The Lottery; or, The Adventures of James Harris
The Intoxicated
The Daemon Lover
Like Mother Used to Make
Trial by Combat
The Villager
My Life with R. H. Macy
The Witch
The Renegade
After You, My Dear Alphonse
Charles
Afternoon in Linen
Flower Garden
Dorothy and My Grandmother and the Sailors
Colloquy
Elizabeth
A Fine Old Firm
The Dummy
Seven Types of Ambiguity
Come Dance with Me in Ireland
Of Course
Pillar of Salt
Men with Their Big Shoes
The Tooth
Got a Letter from Jimmy
Lottery
Epilogue
The Haunting of Hill House
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Other Stories and Sketches
Uncollected Stories
Janice
A Cauliflower in Her Hair
Behold the Child Among His Newborn Blisses
It Isn’t the Money I Mind
The Third Baby’s the Easiest
The Summer People
Island
The Night We All Had Grippe
A Visit; or, The Lovely House
This Is the Life; …
The Lottery; or, The Adventures of James Harris
The Intoxicated
The Daemon Lover
Like Mother Used to Make
Trial by Combat
The Villager
My Life with R. H. Macy
The Witch
The Renegade
After You, My Dear Alphonse
Charles
Afternoon in Linen
Flower Garden
Dorothy and My Grandmother and the Sailors
Colloquy
Elizabeth
A Fine Old Firm
The Dummy
Seven Types of Ambiguity
Come Dance with Me in Ireland
Of Course
Pillar of Salt
Men with Their Big Shoes
The Tooth
Got a Letter from Jimmy
Lottery
Epilogue
The Haunting of Hill House
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Other Stories and Sketches
Uncollected Stories
Janice
A Cauliflower in Her Hair
Behold the Child Among His Newborn Blisses
It Isn’t the Money I Mind
The Third Baby’s the Easiest
The Summer People
Island
The Night We All Had Grippe
A Visit; or, The Lovely House
This Is the Life; or, Journey with a Lady
One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts
Louisa, Please Come Home
The Little House
The Bus
The Possibility of Evil
Unpublished Stories
Portrait
The Mouse
I Know Who I Love
The Beautiful Stranger
The Rock
The Honeymoon of Mrs. Smith
Review of 'Novels And Stories The Lottery The Haunting Of Hill House We Have Always Lived In The Castle Other Stories And Sketches' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Wahrscheinlich Zweitlektüre, mir ist so, als hätte ich den Achtzigern schon mal viel von Shirley Jackson gelesen. Ich hatte aber keine Erinnerung an dieses Buch. Keine besonders realistische Geschichte, aber das ermöglicht hier wieder den "bekannte gefürchtete Standards entfallen"-Pluspunkt. Viele naheliegende Erzählwege bleiben erfreulich unbegangen.
Review of 'Novels And Stories The Lottery The Haunting Of Hill House We Have Always Lived In The Castle Other Stories And Sketches' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Ich mochte die erste Hälfte sehr gern, wegen des Stils. Danach hat mich das Geschehen leider nicht mehr so interessiert. Aber das liegt wahrscheinlich an mir, ich habe früher zu viel in der Art gelesen. Es ist so lange her, dass ich nicht mehr weiß, ob das Genre "alleinstehende Frau dreht auf psychologisch raffinierte Weise durch, weil sie so alleinstehend ist" mich damals mehr begeistert hat oder nicht. (Zweitlektüre, das erste Mal muss irgendwann in den 80ern gewesen sein.)
Review of 'Novels And Stories The Lottery The Haunting Of Hill House We Have Always Lived In The Castle Other Stories And Sketches' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I think I was expecting these stories to read more like The Lottery, which I read in school and quite enjoyed.
Unfortunately, they didn't, or at least not in the same way I had hoped. They shared a rather gloomy outlook on life with The Lottery, certainly, but that was kind of the defining factor. I didn't see the sparkle I had felt a touch of in The Lottery and seen quite a bit of in the only novel of hers I have read, The Haunting of Hill House. These plodded a bit, and I always felt like I knew what the ending was going to be, even if I didn't know the specifics: it would be depressing.
Most of the stories are significantly less speculative fiction than the previous things of hers I have read, which I found disappointing. The woman can write, certainly, but I …
I think I was expecting these stories to read more like The Lottery, which I read in school and quite enjoyed.
Unfortunately, they didn't, or at least not in the same way I had hoped. They shared a rather gloomy outlook on life with The Lottery, certainly, but that was kind of the defining factor. I didn't see the sparkle I had felt a touch of in The Lottery and seen quite a bit of in the only novel of hers I have read, The Haunting of Hill House. These plodded a bit, and I always felt like I knew what the ending was going to be, even if I didn't know the specifics: it would be depressing.
Most of the stories are significantly less speculative fiction than the previous things of hers I have read, which I found disappointing. The woman can write, certainly, but I was not enjoying most of what I was reading, despite that.
There is a particular kind of depressing story I associate with American writers. It is not really dark, it doesn't have villains, it's a kind of "life sucks and then you die" mentality that I felt overloaded by when actually taking an American Literature class, and this book brought me back to that, back to reading Ethan Frome and wondering why we couldn't do British Literature instead.
Most of these stories, well-written or not, were not at all my cup of tea, and I think I will stick with her horror exclusively from now on. If you enjoy the type of depressing I'm talking about or just want to see what else she wrote and are not interested in more traditional horror, this might be right up your alley.
Review of 'Novels And Stories The Lottery The Haunting Of Hill House We Have Always Lived In The Castle Other Stories And Sketches' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
I found these stories disappointing. I bought the collection primarily for The Lottery, but this fell flat for me. If I hadn't already known what the story was about from having seen a TV adaptation, and having heard and read much about it over the years, I'm sure the slow reveal would probably have worked much better, but as it was it just read like a bunch of people talking. I didn't get any feeling of atmosphere or emotion from it all, not even from the lottery 'winner'.
The other stories (I read about half of them) struck me much the same. Occasionally they were a little creepy, but mostly they just felt flat and lacking in emotion. I know it's difficult to build character in a short story, but I've read plenty of others that did it better.
All that said, I generally prefer novels to short stories, so …
I found these stories disappointing. I bought the collection primarily for The Lottery, but this fell flat for me. If I hadn't already known what the story was about from having seen a TV adaptation, and having heard and read much about it over the years, I'm sure the slow reveal would probably have worked much better, but as it was it just read like a bunch of people talking. I didn't get any feeling of atmosphere or emotion from it all, not even from the lottery 'winner'.
The other stories (I read about half of them) struck me much the same. Occasionally they were a little creepy, but mostly they just felt flat and lacking in emotion. I know it's difficult to build character in a short story, but I've read plenty of others that did it better.
All that said, I generally prefer novels to short stories, so I may still attempt The Haunting of Hill House one day.
