The Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost Stories (Penguin Clothbound Classics)

In The Turn of the Screw, James explores the fuzzy boundary between ambiguity and psychosis. Like Shirley Jackson, 70 years later, he mines a rich vein of narrative in which the suspense derives largely from the uncertainty about what is real and what is the product of a fevered mind.Much of that ambiguity stems from the way so much communication between the characters is unspoken. James may have been drawing inspiration from real life here and experimenting with a narrative style where dialog often consists of a few words followed by eloquent gazes and meaningful gestures."She smiled and smiled and we met; but it was all done in silence by this time flagrantly ominous."This is important in navigating the knife edge between reality and uncertainty because so much of what the governess learns and expresses occurs in these interstitial spaces between the words. It is precisely this departure from a literature style that relies on literal communication that makes the governess a sympathetic narrator and lends a balancing credence to her point of view."We could only exchange, on this, one of our deeper mutual understandings, and it was Mrs. Grose who first brought up the plumb with an almost elated 'You see!'.".Relying on the unspoken communication between the characters like this is a brilliant device and serves to make this novella a fascinating read.

James' classic ghost story packaged together with three other of his ghost stories. Without the other three "Turn of the Screw" could seem like an early foray into the unreliable narrator genre but with them it becomes clear that James takes the topic seriously. In the end it seems safe to say that he believed that some people believe they can see ghosts, without offering an opinion on whether or not he himself believed in them.

Book in good condition and a terrific read.

Product came in beautifully. The story itself was interesting and gives the debate of hysteria vs. Possession.

The package came in and the book was just as it said in the description! Good condition.

Turn Of the Screw is a classic, Henry James is a 19th century genius...but everyone knows that...not necessary to do a review!

She finished this book in one sitting!

English requirement

From the pen of literary maestro Henry James so we have eight spooky tales. As is pointed out in the introduction of course when Henry James’s name is mentioned most people think of those masterful novels of his, with perhaps some also thinking of The Turn of the Screw. But as with many authors of the 19th century so James did from time to time turn his hand to the humble ghost story, but when he did so he produced a body of work that is to be envied. Of course, with The Turn of the Screw so this famous novella had often been imitated but never has anyone written better, indeed reading this you can see a literary master at work, with each word perfectly placed.Here then we have The Romance of Certain Clothes, The Last of the Valerii, Sir Edmund Orme, Owen Wingrave, The Friends of the Friends, The Turn of the Screw, The Third Person, and The Jolly Corner. As is pointed out at the rear of the book, The Last of the Valerii is more a supernatural tale than a traditional type ghost story, although I would argue that it does fall into ghost stories per se as the main character is obsessed, or even haunted by the past of the pagan ways before the arrival of Christianity. This Penguin edition will more than please those then who love something haunting to read and is a sheer joy to work through. As a fan of ghost stories and Henry James I will admit that I am already more than familiar with all these stories, but if you have never read any of them before, or only just a few then you are in for a wonderful treat.Whether more light humoured to tales that are much more horrifying, so this gives us a look at the range of the author and his sheer mastery of the psychology of his characters. As we see, some of these stories do not even need a ghostly appearance to raise chills, as it is more about the actual characters than the appearances of spirits. We can have fun then with something such as The Third Person and the actions of the two ageing female cousins as they are visited by an ancestor and also be chilled by something such as The Turn of the Screw, which is so ambiguous, we do not know whether ghosts have appeared, or whether it is the imagination of the main character. Knowing just how to get under the skin and thrill so James also shows how he knows what can scare his characters, and thus the rest of us.

A set of short stories written by Henry James the wording isn’t quite our modern terminology but still ok to follow. I enjoyed most of the stories and picked up mainly for The turn of the screw as I had watched The haunting of Bly house on Netflix but it had two of Henry James stories intermingled. A good set of ghost stories not as scary but then I find myself desensitised these days.

Lovely looking book, arrived in excellent condition. Unfortunately I did not enjoy it, as I found it tough going, or a little chewy as I like to say 😬

Fantastic stories, especially for Christmas time.

Perfect