Comments on: We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson

By: Wrapping up 2009 « Jenny's Books

Wrapping up 2009 « Jenny's Books — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:12:11 +0000

[…] Mask of Apollo quite a lot; Patrick Ness’s Viola is very good also; and there was Merricat from We Have Always Lived in the Castle. But in fact it’s the nonfictional characters I’ve read about this year that have meant the […]

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:03:26 +0000

In reply to Care. Cause it's awesome! Turns out she has written other novels! I totally thought these were her only two. So exciting!

By: Care

Care — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:39:59 +0000

Yes, loved this book!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:23:30 +0000

In reply to boxofbooks. You thought she was in love with him? To me it seemed more like she viewed him as a way of escaping back into normalcy - like, it wasn't even so much him that she was in love with, as the idea of something normal in her life. But either way, that end scene with the photographer was fantastic.

By: boxofbooks

boxofbooks — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:06:21 +0000

I just finished reading this book! It was very good, but not as crazy brilliant as Hill House – I thought, in a weird way, it was a little like Faulkner’s creepy short stories, especially “a rose for Emily”. I think the best part was where Charles comes back at the end, with the photographer – that conversation was so sad and funny. Poor Constance, falling in love with a creep.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:21:58 +0000

In reply to Tara. It's remarkable how she does it - it just seems effortless. I am totally jealous of her right now.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:21:23 +0000

In reply to Sharry.

Yes, with the roses! I have such vivid memories of reading that and “The Lottery” in my eighth-grade English class. We were supposed to find five religious symbols in “The Lottery” and my smarty-pants sister spotted that Mrs. Delacroix’s name meant “of the cross”. But yeah, if you liked her short stories, I think you’ll like her books too. If only there were more of them!

By: Sharry

Sharry — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:59:08 +0000

I didn’t really read your review, just in case I wanted to read that book one day. But, I remember ‘The Lottery’. Oh yes. It was a very creepy book, yes it was. But it was interesting to write an essay about it in HS all those years ago. Didn’t she also write ‘The Possibility of Evil’? It was an equally intriguing little story about roses and an old lady as I vaguely recall.

By: Tara

Tara — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:44:24 +0000

So glad you enjoyed this! You are right about Jackson creating a creepy atmosphere!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:48:48 +0000

In reply to lena.

I think you’re right – I expect this is one of those books that will be even better when I reread it (several times). Shirley Jackson is so careful about creating her characters and her atmosphere, and I think I’ll catch more of her little details when I reread.

Btw, absolutely love your blog’s name!