5 stars to Henry James's The Turn of the Screw.

Perhaps America's greatest writer from our Realistic period, James's ghost story sets itself above all the rest -- and he has a lot to choose from. Consider this story a nanny's mind game - but who is in control? I studied James in my college years, even dedicating an entire semester to several of his works as one of my independent studies in my English major. Something about the way James told stories spoke to me, and I felt a connection to him as a person and as a writer. Many of his works annoyed me (The Golden Bowl, ugh!), but I still appreciated them. With Turn of the Screw, it was a master class in so many ways.

The plot is still open to interpretation: who is telling the truth? who is alive? who is actually sane? All the same, the story is quite simple but oh so complex. It's a study of intense psychology where the reader has to determine who is playing this game and who is merely a pawn. If you like a bit of paranormal, and you are comfortable with a variety of impulse interpretations, you can learn a lot about how to draw in an audience from this book and James himself.

It's more of a long short story, or a short novella, probably readable in one sitting over a few hours. It's a good escape from today's literature with a balance between flowery writing and direct plot and character development. Take a chance. You will definitely have strong opinions.

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Decidedly more fortunate was my second encounter with Henry James and his work considered one of the cornerstones of Gothic literature.

Using an elegant and recherché style, James drags us into a spiral of tension and mystery that will reach its climax in the finale. It will instill in us the doubt whether the ghosts of the former butler and the former governess (lovers in life and both dead in unclear circumstances) truly appear to the children or if it is indeed the gloomy and decadent atmosphere of Bly Manor, the ancient mansion where the two orphans live, that is suggesting to the weak mind of the new governess, as well as the (second) narrator of the story.

A simple and concise thought because by now everything possible has been said about this short novel: perfect for the autumn atmosphere and "to be read at dusk", but you might need to keep at least one light on.

Henry James masterfully crafts a world that blurs the line between reality and the supernatural. The setting of Bly Manor is vividly描绘, with its dark corners and creaking floors adding to the sense of unease. The characters are complex and multi-faceted, and the governess's struggle to make sense of what she is experiencing keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. The story builds slowly, layer upon layer, until the final revelation that leaves the reader both satisfied and yet still with a sense of lingering mystery.

In conclusion, this work of Henry James is a must-read for fans of Gothic literature. It is a masterpiece that continues to captivate readers with its atmospheric setting, engaging characters, and thrilling plot.

The Turn of the Screw is a rather peculiar little novella. It was published, perhaps for commercial reasons, at the turn of the 20th century. Firstly, it is a ghost story that incorporates children, a device that would later give birth to an entire sub-genre of horror fiction. From Lord of the Flies to The Exorcist, Let's Go Play at the Adams', and more recently, from Coraline to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and The Others, this theme has been explored in various ways.

What makes Henry James' novella especially intriguing is the psychological nuance and constant ambiguity of the narrative. It is a reported diary within a frame story, a common technique in 19th-century gothic literature. The story is told in a convoluted way, with no one hearing the real thing directly. In a nutshell, it is in the style of Mary Shelley and Edgar Poe.
The plot begins rather predictably. A governess is hired to take care of two young children in a posh country house. She finds the children adorable but is confused as to why the little boy has been dismissed from school. From there, the narrative alternates between disturbing sketches of the governess spotting mysterious figures around the mansion and inconclusive discussions with the housekeeper.
In the end, there are many unanswered questions. Is the governess' diary trustworthy, or is it just a fairytale to pass the evening? Were there really supernatural beings haunting the mansion, or was the narrator a bit off-kilter? Do we even know the truth about the boy's expulsion from school? All of this leaves an uncanny, if not sinister, impression. However, I suspect that to the modern reader, accustomed to more extreme forms of horror like evil clowns, chainsaw massacres, and zombie apocalypses, James' little spooky tale might seem a bit quaint and underwhelming.

This is an interesting piece to reread, yet it is definitely not my all-time favourite.

I find myself in a bit of a quandary when it comes to Henry James's writing.

On one hand, there is an undeniable allure to his works. The way he constructs sentences and weaves together complex plots is truly remarkable.

However, on the other hand, there is something about his writing style that just doesn't quite click with me.

Maybe it's the density of his prose or the somewhat convoluted nature of his characters and their relationships.

Nonetheless, I can still appreciate the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into his writing.

It's just that when it comes to personal preference, there are other authors and works that I find more engaging and fulfilling.

But who knows, perhaps with more exposure and a deeper understanding, my opinion of Henry James's writing may change.

It is truly the worst thing in the world to leave children in the care of servants, as Maria Edgeworth so aptly put it in 1798. And when it comes to superstitions, the absurd delusion that there are no such things as ghosts among the half-educated dies hard, as William T Stead noted in 1897. Henry James, in a letter in 1898, called the T of the S a mechanical, inferior, and merely pictorial subject, a shameless pot-boiler.

Come, let us enter what Wayne Booth called “the appalling chaos of critical opinions” about The Turn of the Screw. Out of Henry James’ vast body of work, this 100-page effort, this pot-boiler, has become his big hit, captivating readers then and now. It is in the same league as Hamlet, Don Quixote, and The Divine Comedy in terms of the attention it has received. The story features a young governess, an older woman, two children, and two mysterious figures. As Mr Beidler says, Such buzzing attention over one small flower.

