Customer Reviews

Shirley Jackson: Novels and Stories (The Lottery / The Haunting of Hill House / We Have Always Lived in the Castle)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A few years ago I read a review of an anthology of short stories in which a story by Joyce Carol Oates was praised as "a study of loneliness worthy of Shirley Jackson." For that and many other reasons how apropos that it's Oates herself who has compiled the contents of this very welcome volume, which features Jackson's three best books in their entirety: her 1949 collection The Lottery and Other Stories, and her classic novels The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Not only that, but a bumper crop of 22 of her other short stories are included as well, some of which are among her very best: "One Ordinary day, With Peanuts," "A Visit, or The Lovely House," "The Summer People," "I Know Who I Love," and "The Bus." Jackson's been my favorite author since I was a teen, and I've been really happy to see her literary rep growing again in recent years; I'm hoping this volume might do well enough that The Library of America might release a companion volume collecting her four other novels: The Road Through the Wall, The Bird's Nest, The Sundial, and my favorite of the bunch, the underrated bildungsroman, Hangsaman (I'd also throw in her book of very funny family stories, Life Among the Savages, as well as the novel she was working on at the time of her death, Come Along with Me).

At any rate what we have here is a feast of Jackson's particular brand of mystery, fear, humor, tragedy, and misanthropy, as always communicated in her clear, unmistakably Jacksonian prose, and starring such unforgettable characters as the mysterious, tragic Eleanor Vance, who goes to Hill House for a summer stay and never leaves; Mary Catherine Blackwood and her sister Constance, who together find their very peculiar happy ending in their "castle;" not to mention the nameless protagonist of "The Daemon Lover," likely whom the reviewer above was referring to with his reference to human loneliness (I would add Catherine Vincent from "I Know Who I Love" in that delineation as well); and of course the terrified Mrs. Hutchinson from Jackson's main claim to immortality, "The Lottery." There is also a veritable constellation of dreadful old bats populating these tales as antagonists, tormenting our heroines with their prudish propriety, and worse (Mrs. Montague in The Haunting of Hill House is a good example); and many, many perfectly horrible small town denizens, who play out smaller-scaled but similar versions of Jackson's famous lottery in many stories, practicing or promulgating ostracism, narrow-mindedness, racism, and just plain petty, spiteful, mean-spiritedness in general. Jackson regularly narrated the meme that human beings carry evil within them, and some of the most fearful, anxiety-provoking stories in her oeuvre disturb so because their descriptions of the sheer banality of this herd-pack mentality still ring true ("The Renegade" may yet be the cruelest of all the contes cruels I've encountered). Jackson had her lighter side as well, and in stories such as "The Night We All Had the Grippe," "Charles," and "My Life with RH Macy" her wry humor shines, though still with an almost indefinable air of something off-kilter; through light and dark, the author peered at life with a detached, slightly warped lens.

As this book clearly proves, Shirley Jackson's entire body of work exists today as an integrated whole, with a distinct vision and overall worldview that remains universal yet curiously her own; something I suppose every artist would strive for. Love this book: 5 out of 5 stars.

Here are the contents of The Library of America's first Shirley Jackson volume:

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE

WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE

THE LOTTERY; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF JAMES HARRIS (story collection)
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
The Lottery

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 & SKETCHES
Portrait
The Mouse
I Know Who I Love
The Beautiful Stranger
The Rock
The Honeymoon of Mrs. Smith

Appendix: Biography of a Story

I have loved Shirley Jackson since I read WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE in middle school. Her work is amazing. I have copies of the stories/novels in this collection, but it is lovely to have them all together. "Charles" and "My Life with R.H. Macy" have lost none of their charms. For those who haven't discovered Shirley Jackson, buy this to get a sense of her complete talent. This is truly a gift for Shirley Jackson fans that has been long overdue.

