bookheaven | The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories (Reply)

The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories by Henry James

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read a lot of historic horror and SFF so the antiquated language in this isn't a bother to me. However, I can say two things about The Turn of the Screw in particular, 1. It's a seminal work in gothic horror spawning countless adaptations in film/tv/etc and the inspiration for even more stories 2. If I hadn't known the premise of the story I'm not sure I would have gotten it from the work.

This was a muddled and worse, boring, slog with an ending that doesn't pay off. The narrator is a young woman taking on the role of governess to two young children with an absent uncle (as their parental figure), Flora and her older brother Miles who was expelled from his boarding school for reasons neither the governess nor the housekeeper Mrs. Gorse know.

The children and our narrator are seeing things, people in the shadows, one of which is Peter Quint, their uncle's valet. Only problem is he's dead. Is he back to take the children? Is the governess and the kids seeing things? Does anyone actually care?

James overwrites everything. He's known for it. His sentences meander and are packed with extraneous garbage because why settle for only one way to describe things. The real mystery is why didn't she try harder to contact the uncle (she gives a letter about the kids TO the kids to post I mean why?)

Glad I read the source work but it was painful.

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