Started Great But Ended Disappointingly.

[Alan]

I was expecting so many good things from We Have Always Lived In The Castle. It started so great, but ended so disappointingly. Nothing much happened. Don't know what all the fuss was about. I much preferred The Haunting of Hill House.

[Read me two times]

I've read both and I liked WHALITC more. I found it a more intriguing and enjoyable reading, maybe cause I sympathized more with the characters... Elinor was kind of annoying, but the two sisters were really weird (in a funny way though!) :)

[Read me two times]

I can see signs of her agoraphobia at the beginning of the story, when Merricat goes to the town and come back home... I really was so worry about her, as if something had to come up and destroy her...poor thing. I still don't know how to feel about Constance, but I think I like her too, she's a weirdo, and the fact that she killed her family is somehow marginal to me...it's part of her "charme"...

[R.a.]

Perhaps SJ saw early on that the "horror element" could be sustained only so long without repeating oneself.

Rather, she wrote a narrative which seemingly begins in horror, (and elements of that certainly is there), but then "shifts" to the faerie tale—a stylistic choice that many after her have followed.

And, given the dark, dark horror of The Lottery anthology, We Have Always Lived in the Castle became a wonderful relief.

[Feliks]

See my review to hear my reaction.

Post #4, Anarchic Rain...how about a spoiler tag? Asking too much not to ruin the story for others? Come on now. Do the right thing.

[Saski]

Interesting, upon reading these comments I wonder if we have read the same story...

[Grad]

I have to agree with Alan. I was disappointed at the ending. But the build-up was very well done. Perhaps I need to re-read it. I listened to it on audio and may have missed some of the nuances.

[Jingizu]

I wasn't disappointed with the ending. What would you have liked to happen?

For me, the ending was terribly sad and poignant, and also disturbing. That last sentence, "Oh Constance, we are so very happy" after they disengaged completely from the world, is chilling.

For me the whole book is like a prequel to a haunted house story, it demonstrates how a house becomes "haunted", how the legends and reputations get started. Perhaps even how supernaturally the house is really haunted in the end.