The Aspern Papers

The Turn of the Screw - I just completed this remarkable piece.

I was truly captivated by the creepy and spooky element that pervaded the entire story.

Even now, after finishing it, I still don't have a clear understanding of exactly what happened.

However, I find it fascinating that I can make guesses and interpretations.

This ambiguity adds an extra layer of intrigue and mystery to the narrative.

It keeps me thinking and speculating long after I've turned the final page.

The author has masterfully crafted a story that leaves a lasting impression and invites further exploration.

I look forward to delving deeper into the works of this talented writer and experiencing more of their unique storytelling.

I was initially determined to power through at least the first story, mainly because it was short. However, to be honest, I simply couldn't bear it. The sentences were far too long, and there was an abundance of unnecessary commas. Generally, I have a penchant for flowery prose, but this particular piece just seemed to go on and on without saying anything of substance. I found myself screaming at the author to just get on with it. It's quite evident that he was likely paid by the word, that's for sure. And if he wasn't, then God help him.

Moreover, there was the endless use of the person the MC was talking to "seeing my feelings in my face". It happened at least twice in every conversation. Speaking of conversations, each one took far too long and went in circles, with 90% of it being completely pointless. There was such an overabundance of unnecessary words and excessively long sentences that I actually found myself barely able to follow what they were saying. It was truly awful. I didn't even finish the first story, and I didn't bother starting the second.

This experience has left me extremely disappointed and frustrated with the writing style and quality of this work. I had hoped for something more engaging and meaningful, but unfortunately, it failed to deliver on all fronts.

A woman manages to obtain a job where she is responsible for looking after two children. One of these children has recently been kicked out of school. Their father shows little interest in them and leaves all the caregiving duties to her.

While residing in the magnificent estate that they refer to as home, she constantly catches sight of two shadowy figures. She firmly believes these to be the ghosts of a couple who lived there previously. She is convinced that they are attempting to steal the children, yet the children themselves adamantly insist that they never see these apparitions.

Sadly, I found this particular story rather dull. I only read the first of the two stories in the book, which was supposed to be James' alleged classic. My lack of enthusiasm towards it did not prompt me to desire reading the other one. The writing style was quite off-putting. The sentences were extremely long and convoluted, almost as if they were getting lost within themselves. And the story just rambled on and on without ever becoming interesting. It is never clearly established whether the ghosts are real or if the lead character has some sort of mental disability, which I assume is done on purpose. However, I didn't really care either way. I was just relieved to reach the end. I wouldn't necessarily call it dated because I do have a fondness for a great deal of 19th and early 20th century literature. But this one simply failed to resonate with me at all.

The Turn of the Screw simply didn't appeal to me.

In the prologue, there is a promising setup with guests gathered around a holiday fire, eagerly awaiting a horror story. It seems there is indeed a story worth telling, if only James had bothered to tell it properly.

I believe my main problem lies with the governess' "memoir" as the means to recount the tale. Is she an unreliable narrator? Is she sexually repressed? Are her charges under the spell of the ghosts she encounters? These are all questions that a different telling might have compelled me to ask or care about the answers.

I can only give The Turn of the Screw 2 stars.

In contrast, The Aspern Papers, thanks to its narrative voice, successfully captures the obsession with the pursuit of a dead poet's papers, the aged muse (Miss Boudereau) and her niece (Tita), and its Venetian setting. This allows us to reach the "double climax" of the ending.

Although it's not something I feel the need to read again or revisit, I'm glad to have come across it.

I didn't read the exact edition pictured on GoodReads. Instead, I read the Penguin English Library edition that encompassed two novellas, namely "The Aspern Papers" and "The Turn of the Screw," penned by Henry James, complete with commentary and notes.

"The Aspern Papers" served as an intriguing sequel to my reading of "The Bellini Madonna" by Elizabeth Lowry last year. I noticed a remarkable similarity in the plot to that of "Bellini Madonna." A quick Google search led me to an interview where Lowry admits that her novel is an homage to James' novella. In the Henry James tale, a literary scholar endeavors to obtain papers regarding his favorite poet, Jeffrey Aspern, from an elderly woman residing in Venice. This woman was a friend and perhaps a lover of Aspern in her youth. Our protagonist devises a plan to enter the lady's household as a lodger and attempts to locate her papers, enlisting the assistance of the old lady's somewhat younger niece.

"The Turn of the Screw" is one of James' most renowned stories, and deservedly so. This ghost story, narrated from the perspective of a naive governess who strives to safeguard two innocent children from malevolent spirits, gradually but inevitably heightens the tension until it reaches a feverish pitch. Although some might be deterred by James' somewhat flowery prose, in my opinion, he is a master of psychological insight, which makes him well worth reading.

I only read The Turn of the Screw out of this, since the stand-alone story was not available at my library.

When I first began reading this, I had no idea just how old this story is. The writing style is quite challenging to penetrate, with an abundance of sentences within a sentence. However, I was resolute in my determination to get through it. Nevertheless, at the end, I was simply left with a preposterous number of questions. This is also the third book in a row that can be construed as, "The woman went crazy, the end," and I'm growing a bit weary of that in horror stories.

I didn't find any of the characters truly likable. Moreover, whenever I thought it was finally becoming interesting, the scene would abruptly end. I read this in preparation for the show The Haunting of Bly Manor, so I'm glad I read it. But, truth be told, I can't claim that I really enjoyed it.

It seems that this classic tale, while having its merits, didn't quite resonate with me on a personal level. The convoluted language and somewhat predictable plot left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. However, I do appreciate the opportunity to have read it and gain some insight into the source material for the upcoming show. Maybe upon further reflection or a second reading, I might discover more to appreciate in this story.

