you were hoping for, it is not as satisfying or as horrible as you’d expected. The dialogues in this book were veiled and unclear, there were no direct questions, but constant running in circles. The pretentious Doctor Wright was either too offended to treat Elizabeth anymore, or too preoccupied with his own thoughts and interpretations and being self-centered. Furthermore, while reading I had the feeling that all the characters and Jackson herself knew a lot more than they actually shared and there were things left unsaid, which made me feel frustrated and weary.
As for the ending – it ended the way it started. Quietly and unnoticeably. Like the way a headache comes and goes – you do not notice it happening, you just suddenly realize it’s there and after you take a pill, you suddenly realize it’s gone.
„Elizabeth, Beth, Betsy, and Bess, they all went together to find a bird's nest…” – nothing special about this, except that Elizabeth, Beth, Betsy, and Bess are variations of one and the same person. After Elizabeth starts suffering from ever stronger headaches and pain in her back, she is sent to a psychiatrist for further examination. When Dr. Victor Wright uses hypnosis to address the issue and after he discovers that what Elizabeth suffers from is multiple personality disorder, however, all hell breaks loose. Her 3 other personalities of different ages start surfacing, pushing the real Elizabeth deep down under and burying her in their bickering. The first two chapters of this book really made me bite my nails with anticipation - personalities switching between each other, the narration unravelling beautifully and going deeper into the Elizabeth’s psyche. But then…
… Then it became harder to follow and at moments even demotivating to try. I had the feeling that Jackson’s writing and messages were clear only to herself. There were constant references and hints to something horrible that has happened, which was mentioned on and on, but never named. There was a contradictory search for and at the same time running away from a person named Robin, which made me weary. And when at the end of the novel this extremely horrible thing is finally named and you get some of the answers you were hoping for, it is not as satisfying or as horrible as you’d expected. The dialogues in this book were veiled and unclear, there were no direct questions, but constant running in circles. The pretentious Doctor Wright was either too offended to treat Elizabeth anymore, or too preoccupied with his own thoughts and interpretations and being self-centered. Furthermore, while reading I had the feeling that all the characters and Jackson herself knew a lot more than they actually shared and there were things left unsaid, which made me feel frustrated and weary.
As for the ending – it ended the way it started. Quietly and unnoticeably. Like the way a headache comes and goes – you do not notice it happening, you just suddenly realize it’s there and after you take a pill, you suddenly realize it’s gone.
georgina_bawden's review against another edition
4.0
Really compelling, quite funny at times. A little unsatisfying. I love Shirley Jackson's writing. Considering the era in which it was written, it was also quite nuanced and avoided the "evil alternate persona" trap quite nicely I thought by showing us the doctor's opinions were not to be trusted (his favourite is the desperate-to-please, whiny Beth? Of COURSE it is). The novel hints at the childhood sexual abuse that caused the personality disorder in the first place, and the further traumas that compounded it without making them a focus. The interactions between personalities were deftly handled - they could easily have been confusing and I was impressed that they were so strongly characterised that the reader could ID them in a sentence of dialogue. The voice of the pompous, old-fashioned and misogynistic doctor was so perfect (his frequent asides to an imagined male reader were the icing on the cake). I found the ending a little underwhelming but otherwise a great read.
kelseysmelsey's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0