We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson REVIEW
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- Опубликовано: 14 янв 2025
- Merricat and Constance would be acing this lockdown thing.
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This novel is so profound and can be read in so many types of interpretation. I can’t wait to read it again. I love the way you described it
Fuck yes!! I've been completely obsessed with Shirley Jackson for the past couple months, currently trying to read through the bulk of her short stories (Which, if anyone is wondering where to start, Dark Tales collected by penguin and the Library of America edition put together by Joyce Carol Oats are two amazing collections that together cover most of her greatest works!)... Truly some of the best short fiction I've ever read. Looking forward to reading We Have Only Lived In the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House soon!
Also a side note about the witchcraft thing: seems like Surely Jackson had an ongoing interest in witchcraft and the witch trials... In The Lottery and Other Stories (the only collection of short fiction she put together herself) each section begins with a quote from Sadducismus Triumphatus on the connivery of witches; and this is juxtaposed with what are mostly disquieting tales of anxious housewives, and realms of darkness that underly the veneer of post-WWII domesticity, the obsessive-compulsive superficiality of the supposed American Dream... It seems very clever and way ahead of her time to use the witch trial and magic as a sort of feminist device and reflection of American cold-war society all the way back in the 1940's... A little premonitory of Arthur Miller's The Crucible I think! As I said I haven't read The Castle or The Haunting yet, but it sounds like she employs this use of magic and witchcraft in a similarly real-to-life, clever, sort of feminist fashion. And that is just so badass to me, from someone writing in the late '40's/early '50's, and applying it to the daylight horrors of that whole world!
Just finished this book. Had to pause the video, cause your damn spoilers, and get it from the library. I feel a bit more enriched having read it now. Might just nail the book to the a tree outside the library drop box, ya know, for protection. Thank you for this video!
Great review! You should definitely read Stoner by John Williams!
Thank you for this! I have to give a presentation on this story and this helped me gather some important points for my project
Loved hearing you discuss this book. Have you read Jackson’s Haunting of Hill House? More straightforward story, perhaps, but truly creepy and the main female character is another great study in psychological damage. Cheers!
Loved this video ... i'm obsessed with the idea of houses being characters on their own (to one extent or another) in gothic/horror fiction at the moment
Have you read Titus Groan/Gormenghast? I'm not sure if Kafka-esque is quite right for that one, but otherwise wow so much of this sounds very similar - the castle, the village, the dreamlike quality and idiosyncratic characters.... Very strange.
Wonderful review. I would also suggest her short stories. I’m convinced she will eventually get her due as one of the great 20th US authors - she’s next in the line from Hawthorne to Poe to Lovecraft (Melvillle too, probably, I just haven’t read enough of him).
As a fellow Lovecraft fanatic, i also wanted to suggest the book THE CRONING by Laird Barron. I think its mix of eldritch horror, narrative complexity and psychological insight will appeal in a way most Lovecraftiam works do not. Thanks for all your work.
Thank you for the recommendation :)
Great review ...I was so surprised by this book as I tend to avoid " horror / mystery " but I'm so glad I read it as it's a masterpiece ..so many themes to explore and such a tight setting . I think Merricat is seen as an other worldly being / outside the norm / simpleton so is either discounted or feared.. there may also be a class element in the whole investigation as it seemed rather feeble to me....
It could be alluding to that Merikat was just taken for granted and sort of invisible there. As far as who was the killer...maybe that was the point. It was obvious and the townsfolk were all correct about the evil little girl. You have to think that Shirley's life played somepart in the writing of this book
Have you watched the recent movie loosely based on the life of Shirley Jackson?
Have you ever considered reviewing a Kazuo Ishiguro book? :)
Why would he? Ishiguro's prose is so bland
@@Abhishek-fe3zs that is a matter of opinion but if he thinks so too fair enough. I think he uses the kind if language he does because he is very committed to his narrative voice like few writers are.
@@Ali94749 that doesn't make it not bland
Fair enough. Have a nice day 😊
@@Ali94749 I'll say one thing in Ishiguro's favour: at least he's not Ian McEwan. He's not _that_ level of bland.
Shirley Jackson is considered a master writer hiding in plain sight. She is a literary giant.
A great video about one of my favourite books! :)
Can you really spoil a book when the author suggests on the first page what has happened?
Yo, can you please read Lush Life by Richard Price? Or anything by Richard Price, really. Would really love to hear your thoughts on him.
Have you read Clarice Lispector?
Where is he from?
You should read something by Kobo Abe, he's more kafkaesque than Kafka imo
You should read “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson
Per il 700esimo anniversario della morte di Dante, Wizards Of The Coast pubblicherà un'edizione speciale della guida di Baator?
you say you look forward to discussing this book in the comment section,then..you haven't replied to any of the comments!
I lie
yellow books
I’m reading Kafka’s short stories alongside Castle funny enough, and I don’t see any connection. The writing doesn’t feel like an endless nightmare, there is no feeling of endless bureaucratic doors leading nowhere, and no alienating depression. Just a immature 18 year old crazy girl. Still enjoy the story but there is no Kafka here.