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CHUD Book Club- A Turn Of The Screw by Henry James

post #1 of 14
2/22/08 at 10:51am
Thread Starter 
Let's do this crazy thing.
A good old fashioned gothic ghost story. I've never read it, but I've seen the adaptation The Innocents. How's that for a shameful example of my generation?
Chris O says he hopes to read it and Schwartz already read it for college. So we just might have a book club of three here! Anyone else who's interested, just join in.
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post #2 of 14
2/22/08 at 11:41am
I put this on reserve at my local library, so I'm definitely in. When should we have it finished?
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post #3 of 14
2/22/08 at 12:44pm
Thread Starter 
Whenever you fnish it I guess. I run a book club like a hippy runs a classroom. Just go at your own pace, man.
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post #4 of 14
2/22/08 at 12:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobClark View Post
I run a book club like a hippy runs a classroom.
Just don't go singing Lesbian Seagull.
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post #5 of 14
2/26/08 at 12:46pm
Okay...I picked this up from the library yesterday, and I'll get started on it as soon as I've finished The Name of the Wind (which should be sometime next week by the very latest).
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post #6 of 14
3/5/08 at 12:05pm
So I'm about halfway through with this, and I'm just not getting into it at all. Despite being just over a hundred pages, it's a bit of a slog, and I find that I zone out quite a bit while reading it. I don't know...it's a somewhat interesting ghost story thus far, but it's told in such a dry manner that I'm having a lot of trouble sticking with it. I understand that it's a product of its time, but I just don't think it's my cup of tea.

I'm going to stick it out, though, and I hopefully I'll have it read by this weekend.
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post #7 of 14
3/5/08 at 12:26pm
Thread Starter 
It has, within the text, that being the paragraphs and the words which make up those paragraphs, a tendency, if you will, to stretch out the simpliest sentences to a point where you, the reader holding the book, loses track of what the subject is.
But I just came off of some Dickens so I'm finding it easier to adapt to the style. Plus I've seen the movie so I'm already familiar with the story.
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post #8 of 14
3/5/08 at 12:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobClark View Post
It has, within the text, that being the paragraphs and the words which make up those paragraphs, a tendency, if you will, to stretch out the simpliest sentences to a point where you, the reader holding the book, loses track of what the subject is.
Nice.

But that's exactly what my problem is with it, and I'm having a little difficulty adapting to the prose. Plus, I have Umberto Eco's The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loanna sitting on the shelf, waiting for me to crack the spine, so that's kind of distracting me from this one.

Like I said, though, I am going to stick this one out to the bitter end. I wonder, though, if anyone else is reading this, or if we're just a book club of two now.
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post #9 of 14
3/5/08 at 12:37pm
Thread Starter 
I blame Rath. He jinxed us.
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post #10 of 14
3/5/08 at 12:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobClark View Post
I blame Rath. He jinxed us.
What a bastard. And here I was going to say that he should be the one to pick the next book.
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post #11 of 14
3/5/08 at 12:55pm
Thread Starter 
Ha! That'll show him!
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post #12 of 14
3/5/08 at 1:09pm
I can be cruel when I want. Do not cross me.
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post #13 of 14
3/8/08 at 4:21am
Okay...so I finished this tonight, and my opinion hasn't changed. I was hoping that eventually I would start to get into it, but it simply didn't grab me. I just couldn't get into the story at all, and I think it was largely because of how convoluted the prose was.

I think the other problem is that I've been so inundated with ghost stories over the years, that this one just felt like a bit of the same old, same old. I know that's not the book's fault, and it's due to the baggage I carried in with me, but there was nothing in this story that made it stand out from all the rest. It hit all the familiar beats, and overall I felt it was pretty predictable throughout. Again, though, in all fairness, that's probably due to overexposure to all the similar stuff that came after this.

I think had the prose been more straightforward, I might have enjoyed it more, but as it is, I just didn't dig it. All in all, I'm glad I gave it a shot, but it's nothing I'll ever feel the need to revisit.
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post #14 of 14
3/11/08 at 12:13pm
Thread Starter 
It's one of those required readings because it's the prototype for an entire subgenre of literature and film. Something you're glad you read so you can reference it with full authority. I think I got more enjoyment out of it because I'm a horror fan. It's worth the effort in the end.

Of course I promptly had to follow it up with an easy piece of light reading (Nick Hornby, How To Be Good).
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