I recently just found out about Shirley Jackson and her unique works. I was intrigued by her short stories and also some of the longer stories. I would recommend this book if you are new to the works of Shirley Jackson

When I read about "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, it piqued my curiosity to the extent that I researched her name - and found this book. "The Lottery" was everything it was said to be, and the other writings in the book revealed to me an extremely interesting take on life, pursued as subtly as any of those I'd previously experienced. The content of this purchase was very, very enjoyable, and the book itself was as advertised, i.e., in excellent condition. I wouldn't hesitate to order from this source again.

Any Library of America book is a book worth the money and a book to treasure.The quality is exceptional.
I borrowed this form the library and will be buying my own copy.
I read The Haunting of Hill House and loved it.A good old fashioned psychological thriller that is open to interpretation and leaves you thinking long after you finish!
I also read The Summer People and loved it too. I have stayed at the beach after summer season and was amazed at what changes after everyone leaves.This story had me chuckling to a point,but the ending was just weird and I loved it!
I am a new fan of Shirley Jackson! I Intend to read the rest of her stories in this edition!

I've read these in the past, of course, but this edition is beautifully put together and I'm really enjoying re-reading the classics. I am a kindle user (never thought I would be), but sometimes just having something so solid, and so well done, is a joy.
I recommend this edition. It is well worth the extra money.

You can't go wrong with Shirley Jackson or Joyce Carol Oates. That being said, this would have been a 5 star review if it was not printed on such cheap thin paper. Thankfully I still have the separate editions of The Lottery and the rest of the books contained in this anthology as those are way more readable than this. The Library of America must have received complaints about the paper quality because they included a blurb about their paper meeting minimum printing requirements.

Got this book faster than expected...way less expensive than book store even with the "rewards" card..

Far from great literature, Shirley Jackson's pieces stand as cultural sketches, an historical testimony to America as it was in the 1940s and 1950s. Her characters live in a world where conformity is prized, social conventions are strictly adhered to-- a time when "wearing white before Labor Day" constituted a faux pas that raised eyebrows in the Town Square. "What will the neighbors think?" was of critical importance. The highest commendation the community could bestow on an individual was the general consensus that one "fit in."

This is obviously the pre-1960s world --hallmarked with little tolerance for idiosyncrasies or oddity. Jackson's heroines are invariably timid souls trying to maintain and shelter their tender insularity, while trying to make their way in a universe of crass, heartless reality. They go through the day, with downcast eyes, trembling inside, praying that others will not brand them foolish and deficient.

Jackson's most popular story seemed to be "The Lottery" and it's easy to understand the widespread enthusiasm. The events in this story, which takes place in a small town, encapsulate all of Jackson's preoccupations and themes in one fantastical package. The story enfolds as incredulous small-mindedness, entrenched, malevolent tradition, and community solidarity no matter how evil or irrational. It stands as a prime example of the modern-Gothic sensibility, a style in which Jackson excelled.

Over her lifetime, Jackson published in many magazines. While her stories did appear in the "New Yorker," and scholarly, university publications, (both she and her husband had strong academic affiliations), she was also a regular contributor to the popular "women's" magazines of the day such as "Ladies' Home Journal," "Charm," and the "Woman's Home Companion." Written as manageable vignettes easily read, they had mass appeal for women sitting under the hair dryer at the beauty shop, or housewives taking a break from folding the laundry.

Her husband Stanley Edgar Hyman in a memorial essay written after his wife's death prophesized that ..."Shirley Jackson's work is among that small body of literature produced in our time that seems apt to survive." The Library of America has fulfilled this prophecy in producing this collected volume.

Great writing it's not. Her technique is prosaic narrative; a kind of writing proficiency once taught generations ago in schools as "accomplished creative writing."

I was originally drawn to this book as I'd seen the filmed version of her story "The Haunting of Hill House," and was curious to read this source material. In my estimation, the 1963 movie, re-titled for the screen as "The Haunting," was an improvement on Jackson's work. Jackson's story lacks a sustained tension and the supernatural elements presented are rather naïve and limp on the terror meter. The filmmakers, while retaining the general plot line were able to infuse some needed irony and insert some character dimensions and plot enhancements that gave the movie some entertainment value.

As a Time Capsule of the way it was...well "Shirley Jackson's Novels and Stories," is entertaining bedtime reading before going nighty-night