Blair's Reviews > The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories

The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories by Henry James Jr.

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272909
's review
Sep 01, 10

bookshelves: read-on-holiday, short-stories, classics
Read in August, 2010

3/5 for the 'other stories', 4/5 for The Turn of the Screw itself, so more of a 3.5/5 overall. The other stories didn't leave much of an impression on me. As far as classic supernatural/ghostly tales go, I think I prefer the more explicit otherworldliness of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories. The Turn of the Screw was suitably atmospheric, although I found it hard to divorce from my previous impressions of the story, especially the souped-up version delivered by the recent BBC TV adaptation. I liked the ambiguity of the story and the way the reader is left to make up their own mind about whether the 'ghosts' are real. (Personally I'm inclined to think not, although I thought the children were ghastly anyway!) To be fair, I read this on a plane and it's the sort of book you should really curl up with somewhere quiet on a stormy winter night. I might give it another try later.

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