edith sure can write a sentence !

Esta recopilación de tres relatos de fantasmas de Edith Wharton es interesante porque las historias son muy diferentes entre sí a pesar de tener elementos en común. Quizá son un poco predecibles para el lector moderno, acostumbrado a todo tipo de películas de miedo con elementos sobrenaturales, pero la autora tiene un estilo impecable y me gusta que los fantasmas aparecen como reflejo de la vida de los protagonistas, en relación con secretos y actitudes de los personajes.

More atmospheric than scary. Some of the stories just seem to stop, unresolved, rather than end. Not a good choice for reading just before bedtime.

As I listened, I suddenly thought: 'Why, we don't either of us know anything about what a beautiful woman suffers when she loses her beauty. For you and me, and thousands like us, beginning to grow old is like going from a bright warm room to one a little less warm and bright; but to a beauty like Mrs Clingsland it's like being pushed out of an illuminated ballroom, all flowers and chandeliers, into the winter night and the snow.’

I loved this collection. Although some of the stories landed better than others, they all brought forward a gothic, ghostly atmosphere that made for a perfect October read. After each story, I found myself picking up my phone, searching for analysis and academic texts that delved into each subject, and that speaks to a level of interest and resonance that I can hardly ascribe to any other book I’ve read recently. I even woke up at 3 AM last night, heart racing, because I thought suddenly that the quiet was too quiet—it was, in fact, uncanny. Well these stories themselves aren’t scary, they brought forward that unease, and even in the middle of the night, I smiled at the thought.

These stories are, for the most part, about women—trapped, unloved, looked over, and out of control. Wharton paints such a picture of the turn-of-the-century woman, who was haunted, no matter what she did, by the desires and pasts of the men around her. The stories irritated me, drew me, confounded me, and satisfied me. And that’s the sort of uncertain joy that I look for in a good ghost story.

”The sight of her softened my heart. After all, I thought, these people don’t know what real trouble is; but they’ve manufactured something so like it that it’s about as bad as the genuine thing.”

My favorites from the collection: “Afterwards,” “Kerfol,” “The Triumph of the Night,” “Pomegranate Seed,” “The Looking Glass”

I found several of these to be rather anti-climactic, but the longer, more character-driven stories worked really well: "Afterward", about a husband and wife who buy an old country estate with a ghost they won't know about until "long, long afterward"; "The Triumph of Night", in which a doppelganger threatens an ill young man; and "The Pomegranate Seed", a chilling tale of a second marriage and a first wife who won't let go.

Ghosts by Edith Wharton is a perfect read for this season. It also deepens my love for Edith Wharton. Is there anything she could not do?

These maybe horror stories but the aspects that are most unnerving about them are so human. Like Wharton's great novels, Ghosts carries forward the themes of class and corruption; women suffocating under patriarchy; and the evil that lies beneath the veneer of civilization. Often there is no clear ending and you are left wondering, or there is an ending that makes you question everything that you thought before. The ghosts in these pages are more often than not protagonists' own subconscious haunting them. After all, what can be creepier than all the dark places in one's own mind?

These stories were okay, if a bit dry, and unmemorable for the most part. The exception for me was "Afterward," which I had read before and seen dramatized. It involves a married couple that intentionally purchases a home with ghost included. The caveat: They won't know they have encountered the ghost until long afterward. Classic.

Edith Wharton sa scrivere veramente bene, questo è poco ma sicuro. Le storie sono emozionanti, la paura dei protagonisti contagiosa, i fantasmi tutti diversi, gli scenari anche molto variegati, ma le atmosfere sono tutte accomunate dalla grande abilità dell’autrice di trasportarci in luoghi tenebrosi e ricchi di angoscia. Purtroppo mi sono ritrovata a sentirmi insoddisfatta alla fine di quasi tutti i racconti, e per questo motivo ho abbassato un poco il voto, ma credo che sia imputabile a gusti miei personali o forse anche ad un mio approccio sbagliato, e assolutamente non al valore in sé del libro.
Una lettura comunque perfetta per questo periodo dell’anno, con l’autunno che avanza, le giornate che si accorciano e Halloween che si avvicina. Lo consiglio a chi cerca storie di fantasmi scritte molto bene, puntando soprattutto a trasmettere le giuste sensazioni e non tanto sulla sensazionalità delle storie in sé (comunque intriganti).
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

Actual rating; 3.5/5 or 7/10

Another ghost story collection book I had heard about from a Facebook group I am in, not to mention the awareness of some TV adaptations.

A solid overall anthology, and whereas I didn't like all the stories equally; "The Lady Maid's Bell", "Afterward", "The Eyes", and "All Souls" were great. Think "The Triumph of Night" may have been a good one as well.

Also quite liked how the majority of the stories end with a poingiant, creepy twist. Real sting like endings.

Actual Rating: 4.5/5 stars

My husband and I enjoy reading Edith Wharton stories to each other, and in fact have managed to get through all, or at least nearly all, of her shorter works in this manner. I love her writing and these stories are no exception but, as other GR members have mentioned, these stories are not horrifying and some are not even scary. They are simply great stories, some of them chilling and others sad.

As always with story story collections, a bit of a mixed bag, but overall I enjoyed these ghost stories. Perfect for a cosy evening.