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Completest Book Club - Monthly Read News
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What Members Thought
Shirley Jackson's ghost story is romantic and corrosive, a psychological novel of guilt and paranoia that will stay with readers long after they leave Hill House. Is the house haunted, or are the people within it?
Eleanor Vance is an adult but yet she has hardly lived - her thought processes are often immature and laced in fantasies of another life, frequently of a life lived alone in isolation. She jumps at the chance to run from her remaining family and her sad life, and runs straight into the ...more
Eleanor Vance is an adult but yet she has hardly lived - her thought processes are often immature and laced in fantasies of another life, frequently of a life lived alone in isolation. She jumps at the chance to run from her remaining family and her sad life, and runs straight into the ...more
The quintessential haunted house story, but really there is so much more below the surface. This is a book that builds on the quiet and still, it is a book more interested in the psychological than the physical, and the writing is lovely to boot.
This book at first had a shallow feel to it, but before you know it you are waste deep, and what seemed solid was only a viscous liquid and what should be soft and supple turns hard as stone; what should be inanimate is humming with life in this story an ...more
This book at first had a shallow feel to it, but before you know it you are waste deep, and what seemed solid was only a viscous liquid and what should be soft and supple turns hard as stone; what should be inanimate is humming with life in this story an ...more
Excellent Haunted House Story
I think this is one of the best haunted house books. Shirley Jackson weaves a tight, slim tale without any extraneous matter creeping in to mar the atmosphere.
In fact, and it's why it only gets four stars instead of five, it is a little too slim on detail. The house is haunted surely in a mentally predatory way, but why? There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind the haunting. I don't mind a little ambiguity but in this case her reticence is stretched a bit too fa ...more
I think this is one of the best haunted house books. Shirley Jackson weaves a tight, slim tale without any extraneous matter creeping in to mar the atmosphere.
In fact, and it's why it only gets four stars instead of five, it is a little too slim on detail. The house is haunted surely in a mentally predatory way, but why? There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind the haunting. I don't mind a little ambiguity but in this case her reticence is stretched a bit too fa ...more
So, what am I missing?! I am very familiar with Shirley Jackson's short stories and was really looking forward to this supposed "perfect work of unnerving terror." But.....meh. I respect Jackson's writings and was looking forward to reading this "horror" classic but I felt a bit let down after all the hype. Perhaps I read this too late in life, I should have read this as a teen shortly after reading The Lottery to fully appreciate it. Perhaps it shouldn't be listed as horror, maybe psychological
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Quick read. There's a reason this is a classic. Hill House will be forever imprinted in my mind. I am willing to bet that many of my house dreams have elements of this house in them. For me, the house was another character in the story. It loomed large.
And perhaps that could also be a slight drawback, the house is as memorable, perhaps more memorable, than the story.
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And perhaps that could also be a slight drawback, the house is as memorable, perhaps more memorable, than the story.
...more
I'm still trying to figure out what I read. The first half of this book was a great start, especially for the beginning of October. However, the second half just didn't make it. It ended up feeling like I was wondering through someone's stream of consciousness while strung out on LSD...Or something like it.
I definitely enjoyed We Have All Lived At The Castle a lot more. Truly creepy and it left me slightly disturbed by the end. I will be reading Lottery. One more shot with Shirley. We will see ...more
I definitely enjoyed We Have All Lived At The Castle a lot more. Truly creepy and it left me slightly disturbed by the end. I will be reading Lottery. One more shot with Shirley. We will see ...more
Find my review here:
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That was quite good. Spooky and suspenseful. Listened to David Warner read and he was absolutely perfect.
Pretty good. But not really that scary... The ending was unexpected but I thought her other book was much more thrilling.
Sep 19, 2011
RachelvlehcaR
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
horror,
classics,
thriller,
paranormal,
03-library-and-borrowed,
guardian-1000,
02-group-reads
I have watched the movies and couldn't stand the characters. The ending in the movie was a feel good cheesy let's save the children, however in the book totally different ending. I do like parts of it and other parts annoyed me. She is so weak of a person it drives me insane. It's a major pet peeve of mine, however her weak mindedness was needed so she could be controlled. I have mixed feelings about this book.
...more
Feb 25, 2010
GracieKat
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
kindle-ghosts-hauntings-fiction,
kindle-horror
May 16, 2014
Michelle Bacon
marked it as to-read
Sep 26, 2014
Christine PNW
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
vintage-women
Jun 04, 2015
Glenda
marked it as to-read
Aug 14, 2015
Lindsay
marked it as to-read
Jul 28, 2017
Kate
marked it as to-read
