3 ms·

Sorry to say, but what I remember most after finishing The Turn of the Screw was how utterly underwhelmed I was by the "great" Henry James.

ashark 9y ago
That was the first work of his I read, and I didn't like it at all. "Horror" from the 19th century sometimes doesn't hold up too well, and the same concept's been done to death at this point, arguably more effectively. I'm not sure of the history of that conceit, but possibly The Turn of the Screw is famous more for its novelty than for being particularly good per se. I kept reading him, though, and loved Washington Square. Hated Daisy Miller. The Aspern Papers was fun if not really very good. I'd started reading The Liar and it was very promising, but one of my kids ruined my copy before I finished and I haven't gone back to it yet. TL;DR give him another try, TTotS isn't his best stuff, and his quality's kinda all over the place.
- lr4444lr 9y ago
  I greatly enjoyed Poe, Hawthorne, and Mary Shelley, so I don't accept that 19th century horror doesn't "hold up" too well, but you've convinced me to give him another try. I will put Washington Square on my reading list.
  - ashark 9y ago
    "sometimes doesn't". I gave myself wiggle room precisely for the few standouts. My experience of Frankenstein, though (if that's what you're talking about with Shelley) was that it was almost (almost!) entirely ineffective as horror, and is held up mainly by a couple of really good chapters that basically lacked anything horrific or frightening. If I'd approached the book without preconceptions I'd not have been likely to firmly categorize it as horror, I think. It's more like a Greek tragedy with a shifted setting (which is more than hinted at in the full title) and even the other members of that category that contain monsters aren't usually considered horror. I'd probably have placed Frankenstein outside of horror, as more of a Greek-mythology throwback tale, had I lacked the existing bias of "Frankenstein is a horror-genre thing".
    - anhari 9y ago
      Your expectations of Frankenstein are largely due to Hollywood's interpretation. Frankentstein is referred to as the work which gave birth to Science Fiction. Not bad for a story that was more-or-less fleshed out over a weekend. I think you're pretty spot on and fair to the book though. If you're reading Frankenstein and you're expecting a thrilling horror novel then you may be disappointed. If you're interested in the ethical questions raised by the creature being created, abandoned, and left to deal with it's strife over having no companion... then I think it's a pretty great read.
westoncb 9y ago
I guess you're in good company since the article also has: > I must admit that at the time I was not overly impressed by The Turn of the Screw. So you may want to try others. I read his The American a few years ago, and liked it overall, despite also feeling that it was sort of predictable and not all that interesting. That said, I'm pretty confident it would have been much more remarkable at the time, but in part because of the influence of James' writing we have grown up with what he was doing developed over another century or so. And even then, The American definitely held some insights for me.

ashark 9y ago

That was the first work of his I read, and I didn't like it at all. "Horror" from the 19th century sometimes doesn't hold up too well, and the same concept's been done to death at this point, arguably more effectively. I'm not sure of the history of that conceit, but possibly The Turn of the Screw is famous more for its novelty than for being particularly good per se. I kept reading him, though, and loved Washington Square. Hated Daisy Miller. The Aspern Papers was fun if not really very good. I'd started reading The Liar and it was very promising, but one of my kids ruined my copy before I finished and I haven't gone back to it yet. TL;DR give him another try, TTotS isn't his best stuff, and his quality's kinda all over the place.

lr4444lr 9y ago
I greatly enjoyed Poe, Hawthorne, and Mary Shelley, so I don't accept that 19th century horror doesn't "hold up" too well, but you've convinced me to give him another try. I will put Washington Square on my reading list.
- ashark 9y ago
  "sometimes doesn't". I gave myself wiggle room precisely for the few standouts. My experience of Frankenstein, though (if that's what you're talking about with Shelley) was that it was almost (almost!) entirely ineffective as horror, and is held up mainly by a couple of really good chapters that basically lacked anything horrific or frightening. If I'd approached the book without preconceptions I'd not have been likely to firmly categorize it as horror, I think. It's more like a Greek tragedy with a shifted setting (which is more than hinted at in the full title) and even the other members of that category that contain monsters aren't usually considered horror. I'd probably have placed Frankenstein outside of horror, as more of a Greek-mythology throwback tale, had I lacked the existing bias of "Frankenstein is a horror-genre thing".
  - anhari 9y ago
    Your expectations of Frankenstein are largely due to Hollywood's interpretation. Frankentstein is referred to as the work which gave birth to Science Fiction. Not bad for a story that was more-or-less fleshed out over a weekend. I think you're pretty spot on and fair to the book though. If you're reading Frankenstein and you're expecting a thrilling horror novel then you may be disappointed. If you're interested in the ethical questions raised by the creature being created, abandoned, and left to deal with it's strife over having no companion... then I think it's a pretty great read.

westoncb 9y ago

I guess you're in good company since the article also has: > I must admit that at the time I was not overly impressed by The Turn of the Screw. So you may want to try others. I read his The American a few years ago, and liked it overall, despite also feeling that it was sort of predictable and not all that interesting. That said, I'm pretty confident it would have been much more remarkable at the time, but in part because of the influence of James' writing we have grown up with what he was doing developed over another century or so. And even then, The American definitely held some insights for me.