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A review by creolelitbelle
The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Fiction by Henry James
2.0
Henry James, oh how longwinded he is. I enjoyed his story “Daisy Miller”, when I read it in college for an American literature class. The imagery in that story is beautifully written. The other 4 stories in this volume, though, have made me feel mentally exhausted and simply emotionally “done” with the book much before the ending.
“The Turn of the Screw” … what even happened in that story? Was the governess crazy or are the children out of their minds? Those answers and more are left to interpretation, but after the buildup of suspense towards what would become of the children with these supposed ghosts walking about, I needed some form of closure.
“Washington Square” is a quite long story compared to the others and felt very Jane Austen-esque to me. The family loyalty from the daughter, the refusal of the father to accept his daughter’s choice for marriage, the unclear actual motivations of her suitor, the meddlesome aunt … the basics of the plot felt timeless, but the point dragged on and on. It was the most disappointing “will they, won’t they” story I’ve ever read or heard.
From what I gathered of “The Beast in the Jungle”, the man was afraid of love sneaking up on him. He lived his whole life in fear of allowing himself to be open to another … until she died? How depressing.
There was nothing “jolly” for me about “The Jolly Corner”. Perhaps by the time I got to the narrative I was too drained from James’s incessant ramblings, but I found this one weird in a bad way and confusing from start to finish.
Henry James’s stories seem to have a theme about them: mildly confusing as you read, but irrevocably confusing upon thinking too hard on the action and characters due to all the possibilities he meant.
“The Turn of the Screw” … what even happened in that story? Was the governess crazy or are the children out of their minds? Those answers and more are left to interpretation, but after the buildup of suspense towards what would become of the children with these supposed ghosts walking about, I needed some form of closure.
“Washington Square” is a quite long story compared to the others and felt very Jane Austen-esque to me. The family loyalty from the daughter, the refusal of the father to accept his daughter’s choice for marriage, the unclear actual motivations of her suitor, the meddlesome aunt … the basics of the plot felt timeless, but the point dragged on and on. It was the most disappointing “will they, won’t they” story I’ve ever read or heard.
From what I gathered of “The Beast in the Jungle”, the man was afraid of love sneaking up on him. He lived his whole life in fear of allowing himself to be open to another … until she died? How depressing.
There was nothing “jolly” for me about “The Jolly Corner”. Perhaps by the time I got to the narrative I was too drained from James’s incessant ramblings, but I found this one weird in a bad way and confusing from start to finish.
Henry James’s stories seem to have a theme about them: mildly confusing as you read, but irrevocably confusing upon thinking too hard on the action and characters due to all the possibilities he meant.