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henrygravesprince's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It’s always interesting to see the literary DNA of a genre through its classics. In particular, I think it’s fascinating to look at the characters as early iterations of different horror archetypes in this book; for example, Mr. Dudley stuck out to me as a prototype of the “Crazy Ralph” character.
Graphic: Suicide, Car accident, and Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Gaslighting
Unrealitykingcrookback's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Peace, Eleanor thought concretely; what I want in all this world is peace, a quiet spot to lie and think, a quiet spot up among the flowers where I can dream and tell myself sweet stories.
About 70% into this book, I suddenly had the thought, "It feels like this book is reading me"--which I realize is melodramatic, but it's the most precise way I can phrase the way Shirley Jackson constructs Eleanor's train of thought and the description of the happenings in Hill House. The descriptions are vague, which to me amplifies the atmosphere of dread and pressing anxiety because Jackson leaves quite a bit to one's imagination. The reader is complicit in the hauntings; it's a back-and-forth engagement between audience and text. (I actually had some very strange dreams while I was reading this book, tried to finish it as fast as I could partially because of this.) I kept thinking of this book in film terms, for some reason--"zoomed out," "just offscreen," "soft focus," etc. It might be because while it isn't told in excruciating detail, I still found Jackson's writing to be very evocative in the sense that it's impressionistic. We feel Eleanor's loneliness not merely in the sense that she longs to belong to something but largely through her habit of concocting narratives to try to fit herself into--and the failure of these narratives to come to fruition.
As far as the type of horror goes, I think it's apt to say YMMV. I don't think it'll do what people looking for a "haunted house" story might want it to do. If what you're looking for is something more creeping, psychological, and character-focused, I think this might satisfy.
Graphic: Suicide and Mental illness
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Blood, and Car accident
Minor: Alcohol
joensign's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide
Moderate: Death and Blood
Minor: Death of parent
kiki_h's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness
lizdaniii's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide and Car accident
Minor: Death of parent and Death
writteninmagic's review against another edition
2.0
Minor: Death of parent, Blood, Car accident, Mental illness, Suicide, Grief, and Alcohol
mattyvreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Moderate: Violence, Gaslighting, Murder, and Suicide
sunn_bleach's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
... but this time, I've realized a mastery of Jackson's prose: your imagination is what makes it scary, just as the characters' imaginations bring forth the House. Jackson doesn't outright describe the pathway through the forest that Eleanor and Theo take, because she knows anything your mind uses to fill in the gaps makes it far creepier. You might read about the room in the center of the house that the characters' sing and dance and hang out in, and as we all know merriment dispels ghosts... but what if you expand outward and consider the whole house? What if you imagine this island of ostensible happiness as a silent, dark, house leans over them in what is its absolute focal point? Jackson's stark prose came off as beige in 2018, but that couldn't be further from the truth; what she did was provide me the outline, knowing what whatever I sketched in would be far more terrifying and bring me closer to Eleanor than anything else. And *that* is the horror of Hill House within the book... and without.
Graphic: Mental illness and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Blood and Violence
poirot's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Toxic friendship, and Car accident
Moderate: Alcohol
epeolatrist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Suicide and Mental illness
Moderate: Death of parent