Anthea Carson's Blog - Posts Tagged "shirley-jackson"
The Haunting of Hill House
Having just finished The Haunting of Hill House I immediately picked up another of Shirley Jackson's books, The Birdcage.
I was captivated by Hill House, I was intrigued by the house itself. But now that I have finished the book I get the feeling that I was looking at a sort of jigsaw puzzle and that perhaps if I read it again and took careful notes I would put the pieces together. I keep having the sense that something happened that I completely missed, or perhaps partially missed. It's kind of like that house itself. Things happen, but you get only a glimpse of them, and an odd eerie sensation as you're walking away almost as if something is watching you. That's the way the book left me feeling.
At the end of the book she brings up things that she discussed on the drive up to the house, as if she were wrapping up a neat package.
I was captivated by Hill House, I was intrigued by the house itself. But now that I have finished the book I get the feeling that I was looking at a sort of jigsaw puzzle and that perhaps if I read it again and took careful notes I would put the pieces together. I keep having the sense that something happened that I completely missed, or perhaps partially missed. It's kind of like that house itself. Things happen, but you get only a glimpse of them, and an odd eerie sensation as you're walking away almost as if something is watching you. That's the way the book left me feeling.
At the end of the book she brings up things that she discussed on the drive up to the house, as if she were wrapping up a neat package.
The Bird's Nest
I have found it difficult to finish The Bird's Nest. Not just because it's so weird, and dated. But because I have a terrible tendency to rip books to shreds, literally. The book completely fell apart and I would have had to collect the last loose 40 or so pages and number them.
I did the same thing to Faulkner's The Sound and the Furybut in the case of that book I just had to finish it. I even then read an online version with a key so I could understand it.
I didn't have that same passion for Shirley Jackson's book, although I did want to know what the significance of the bird's nest in the story actually was. Something clearly happened on a beach with a bird's nest to the main character that caused her personality to fracture.
I made the mistake of buying a used copy with really small print in both cases. Perhaps if I had just invested in a larger print copy I could have saved both paperback's lives and my eyesight.
Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill Houseis definitely on my list of rereads, and eventually I must find out what happened on the beach with the bird's nest, so I suppose I'll have to get another copy, as I have long since decluttered the last one into the trash.
I did the same thing to Faulkner's The Sound and the Furybut in the case of that book I just had to finish it. I even then read an online version with a key so I could understand it.
I didn't have that same passion for Shirley Jackson's book, although I did want to know what the significance of the bird's nest in the story actually was. Something clearly happened on a beach with a bird's nest to the main character that caused her personality to fracture.
I made the mistake of buying a used copy with really small print in both cases. Perhaps if I had just invested in a larger print copy I could have saved both paperback's lives and my eyesight.
Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill Houseis definitely on my list of rereads, and eventually I must find out what happened on the beach with the bird's nest, so I suppose I'll have to get another copy, as I have long since decluttered the last one into the trash.