Finito sia il primo che il secondo racconto, il mio primo pensiero è stato \\"...e quindi?\\"

When reading and listening to reviews about Henry James, one of the fascinations of his literature lies precisely in the ambiguity of how he tells what happens. However, it seems that it is not everyone's cup of tea.

I had really wanted to read something by James for a long time, and I had had my eye on \\"The Turn of the Screw\\" for I don't know how many years. But I must admit that it disappointed me. I don't know what I was expecting. I recognize its importance (literally a classic horror with a villa, spirits, and all that), but the difficult writing and not knowing where it was going took away a lot of my interest in the story.

Instead, I found \\"The Aspern Papers\\" a bit more interesting, precisely because until the end the author doesn't make you understand the direction of the story and keeps you on the edge of your seat, always with an elaborate writing style rich in frills.

This makes the reading experience more engaging and challenging, as you have to constantly try to figure out what's really going on beneath the surface.

Perhaps I need to read more of James's works to truly appreciate his unique writing style and the depth of his stories.

I could only manage to get through the first story. This is rather unfortunate as I truly wanted to have a liking for this.

Pros:

1) It has a short length (yet it doesn't give that impression).

Cons:

1) The writing style is way too arduous for my taste.

2) It seems to have an excessive amount of text and not an adequate amount of story.

3) The countless times the lady keeps depicting how charming the kids were.

I understand that it is supposed to have an open ending where the reader has to determine whether the ghosts are real or not. But seriously, did anyone actually think the kids were at fault or that the lady wasn't going a bit crazy by the end? I mean, she never actually witnesses the kids interacting with the ghosts. She is so certain of the kids' culpability without any evidence. Maybe there was something in the text that I'm overlooking, but the entire thing felt like a huge deal made out of a small matter.

Anyway, if you are just starting to explore the whole classics genre, similar to me, then this might not be the most ideal one to begin with.

3.5 THE TURN OF THE SCREW

At first, reading "The Turn of the Screw" wasn't a breeze due to its writing style. The long sentences and subordinate clauses demanded a bit more focus from me, especially since English isn't my native language. However, as I got accustomed to it, the experience improved. The story is highly atmospheric, filled with numerous great images, and the apparitions are truly ominous.

Regarding the main goal of the book, I'm grateful to have had the introduction and other supplementary information to refer to. I feel I'm not very good when it comes to first-person narrators. I usually tend to believe them without asking myself many questions. But in this story, I realize that our Governess might not have provided an unbiased account of events. We are left, I suppose, with many questions about how much of it is true. Even the ending is extremely weird and leaves us in suspense.

THE ASPERN PAPERS

I must admit that initially, I didn't have much interest in "The Aspern Papers." Later on, though, I found myself curious about how the story would unfold and whether our protagonist would actually achieve his goal. I wanted to see how far he would go. I then found the ending to be quite satisfying. I also found the writing easier than that of "The Turn of the Screw."

I wasn't overly impressed by either of these novellas.

The Aspern Papers had a super interesting start, but then it just dragged on too slowly. I assume that was the intention as it mirrored the main character's long wait for the Aspern papers. However, I did like the descriptions of Venice and the summer feel that the writer was able to convey.

The Turn of the Screw, on the other hand, simply confused me. It also began in an intriguing way, but then it was a bit too sluggish and got lost in the mind of the main character, the governess. This is what led to the confusing part: were there actually ghosts or were they just in the governess' mind? What was so bad about Quint and Jessel? What had they done? How did Miles die? And why? But I realized that I wasn't the only one who was confused and that there are indeed various theories about the ghosts, including the possibility that they were in the governess' head the whole time.

Overall, while both novellas had their moments, they ultimately left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed.

I don't usually have a penchant for Henry James' overly verbose and self-indulgent style. However, in "The Turn of the Screw," it undeniably served to营造 a spine-chilling atmosphere. This was an assigned reading for my American Gothic Literature class. Henry James possesses a remarkable talent for narrating ghost stories. The narrator is unreliable, and in fact, there are two. The first narrator discloses that he made some alterations to the story, which is an actual document penned by the governess of Miles and Flora, two children who might be haunted by the ghosts of former servants of the house.

Nonetheless, the story is ambiguous, and it is arduous to differentiate the governess' projections from the facts. Frequently, it is challenging to determine whether the eerie feeling stems from the haunting or from the governess herself. This is a story that demands close attention and creates an atmosphere of uncomfortable subject matter. It is highly recommended.

I told Rebecca that Henry James "is a real freaky freak" and I firmly stand by that statement.

Despite the lack of overt kinkiness, there is an underlying oddness about James, similar to what one might find in Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was a generation older and, as far as I can tell, grew up in a comparable milieu.

Both of these novellas are the sort of works that truly irritate kids assigned them in AP Literature. (I obtained my copy from the classroom library of the former AP Lit teacher.) It's understandable why: James had a penchant for taking sentences and contorting them into ever more baroque constructions, filling them with detail upon detail, clause after clause, until they teetered on the verge of falling apart in a barely suppressed rage of quiet, futile indecision.

The Aspern Papers is not on par with Screw. However, Screw is one of the finest novellas ever penned, while Aspern is merely a very good one. I comprehend why publishers connect them: one is predominantly narrated by a woman, the other by a man, and James skillfully inhabits each character's first-person perspective in a manner that is nearly impossible for most first-person writers to achieve. The two speakers could not be more dissimilar, yet the twist in both stories is entirely characteristic of a true freaky freak.