book data
534 ratings, 3.69 average rating, 56 reviews
(more data...)
edit
published
November 19th 1998
(first published 1981)
by Oxford University Press, USA
binding
Paperback, 328 pages
isbn
0192834045
(isbn13: 9780192834041)
description
Whether viewed as a subtle, self-conscious exploration of the haunted house of Victorian culture, filled with echoes of sexual and social unease, or s...more
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »
friend reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 740)
I had to write a paper on this in college, which I titled as my thesis statement, "The Governess Hallucinates a lot or Something." Obviously, I got an A and the professor wrote in red pen, next to the grade, "Nice title." Another great memory of that class was going to it at noon one day after driving from the school 4 hours to Chicago to see Pavement, then 4 hours back. I was pretty slap happy after being up all night, and the prof asked if anyone remembered what the nam...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Also includes "Washington Square," "Daisy Miller," "The Beast in the Jungle," and "The Jolly Corner" -- all 5 star stories.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in November, 2008
James is often a difficult author for me. As much as I enjoy what he writes about, I often find that his writing style can get in the way -- even though many consider him a 'writer's writer.' That being noted, Turn is one of his more enjoyable works. His concept of a ghost story, with all of its ambiguity, becomes fascinating in much the way a Poe story might -- that there is a gradual unraveling and revelation in it. Throw in the notion that the story being told might come from an unreliabl...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
30. Turn of the Screw by Henry James
This story, for me, was like a recipe that required me to chop a lot of vegetables before I could start cooking. In the end, I immensely enjoyed this psychologically driven suspense story. The story centers around a governess who is newly employed to a lonely house with several other servants and two beautiful children, Flora and Miles. Their uncle is the guardian and he stays off premises in London. Right away, the governess begins to see strange, &quo...more
This story, for me, was like a recipe that required me to chop a lot of vegetables before I could start cooking. In the end, I immensely enjoyed this psychologically driven suspense story. The story centers around a governess who is newly employed to a lonely house with several other servants and two beautiful children, Flora and Miles. Their uncle is the guardian and he stays off premises in London. Right away, the governess begins to see strange, &quo...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Those in need of a good ghost story; fans of Impressionism/Early Modernism
This novella is brilliant, and, due to its brevity (approximately 100 pages), a quick and easy read. James's story, centered around a young governess working in an isolated English estate who begins to see visions of malevolent ghosts, scared me more than I would like to admit. Alright I confess, I became so frightened reading it alone in my bedroom during the wee hours of the morn, that I was compelled to rush to Steve's room for a comforting cuddle (despite a fleeting paranoid thought that, ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in December, 2001
recommended to Elizabeth by:
Bill Joliffrecommends it for: wordy writers and readers
I learned that I don't like Henry James so much. I say this not to the point of meaning that he is a bad writer, but that he's not a writer who's work interests me in more than short story form. I made it through these short stories, barely, and I learned something 1) some ultimate point in each story 2) that I don't like Henry James. While James has something intereting to say he doesn't just come out and say it, he stretches it out to breaking point with far too many discriptives and metaphors...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
While I enjoyed reading a few of the shorter stories, (The Aspern Papers, An International Episode) The Turn of the Screw left me cold. I'm not sure if it was because I really didn't like TTOTS or if I was just tired of James's writing by that point. God forbid the man make it through a sentence with out 3 or 4 commas which intrude on what could have been a real statement and turn it into a passive string of words.
Aspern Papers, International Episode, Daisy Miller and Altar of the Dead wer...more
Aspern Papers, International Episode, Daisy Miller and Altar of the Dead wer...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
recommended to Alec by:
iron rail free shelf
I found this collection of short stories compelling yet somewhat confusing -- James gingerly skirts around the twists, using turn-of-the-century euphemisms that left me mystified. Did the former governess molest the children or simply swear in front of them? Are the children victims or complicit? Reading critical analysis of the stories definitely helped clarify things. James has an amazing talent for dragging the reader through a lifetime of waiting (as in The Beast in the Jungle) without ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2008
recommended to Logan by:
Mom
Painful. Just painful. Sentences that turn into multi-page epics that leave me wondering whether James' typewriter may have been malfunctioning so he just made do with commas instead. Only a 20-30 pages in to Turn of the Screw and I'm really trying hard not to put it down in disgust. I have to keep repeating my mantra to myself: "They are classics for a reason. They are classics for a reason." Someone liked them enough for them to stay in print this long, I just have to f...more
Read in January, 2001
recommended to Dana by:
Steve Huff
The Turn of the Screw is probably one of the best creepy Victorian "ghost" stories. It tells the story of Miss Jessel, a governess hired to take care of a creepy boy and girl who are being haunted by the ghosts of their former governess and a servant. This novella offers up chills without the horror movie shlock that passes for scary today.
