Customer Reviews

Witchcraft of Salem Village

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

 

 

This book introduces young readers to a fascinating and complex incident in American history, and does so with clarity, accuracy, and very good writing. It is suitable for middle readers, but I've also recommended this book to middle and high school students, as it provides the best concise introduction to the topic that I've yet come across. If you've got a term paper looming, start with this book.

Each review has a context -- the background and personal bias of the reviewer. I'm a former history teacher, now a full time writer, and the Salem incident has fascinated me since childhood. Social history, especially the history of witchcraft and witchcraft accusations, is a particular interest. I have a library of several dozen books on the topic, and have read many more. The focus and clarity of this book made it stand out, even against this extensive background. The straightforward storytelling and lack of speculation and moralizing are refreshing, and a fine antidote to ponderous tomes. Historians often forget that storytelling lies at the heart of history; Ms. Jackson has not. Even if your interest is scholarly and you intend to delve into more detail, this book is well worth reading.

I recommend this book to a wide spectrum of readers. Middle readers will be able to absorb the story. Students looking for an overview will find this provides an excellent foundation. For teachers, librarians and parents seeking good nonfiction, this book is far superior to any other young reader treatment I've seen. History teachers who want to cover the subject and need a refresher on the facts -- and a lesson in style -- will find this book useful. In fact, persons of any age and education with an interest in this subject are likely to find this book worthwhile.

There were two reasons for my interest in this book; one is the fascinating issue of the Salem Witchcraft trials, a subject that has intrigued me for years (I first encountered this topic while reading articles dealing with matters of child testimony in court and children eyewitness in general) and the second is the writer, Shirley Jackson, whose work I try to read in full.

It is no wonder Shirley Jackson has chosen to write about this chapter in American history. Shirley Jackson, as her biography notes, was interested not only in witchcraft and the supernatural, but more in the power of the community, especially a small one, on an individual person. Jackson experienced this power as an evil force and she describes it as such in her work (a good example would be the book "We have always lived in the castle"). Several efforts were made to link Jackson's personal life with her work. After reading much of her work and biography one realizes how she must have sympathized with the accused in the Salem Witchcraft Trials, as a person who was also an outcast or a "strange" member of the community. It seems that the issue of the Salem Witchcraft Trials was more then just an historical chapter for Shirley Jackson.

But beyond the author herself, this is a description of a dead end situation for those wrongly accused of witchcraft and nothing they may possibly do could prove them innocent. Jackson does well in her effort to describe the political and religious atmosphere of the time before getting to the story itself. This is the horrible tale of a group of girls, who in their fear for themselves wrongly accuse other people in witchcraft. One event leads to another and pretty soon they are many steps beyond return. The atmosphere of the time enabled such misdeeds to happen.

As the book is intended for kids, the language and terminology are rather simple, yet Jackson manages to be clear and precise and does not let her thoughts and feelings (which we can only imagine) evade the writing. Even though Jackson describes the wrongdoings she does not dwell on the suffering of the accused when blamed, in prison, or the after come of the hanging itself. Jackson tries to stick to the historical details and facts and gives an objective description of the events themselves. However, Jackson does not wish to leave her historical story to mere facts, as facts are rather scarce in this case. The author tries to supply reasons and semi-explanations as to how something as terrible as this could have happened. Besides the court summaries, names and details of living people there are no real facts to hang on to, and what could be the facts in this case? The mere facts were only the tales and actions of the "Afflicted children" and the atmosphere in the country during the time of the Salem trials.

I found the book very clear and interesting although as an adult I feel I would like to further dwell into this issue. This is a good job of describing the episode to children ( I believe the readers age should be above the age of 10-11 and definitely not ages 4-8 as recommended in the product description!) with an effort to remain as neutral as possible, as much as can be done in such a story.

Jackson shows me what it is like to live in 1692 and have magic on your hands! I definitly recomend this book for 12- adult!Jackson ROCKS!

This book is very hard to get through. There is a lot of great information but I tend to dislike books where the author can not keep their personal opinion out of it. Page after page the author puts in their input. One of the wonderful things about reading is that the person reading can come to their own conclusion. This book comes across like television....allows for very little of your own interpretation. Also, I find that if your a Christian you may be easily offended by what comes across as attacks on (any) type of religion. When this book came I was so excited to read it but found after a short time it was very preachy. Some may really like this book. It had great potential because the content in general is extremely interesting.

The excellent horror writer Shirley Jackson wrote this short book before her more famous works, "The Haunting of Hill House" (possibly the best haunted house book ever written) and the underrated "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" as well as authoring the unforgettable short story "The Lottery".

In 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts, a group of young girls claimed to have been mistreated by witches and wizards and began accusing members of their colony. The village elders, devoutly religious Puritans, were utterly in thrall to these girls because of the strictness of their beliefs and the real fear at the time of actual witches, and began arresting the women based on the girls' testimony, and started executing them. Eventually the arrests stopped as people became sick of the witch-hunt but the shocking madness that gripped this village is still a fascinating glimpse into early American life and the disturbing behaviour extreme religious views breeds.

