The Sundial

by Shirley Jackson

book data

139 ratings, 3.83 average rating, 17 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		30%
4		31%
3		28%
2		7%
1		1%

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published

January 7th 1986 by Penguin (Non-Classics) (first published 1958)

details

Paperback, 192 pages

isbn

0140083170 (isbn13: 9780140083170)

description

THE SUNDIAL is a chilling, suspenseful, blood-curdlingly marcabre novel of 12 strange people awaiting the end of the world in a fantastic house like n…more

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Mar 02, 2010

Krokodil rated it:

(review of other edition)

bookshelves: spring-2010

Read in March, 2010

Shirley Jackson was such a kooky genius. Emphasis on genius. Also, emphasis on kooky.

I'm learning that there is a whole world of Shirleyana beyond that one story which shall remain nameless because everyone read it in high school.

The premise of this one is simple but also highly bizarre. A wealthy family, plus assorted hangers-on, waits around in a big old house for what they believe to be the imminent apocalypse. Most of the family members are pretty awful in one way or...more Shirley Jackson was such a kooky genius. Emphasis on genius. Also, emphasis on kooky.

I'm learning that there is a whole world of Shirleyana beyond that one story which shall remain nameless because everyone read it in high school.

The premise of this one is simple but also highly bizarre. A wealthy family, plus assorted hangers-on, waits around in a big old house for what they believe to be the imminent apocalypse. Most of the family members are pretty awful in one way or another, and they mostly hate each other. The novel chronicles their interactions as they wait for a premonition to come true and plan for the paradisiacal new world that supposedly awaits them.

Also, it's funny.

The neat irony at the center of Jackson's style here is how all the characters comport themselves with extreme decorum and refinement, yet at the same time are openly hostile toward each other. It makes for a lot of dryly hilarious dialogue and devious plotting.

Another impressive thing Jackson does is to render irrelevant the question of whether the end of the world is "real" and whether the characters are crazy for believing in it. There is no authorial judgment of the characters; the point is that they believe in this thing, for various reasons, and it doesn't matter if we believe it. And they do have their reasons: leadership opportunities, spiritual connection with dead loved ones, fear of non-paradisiacal life lived as a failure, or the simple power of Pascal's wager.

Speaking of those characters, they are wonderfully drawn--especially for such a short novel. My favorite is the world-weary, self-deprecatingly witty Essex, who I could easily see being played by George Sanders. (In fact, almost all the characters come off as British--I guess mid-20th-century pseudo-aristocratic Americans acted rather Britishly). And it's impossible not to love the family's wicked matriarch Mrs. Halloran, who takes charge of the family's post-apocalyptic planning with extreme prejudice. (In one of the book's funniest details, Mrs. Halloran insists on wearing a crown during a party given at the house, and thereafter into the new world.)

Amid all this there is at least one nail-biting suspense set piece, involving a character's attempted escape from the house. Since the rest of the book is relatively uneventful, plotwise, that one sequence really sticks out as a tour-de-force. There's also one really funny sequence involving another group of eschaton-hopefuls, whose belief system hinges on salvation courtesy little green men from outer space.

I don't think it's too spoiler-y to say that the book ends on a note of ambiguity. My immediate reaction to this was annoyance, but after some thought I realized the ending is perfect. As Maureen put it in her lovely review, the ending one might crave would have to be a whole other book. It's so much more tantalizing and frightening to imagine the possibilities that Jackson leaves open.

I'm holding back on five stars because there is one exposition-y section earlyish in the book that is, as far as I can tell, completely extraneous on both a narrative and a thematic level. I kept thinking it was gonna pay off, and it never did. But that's really a nitpick. Call it 4.75 stars. Regardless, it's an unclassifiable, largely unheralded work that really deserves to be back in print. Check your local libraries, folks.

