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juushikaTitle: The Haunting of Hill House
Author: Shirley Jackson
Published: New York: Penguin Books, 1984 (1959)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 246
Total Page Count: 117,105
Text Number: 340
Read Because: fan of the author, from my personal library
Review: Four disparate individuals come to Hill House to determine whether the ugly, abandoned mansion is haunted; the house's malevolence is evidenced by its troubled past, but turns out to be more subtle and insidious than any of them can imagine. The Haunting of Hill House is one of the most terrifying books I've read, often in the most unexpected ways: It's an unusual haunting, depending on few clichés and even set in summer. Equal focus rests on the socially absurd and the emotionally resonant, the minutiae of daily life and the strange and dreamlike episodes of the supernatural. Eleanor is a uniquely Jackson protagonist, relatable but distinctly drawn; her social awkwardness and intense sensitivity make her an ideal target for Hill House. Despite a romantic, lingering, rambling pace, it's brief and wastes no page. In sum, a poetic, ethereal, and vicious book without contradiction: Hill House haunts, but the way it warps and twists its residents is far more frightening. While not my personal favorite Jackson novel (that's We Have Always Lived in the Castle), The Haunting of Hill House is superb and I recommend it without reservation.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Shirley Jackson
Published: New York: Penguin Books, 1984 (1959)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 246
Total Page Count: 117,105
Text Number: 340
Read Because: fan of the author, from my personal library
Review: Four disparate individuals come to Hill House to determine whether the ugly, abandoned mansion is haunted; the house's malevolence is evidenced by its troubled past, but turns out to be more subtle and insidious than any of them can imagine. The Haunting of Hill House is one of the most terrifying books I've read, often in the most unexpected ways: It's an unusual haunting, depending on few clichés and even set in summer. Equal focus rests on the socially absurd and the emotionally resonant, the minutiae of daily life and the strange and dreamlike episodes of the supernatural. Eleanor is a uniquely Jackson protagonist, relatable but distinctly drawn; her social awkwardness and intense sensitivity make her an ideal target for Hill House. Despite a romantic, lingering, rambling pace, it's brief and wastes no page. In sum, a poetic, ethereal, and vicious book without contradiction: Hill House haunts, but the way it warps and twists its residents is far more frightening. While not my personal favorite Jackson novel (that's We Have Always Lived in the Castle), The Haunting of Hill House is superb and I recommend it without reservation.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