The three main schools of thought are as follows. The first is that the ghosts were real, though this is not a popular idea these days. The second is that the ghosts were not real and the governess was insane. As a disbeliever in afterlives and all that spooky apparatus, this is the reading I prefer. However, as Peter Beidler points out, Why, since James wrote some half-dozen other stories about ghosts, must we read this one alone as a hallucinatory story? Edmund Wilson promoted the crazy-governess interpretation in 1934, picking out details such as the governess’ interest in the little girl’s pieces of wood and the male and female apparitions’ appearances on a tower and a lake. In this reading, the governess is a textbook case of what the Victorians called sexual hysteria.

The Turn of the Screw does seem to revolve around an axis of morbid sexuality. There is a great mystery about what Quint and Miss Jessell did with the children when they were in charge. Is this linked to what Miles did to get expelled from school? Stanley Renner believes it is not a ghost story but a psychological drama about the disastrous effects of Victorian sexual attitudes on the development of children. The governess sees the ghosts as evil because they are the return of sexual adults into the lives of the children. She wants to prevent any kind of sexual awareness in the children, but the story suggests that this is, metaphorically speaking, killing the children.

The third theory is that neither of the above readings can be said to be true as the story is deliberately un-interpretable. Christine Brooke-Rose introduced the post-modern point of view in an essay called The Squirm of the True, and Jose Amoros said there are three stages in reading the story – first trusting the governess, then accepting the possibility she is unreliable, and finally accepting the “radical ambiguity” of the story. These third-stage readers see the story as ensuring the constant frustration of every interpreter; it leads readers on a merry chase through one failed reading after another.

The death of Miles is another great question that has taxed everyone who has ever commented on the story. This book also presents feminist, queer, and Marxist readings, but I fear I have already tried your patience. Perhaps the moral of the story is that you should probably use a reputable professional agency to source your live-in governesses.

She didn't really want to give me the key... I talked a little... at least the title is consistent with the theme...

A young governess goes to an English countryside to look after the orphaned nieces and nephews of a wealthy uncle... but lo and behold. In the idyllic estate, there are also two ghosts that want to snatch the souls of the children... or maybe they don't;;; Maybe it's all in the governess's imagination? Maybe it's all in the author's imagination? Or maybe it's an authentic horror of the first kind?

Clever in its conception, it creates hours - hours of atmosphere (especially if you read it at night), makes you wonder a little and at the end what the poet wants to say... Nice language, it has a charm (obviously a well-crafted translation), but the book, no matter how classic it is, still smells a little "boulevard", "sensational", "camilla"... after all, it fails to hide its age... Yes, like a 59-year-old lady with a little to a lot of lifting... those things...

Time to admit it: I am never finishing this book.

Short as it is, it has turned out to be a big chore. It's truly a pity because the story itself holds a certain allure for me. The ambiguity surrounding whether supernatural things are actually happening adds an element of mystery that initially piqued my interest.

Likewise, James' prose style, although not to my personal taste at all, is by no means bad. However, when combined, the plot and style prove to be a disaster.

The lengthy, convoluted sentences and the slowness of the narration completely drain any sense of fear, urgency, or even unease from the situation. It's as if the life has been sucked out of what could have been a thrilling read.

This was a buddy-read with the Non-Crunchy folks, but my verdict is clear: Crunchy. Very crunchy. It seems that this book just didn't click with me, despite its promising aspects. Maybe others will find more to enjoy in it, but for me, it's a definite pass.

Ο James ήταν υπαρξιστής πριν ο υπαρξισμός γίνει μόδα. Αυτό σημαίνει ότι ο James είχε προλάβει να ασχοληθεί με την υπαρξιακή σκέψη πολύ πριν αυτή να γίνει δημοφιλής και να αναγνωριστεί ως μια σημαντική τάση στην φιλοσοφία και την ψυχολογία. Η υπαρξιακή σκέψη ασχολείται με την ανθρώπινη ύπαρξη, την έννοια του όντος και της αλήθειας, καθώς και με τις ερωτήσεις που αφορούν στη ζωή, τον θάνατο, την ελευθερία και την ευθύνη. Ο James, ως υπαρξιστής, ασχολήθηκε με όλες αυτές τις ερωτήσεις και προσπάθησε να βρει απαντήσεις που να του δίνουν μια βαθύτερη κατανόηση της ύπαρξής του και της πραγματικότητας. Πριν ο υπαρξισμός γίνει μόδα, ο James εργάστηκε ήσυχα και με προσοχή, αναζητώντας την αλήθεια μέσα από τη σκέψη και την εμπειρία του.

The Condemnation of Love

"Who is that man on top of the tower? Why does he keep staring at me?"

"I began to sense, even without directly seeing it, the distant presence of a third person. The old trees, the thick bushes, cast a tall and pleasant shadow, but everything was bathed in the glow of that hot and quiet hour. Then I raised my gaze and faced what I had to face."