**Um, I'm bumping this because it isn't showing up on my profile page for some reason? I REQUIRE VALIDATION FROM STRANGERS ON THE INTERNET(less)

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Nov 07, 2008

Maureen rated it:

(review of other edition)

this is among my favourite novels. every time i read it i am just as struck by its harmonious discord as i was the first time: this story is to me, a perversely uneven amalgam of a drawing room comedy, and creepy gothic haunted house tale. i think i only like the book more for the fact that the pieces don't quite fit together, and the scene that scares me the most isn't the one i'd expect, though there are several claustrophobic and uncomfortable moments in the sundial, and i always smile at thi...more

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Oct 09, 2008

Deb rated it:

bookshelves: reread, spooky-stories

I just re-read this and still enjoyed it. As in her The Haunting Of Hill House, she is subtle and often humorous in hadling her supernatural elements. In this case, we have a large country estate somewhere, dominated by a sixty-ish Mrs. Halloran, who married her now invalid husband for the money and the house. She is bright, sarcastic and enjoys weilding her power to make other people squirm. Some of the other people are: her daughter-in-law (who believes she killed her son to keep the house)...more

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Jun 24, 2007

Gabriel rated it:

Read in June, 2007

recommends it for: anyone

While Shirley Jackson's genius will be noted for The Haunting of Hill House and her story "The Lottery," The Sundial is of equal importance. Containing one of the best villains I have yet read (Mrs. Orianna Halloran who may or may not have killed her son) and many enchanting pieces of sniping and ironic conversations, this is truly Shirley Jackson at her best. I only wish it could have been longer.

I am willing to loan my copy out to those who would take care of it and ret...more

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Jun 26, 2008

Ae rated it:

I find myself giving this book five stars rather to my own surprise. It's not her best by any means, and it can be wildly uneven, but it has a couple moments that absolutely scare the living bejeezus out of me, more than anything else she's written. Once again the action centers on a house, this one belonging to a wealthy woman who rules it and its inhabitants as her own little domain. She's convinced the world is about to end and only those inside the house will survive, to walk out into a new ...more

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Oct 06, 2009

Shea N rated it:

Read in September, 2009

I love Shirley Jackson, but I love other books she wrote more than this one.

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Jan 26, 2010

Colleen rated it:

I'm re-reading this. i laugh so hard I hurt.

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Mar 06, 2008

Lee Anne rated it:

bookshelves: all-time-favorite, favorite-author

Read in February, 2008

Wow! This is the best book I've read so far this year. A rich, eccentric family receives a message from their late patriarch, telling them the end of the world is at hand, and the family (plus a few extra guests, for repopulation, of course) will be the only survivors. They begin making preparations in their family house, and fight and backstab one another right up to the end. Does the world really end? A great book, now out of print. Find a copy and buy it!

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Mar 31, 2009

Bridget rated it:

Read in April, 2009

recommends it for: hardcore SJ fans but no one else really

I love Shirley Jackson so I really wanted to like this. I didn't.
I got bored and annoyed trying to remember who was who (introducing 12 characters in +/- 5 pages is not cool.)
As the book wound down, I was more invested but it never got as close as my affections for We have always lived in the Castle.

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Apr 18, 2008

John rated it:

Read in April, 2008

All the Shirley Jackson staples are there -- an old gothic house in an isolated setting, a group of neurotic characters, and vaguely supernatural overtones -- but this one never came together for me. I like the way it teetered between moments of dark humor, almost British-like in tone, and ominious, threatening intensity, but I didn't feel the escalation led anywhere. That said, there is one sequence that is absolutely stone-cold chilling to the bone.

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May 08, 2008

Justin rated it:

Read in May, 2008

Her weakest work. I kept waiting and waiting for it to grab my interest but it never did. The characters are shallow and uninteresting. Try "The Haunting of Hill House" or, "We Have Always Lived in the Castle."

And of course, there's always "The Lottery" and the rest of her short stories.

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Dec 16, 2007

Kit rated it:

bookshelves: recentlyread

Read in December, 2007

this book is awesome. i usually think of great writers as having some kind of sympathetic connection to all of their characters (flaubert, m.b., c'est moi, etc) but then shirley jackson comes along showing another way to do it. oh - s. was reading shirley hazzard, transit of venus, this week - another great, great shirley.

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Mar 29, 2007

jacky rated it:

bookshelves: senior-thesis

Owns a copy — Read in June, 2002

I love Shirley Jackson, but I didn't enjoy this one at all. It wasn't scary and wasn't funny. Maybe I'm missing something on this one; Stephen King liked it and mentioned in his Firestarter dedication.

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