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A review by house_of_hannah
Ghost Stories of Henry James by Henry James
challenging
slow-paced
2.0
DNF. I read 6 out of 10 of the short stories, but just could not bring myself to read anymore. I can officially say that I am not a fan of Henry James's writing. It honestly blows me away that he's considered one of the greatest novelists, as his style is incredibly dull. The amount of dashes, commas, and semicolons in his sentences are astonishing. It's like he takes the roughest path to get to a destination.
The following are the stories I read, a short summary of them, plus my rating.
The Romance of Certain Old Clothes (1868) - Two sisters vie for the attention of their brother’s friend. When he proposes to the older sister, the younger one bides her time until she can make her move. 2 Stars
The Ghostly Rental (1876) - A man encounters a seemingly abandoned house while taking a shortcut on his way home. Assuming it to be haunted, he becomes enthralled with learning its history. 3 Stars
Sir Edmund Orme (1891) - A woman is haunted by a ghost of her past that is apparently attached to her daughter. When a suitor falls in love with her he, too, can see the ghost. 1 Star
The Private Life (1892) - In a group of elites a man claims that one of them has a double, while a woman claims that one of them is not quite whole. 2 Stars
The Turn of the Screw (1898) - Read this back in 2019. 2 Stars
The Real Right Thing (1899) - A biographer takes on a job to write about a widow’s husband. As he goes through the late husband’s things he feels his presence, which he finds comforting at first, but might be more malicious than he expects. 2 Stars
My average rating for this is 2 stars, but for how dry his writing is it feels like it should be a 1 star. This felt like it was written by someone who thinks they are the smartest person in the room. I picked it up for ghost stories, but instead got no tension, nothing remotely spooky, and barely any ghosts. 100% not for me.
The following are the stories I read, a short summary of them, plus my rating.
The Romance of Certain Old Clothes (1868) - Two sisters vie for the attention of their brother’s friend. When he proposes to the older sister, the younger one bides her time until she can make her move. 2 Stars
The Ghostly Rental (1876) - A man encounters a seemingly abandoned house while taking a shortcut on his way home. Assuming it to be haunted, he becomes enthralled with learning its history. 3 Stars
Sir Edmund Orme (1891) - A woman is haunted by a ghost of her past that is apparently attached to her daughter. When a suitor falls in love with her he, too, can see the ghost. 1 Star
The Private Life (1892) - In a group of elites a man claims that one of them has a double, while a woman claims that one of them is not quite whole. 2 Stars
The Turn of the Screw (1898) - Read this back in 2019. 2 Stars
The Real Right Thing (1899) - A biographer takes on a job to write about a widow’s husband. As he goes through the late husband’s things he feels his presence, which he finds comforting at first, but might be more malicious than he expects. 2 Stars
My average rating for this is 2 stars, but for how dry his writing is it feels like it should be a 1 star. This felt like it was written by someone who thinks they are the smartest person in the room. I picked it up for ghost stories, but instead got no tension, nothing remotely spooky, and barely any ghosts. 100% not for me.