This is a wonderful story about the necessity of love. Where the possibility of protecting those we love diminishes - and perhaps we don't enjoy the attention we so desire - empty spaces emerge that can be filled by phantoms, representing what we fight against and long for at the same time. The self-destructive force of love corrodes the deepest recesses of a person; it borders on selfishness so that the noble sentiment emerges pure and victorious. It is a refined work, unfortunately marred by a decidedly measured pace.

P.S. The Innocents, from 1961, directed by Clayton, is a faithful and happily ambiguous adaptation on film, capturing the complexity of the written work.

P.S.S. The Haunting of Bly Manor, directed in 2020 by Flanagan two years after the excellent The Haunting of Hill House, attempts to reconcile gothic horror with a romantic touch. It is seductive in the combination of genres but narratively patchy.

Supposedly a classic of horror literature, I was filled with anticipation as I began reading this. I expected a truly spooky mood and layers of palpable tension. After all, the story revolved around a governess who takes over the care of two beautiful yet strange children and starts seeing ghosts.

However, what I got was nothing short of boring tripe. Every couple of pages or so, two women would shriek themselves into a hysterical frenzy due to the least interesting and terrifying ghosts I've ever come across in literature. The governess seemed to jump to wild conclusions with every other sentence, which made me half hope that the children would turn out to be murderous and dispose of her, or at the very least, that the servants would be gaslighting her. Sadly, my hopes were dashed. There were indeed ghosts, but they were of the most unimpressive kind. In the end, I was left feeling distinctly underwhelmed by the entire experience.

This so-called classic failed to deliver on its promise of a thrilling and spine-chilling horror story. It left me wondering if I had missed something or if the book had simply not aged well.

Must a masterpiece necessarily be enjoyable?


Genre: horror, perhaps a ghost story. In the end, I would say: "indefinite".


Atmosphere: gothic, out of the ordinary and with a strong sense of "isolation". The setting is dark and mysterious, filled with shadows and unknowns. It makes you feel as if you are cut off from the rest of the world.


Narrative technique: perfect. It is rich in unfinished sentences and unspoken words, leaving you in suspense. The questions posed remain unanswered, adding to the sense of mystery. Every single detail is carefully considered and crafted with extreme attention.


Narrative style: pleasant, although quite convoluted. Maybe the language is a bit affected by the passage of time. It has a certain charm, but it can also be a bit difficult to follow at times.


Plot: The characters act in a constant atmosphere of ambiguity. There is a suspicion that everything is happening only in the protagonist's mind, that the dangers are real and menacing, or that real ghosts appear, but they never speak. This ambiguity keeps you on the edge of your seat, not knowing what to believe.


Literary value: surely a masterpiece. A masterpiece of ambiguity, where the unsaid reigns supreme, full of blind spots. It is a seductive and intricate psychological game.


Yes, but did I like it? No. But that's another story, isn't it?

**Title: An In-depth Analysis of Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw"**

Note, Jan. 17, 2020: I just edited this review to correct a minor typo.

Note, Oct. 21, 2016: After my third reading of this novella, I updated my review. I didn't change the interpretation but focused more on the text itself, not on underlying critical assumptions. (I'll address those in a separate review of "A Casebook on Henry James's The Turn of The Screw" later this month.) I was reluctant to rewrite the review with 32 likes, but I think the improvement is worth it and I hope not to write anything that would make anyone "unlike" it!

The story, first published in 1898, is set in Essex, England, around 1850 or earlier. The premise is well-known: a 20-year-old governess comes to Bly to care for two orphaned children, Miles and Flora. She discovers the ghosts of two malevolent servants, Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, who have an unwholesome interest in the children. Like many classic ghost stories, it has formal ambiguity. But since 1924, it's been reinterpreted as a psychological story of an insane governess. I view it as a straightforward ghost story with a trustworthy narrator.

Contemporary readers who take the revisionist view think the governess is unreliable because she intuits and infers things and has a crush on the Master. But in James' work, this is the norm for characters. And the governess is a sheltered Victorian girl, so her reaction is natural. There are also textual indications of her reliability. Douglas, who knew her well, has a high opinion of her. The housekeeper can recognize Quint from her description. And her self-doubt is evidence of her sanity.

Miles and Flora's behavior is abnormal and inexplicable on the revisionist view. At the climax, Miles names Quint and Miss Jessel. And his death is caused by Quint or his reaction to being delivered from Quint. This is not James' only ghost story, and his other works in the genre seem supernatural. His discussion of this story in the preface to "The Aspern Papers" implies that he intends readers to take it literally.

There may be a subtext of child sexual abuse in the story. The reason for Quint's and Miss Jessel's interest in the children is never stated, but their reticence invites surmise. We know that Miles spent a lot of time alone with Quint, and he was caught lying about it. Quint had an evil reputation, and the revelation that Miles got in trouble at school for things he said to boys he "liked" suggests something more sinister. Interestingly, Roger Clarke also seems to have come to a similar idea in his book "Ghosts: A Natural History: 500 Years of Searching for Proof."

James' prose style can be dry and convoluted, but it's less so here. The story has real emotional force, especially because the menace is directed against children. It's atmospheric, brooding, and well-paced, and is one of the best ghost stories I've read.