This book is non-fiction but is written in the fluid narrative style of a novel making for easy understanding and reading of this strange story. Jackson writes beautifully and retells the events as closely to the facts as possible. It's amazing to read the way these girls were believed and that on the loosest of accusations by these children that an entire community of grown-ups chose to believe their nonsense and act upon it in such a heinous way. Jackson speculates that it was a convenient way for these grown-ups to work out their frustration over others, a kind of class warfare, but ultimately it comes down to the Puritan religion and the scaremongering that suited it's cause.

Jackson would go on to include many aspects of the Salem Witch Trials in her fiction, such as the mob mentality and rural superstition in "The Lottery" or the deviousness of little girls in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" or the way we can lie to ourselves to believe delusions based on our surroundings in "The Haunting of Hill House".

It is a well written and brief book that will make clear to anyone reading the events and issues surrounding this period of time, but it is by no means a scholarly book and anyone looking for more in-depth explanations into the witch-trials would do better seeking out a more academic history book. The book is aimed at younger readers in their early teens and it's perfectly suited for that. I would recommend anyone looking for further reading to seek out Jackson's later novels as they are masterpieces of fiction and well worth reading to see where she pursued the themes present in this book.

THE WITCHCRAFT OF SALEM VILLAGE WAS AN EXCEPTIONAL BOOK FOR CHILDREN FROM THE AGES 10-13 WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS. I ESPECIALLY ENJOYED IT BECAUSE IT WAS A QUICK AND EASY READ BUT IT KEPT ME INTERESTED THE WHOLE TIME.IT WAS VERY DESCRIPTIVE AND IT HAD TRUE FACTS ABOUT THE WITCH TRIALS.IT WAS A GREAT BOOK AND I RECOMMEND IT TO EVERYONE!!!!

If you're into witch craft, not spells like witches, but books and stories I suggest that you read it. It's a wonderful true story of the 1800's or 1900's(can't remember to tell the truth)in a small village where these girls pretend to be controled by demons, and the town is going through havok, she's a witch and she is too! And so they end up killing several women. There are more details, so read the book!

One must sometimes delve into the background of an author to acquire that person's worldview and how it molds their material, especially when the material being used for historical accounts for educational purposes. "Private Demons" a biography of Shirley Jackson by Judy Oppenheimer, reveals a plethora of information about the author, including that fact that she was an occultist and active occult writer. This book is written with a religiously unilateral, occcult/rationalistic view. Despite intense political & religious controversy surrounding this story, there was an enormous amount of literature concerning broader aspects of the trials which held alternate views not relayed in many of Ms. Jackson's often innaccurate and spiritually condescending renderings of the account.

Many believed the girls were commissioned by Satan to divide Christ's Kingdom through false accusations. Ms. Jackson mocks these Spiritual leaders by negating their position that the root of the dissention began with the afflicted girls and their occult involvement, and alludes that these leaders were vehicles of dissention in the community, by advocating that the colonists oppose Christian teachings. Spiritual leaders were trying to expose their belief that Satan's ploy was to sow seeds of division in the church. Ms. Jackson makes no tangential, historical reference to this fact, that spiritual leaders believed the root of the dissention began with occult involvement.

Ms. Jackson omits various aspects of the afflicted girl's involvement in occult practices, and substitutes a rationalistic world view to explain the occurences. Rationalism excludes Biblical interpretations and the value of conventions and dangers of popular superstitions. Ms. Jackson does not depict occult activities utilized by the afflicted women to avoid any inference as to the validity of an alternate power. Rather, she alleges that these girls merely "pretended" to be controlled by demons, ignoring the fact that many Christian leaders strongly believed in Satanic influence surrounding these issues.

You will notice that the bulk of the content provided by the author in the "afterword" section expresses her rationalistic viewpoint when she focuses heavily on demonology as a myth, and places blame for the witch trials on religious fervor and intolerance, boredom, psychological pressure, and possible physiological disorders. Ms. Jackson attempts to categorize spiritual leaders as zealots.

Ms. Jackson consistently negates to include accurate historical information throughout her book. Ms. Jackson could not include this information because it would not conform to her rationalistic view. It appears that Ms. Jackson selectively utilized facts she chose to paint the picture she wanted the reader to see by flavoring the historical rendering to that of her own world view. She does this by mocking the power of Satan, and accredits belief in his existence to ignorance. By enmeshing her view within her account of the actual events, Ms. Jackson emphatically and repeatedly negates the significance of a ubiquitous entity believed in by a multitude of religions still to this day. I would not recommend this material to be used in a primary or middle school setting as is has the potential to religiously sway an immature reader. It does not qualifies as a concise, historical rendering suitable to be contained as part of the curriculum in a public school setting based on the conjectural commentaries of religiously sensitive content espoused by Ms. Jackson. This material is more suitable to a mature reader who is readily equipped to separate true historical facts from biased conjecture. Please take notice as to the origin of where this book is listed in the Classified Catalog, Sixteenth Edition, under 100 PHILOSOPHY, PARAPSYCHOLOGY AND OCCULTISM, PSYCHOLOGY, 133.4 Demonology and witchcraft. The rendering is an edited account of history through a rationalistic world view, that is condescending and offensive to any aware Christian reader.