10.08.2010

The Turn of the Screw - Henry James


I chose to read this novel for the R.I.P challenge. It quickly became one of my favorite ghost stories. Set in the country estate of Bly, we follow a governess who begins the care for two young children, Flora and Miles. As the governess settles in at Bly she starts to see ghosts around the estate and soon discovers that they are the spirts of the former governess, Miss Jessel, and her dead lover, Peter Quint. The governess is convinced the ghosts are appearing to the children and communicating to them in an evil way, persuading them to do terrible things. She decides that she was there to "protect and defend the little creatures" as they were all "united in danger".

What makes The Turn of the Screw so captivating is that James never tells us if the ghosts are real or if the governess is simply going crazy. The governess is our narrator throughout the story, and she proves herself to be very unreliable, constantly overcome by emotion and suspicion. Also, she is the only character in the novel who admits to seeing the ghosts. It's almost as if she is driving herself crazy, slowly developing an obsession with the children and protecting them from the ghosts.

James does a fantastic job setting the scene of the ghost story, as the estate gets bleaker as the novel progresses. We are first introduced to Bly as a place of exquisite charm, filled with "beauty and dignity". Later in the novel the estate seems to change :
The summer had turned, the summer had gone; the autumn had dropped upon Bly and had blown out half our lights. The place, with its gray sky and withered garlands, its bared spaces and scattered dead leaves, was like a theater after the performance - all strewn with crumpled playbills.

My take? This is an account of a young woman's decent into madness as a result of isolation and loneliness. The ghosts become a part of her imagination as she begins to find demonic qualities in everything around her, including the seemingly angelic children. The question of whether or not The Turn of the Screw is an actual ghost story or the story of a woman going mad is open to interpretation, as there is no concrete answer. Did the ghosts of Miss Jessel and Peter Quint haunt Bly? Did the children keep a dark secret hidden from their governess? I don't have answers to these questions, but I do know that this story will stay with me for quite sometime. Highly recommended for a Halloween read!

Publisher: Dover, 1898

11 comments:

  1. Wonderful review! I borrowed this book from the library yesterday and after reading your review, I can't wait to start reading it! The picture is amazing, such a haunted house at a first glance.

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  2. Haven't read this one yet, but now I definitely will be putting it on my list. Which means buying it and stacking it somewhere. Where, though? That's the question... -sigh- SO many books, so little space.

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  3. I read this one a few years ago and I loved it too. I recently watched the movie The Innocents, based on this, and loved it. It's old and deliciously creepy.

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  4. I really like your review. I hated this book with a venomous passion. Partly because of the victorian style writing, partly because it was so damn confusing and frustrating!

    I liked your take it on it. And I can see why people would add this to their TBR piles after reading what you've written.

    Well done.

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  5. i love the writing; and the ambiguity--is the governess gone mad? is she just seeing things? the pond scene was chilling.

    ~L

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  6. I am so glad you loved this! I read it earlier this year and really enjoyed it. My interpretation also stronly leans towards the governess being unstable. And I agree; a big part of the thrill of the book for me is that this is unclear.

    I am currently reading Dracula - another classic gothic horror and really loving it.

    Thanks Brenna for an awesome review. For me you have perfectly captured the essence and magic of this story.

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  7. I think I read this in 2001 but I don't remember it well enough to be sure. Must be time for a reread! (or first read)

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  8. I listened to this one on Librivox and really didn't enjoy it. Now I'm wondering if it was the narration or me listening to it while I was doing other things and not fully getting into it. I think I own a copy of it--think I'll have to give it another chance.

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  9. I was really drawn to this book by the story - it sounded exactly the type of thing I'd enjoy. But I couldn't get beyond page 13 - the writing really drove me insane.

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  10. Great review, I am going to get a copy of this as soon as I can!

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  11. The Turn of The Screw is an amazing story. I read it first in university and then re-read it a couple years ago. It made me want to read more by James. It's a very good October story.

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