Of the other stories in this collection, I have only read Daisy Miller, the sad tale of an American out of her element in Europe...more
Of the other stories in this collection, I have only read Daisy Miller, the sad tale of an American out of her element in Europe...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I'm as done as I'm ever going to be with this book. I read 5 of the stories, but I just couldn't force myself to finish The Turn of the Screw. It was just too awful, yet slightly dull. :/
The other stories all had very unsatisfactory endings, especially the first one, An International Episode. I think I threw the book across the room when I finished and shouted "Stupid stupid girl!!!" I don't know why I read Henry James...I get so irritated.
However, I did like...more
The other stories all had very unsatisfactory endings, especially the first one, An International Episode. I think I threw the book across the room when I finished and shouted "Stupid stupid girl!!!" I don't know why I read Henry James...I get so irritated.
However, I did like...more
Like this review?
yes
6 comments
Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
old people, linguists, people who are masochists
I didnt actually read this story, I TRIED to read the book. My mom suggested it as being a great story, and I'm sure that it is... but Henry James writes using the most tedious and long sentences possible and I found myself too annoyed to read the story.
These sentences were so long but the imparted information was so short, it was very similar to a subtitled or dubbed kung fu flick in that a character would rattle on for 60 seconds and the translation would be one or two words like 'good' o...more
These sentences were so long but the imparted information was so short, it was very similar to a subtitled or dubbed kung fu flick in that a character would rattle on for 60 seconds and the translation would be one or two words like 'good' o...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
Henry James requires more patience than I have (c.f. the introduction which addresses this), but his skills are not to be ignored. I'm curious if the GBLT community are more in tune to his expressions of repression (though in his personal life, he was quite out and active) much in the same way LDS members apparently read Orson Scott Card.
c.f. Hollingsworth's Line of Beauty which I wish I read after this Jamesapalooza. No repression there.
(btw: the effort was for Antioch and a lecture I ...more
c.f. Hollingsworth's Line of Beauty which I wish I read after this Jamesapalooza. No repression there.
(btw: the effort was for Antioch and a lecture I ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2001
I do not normally enjoy short stories, with the exception of Henry James. He was horrible at writing plays because he would write these extremely long sentences for his actors, and it never seemed like real dialogue. For me, his genius is in his short stories - the meaning behind the stories, the perfection of his narrative. But beware, he was British and often uses his language in a precise and even cold way. There is warmth in it, you just have to pay close attention.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2008
I wish I could rate each individual story independently, because some of them are really good. Others, such as The Turn of the Screw, are unnecessarily verbose.
James writes about the vagaries in intimate non-romantic relationships between men and women like no one else I've ever read. Probably the best example of this is "The Beast in The Jungle" which was my favorite of all of the stories.
James writes about the vagaries in intimate non-romantic relationships between men and women like no one else I've ever read. Probably the best example of this is "The Beast in The Jungle" which was my favorite of all of the stories.
The Turn of the Screw and Beast in the Jungle are among my favorite stories. They are eery without being cliché. Don't read the former as a mere ghost story, nor a mere psychological thriller for that matter. Likewise Beast in the Jungle, is not (merely) about whether or not John Marcher is a homosexual. I find the readings that emphasize the theme of theFreudian Uncanny and Nachträglichkeit persuasive.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
I just re-read this book in August-- it is so amazing and twisted, and so abstract that is seems incedibly modern. James leaves so much open that the reader is free to do a lot of projecting if they're so inclined, which makes the pschology of this book fascinating not only in terms of the psychology of the characters (and their author), but also in terms of the psychology of the reader-- terrific!
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I'm reviewing a theatrical adaptation of "The Turn of the Screw" next week (timed with Halloween -- yay?) so I figured I ought to read it first. I never had to read Henry James for school, so I would consider that at least a minor hole in my education. (I've since read Daisy Miller and Washington Square, both of which I liked, but not as much as I like anything from Edith Wharton.)
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
Henry James fans
This was my introduction to Henry James. The Turn of the Screw was the most enjoyable story of the lot, but all of them left me with a sense of wanting more. The stories end abruptly which can be frustrating. His writing is at times difficult to understand and many times I needed to reference a dictionary. I'm looking forward to watching movies based on some of these stories.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
I love love love Henry James; I can handle a long sentence, especially ones as lovely as his. Turn of the Screw is such a wonderful ghost story. It's real creepiness lies in it's ambiguity--you never really know whether the ghosts are real or not, so you're left wondering whether the horror is in the insanity of the governess or the evil of the spirits. Good, quick read.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
to-read
(on 93 people's shelves)
currently-reading (on 32 people's shelves)
classics (on 26 people's shelves)
fiction (on 19 people's shelves)
short-stories (on 10 people's shelves)
books-i-own (on 5 people's shelves)
own (on 5 people's shelves)
classic (on 3 people's shelves)
literature (on 2 people's shelves)
college (on 2 people's shelves)
More shelves...
currently-reading (on 32 people's shelves)
classics (on 26 people's shelves)
fiction (on 19 people's shelves)
short-stories (on 10 people's shelves)
books-i-own (on 5 people's shelves)
own (on 5 people's shelves)
classic (on 3 people's shelves)
literature (on 2 people's shelves)
college (on 2 people's shelves)
More shelves...
