Goodreads: The Haunting of Hill House
Jun. 20th, 2020 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cyranoThe Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
This book deserves its reputation. Jackson paints the atmosphere on, layer by layer, until we're just as stuck in the house as our four intrepid 'scientists'. Brief summary, a man of letters wants to objectively study paranormal phenomena, and goes about collecting a team of 'sensitive' assistants to live at Hill House, with a long and dark history. Nobody can stay in the house for more than a few days, except for the dour and creepy caretakers who still won't stay after dark, so nobody will hear you screaming if there's any trouble. Eleanor has spent her life caring for her invalid mother and now sleeps in a cot at her sister's house. She's repressed and terrified of everything. Theo is a bon vivant, and Jackson's writing is such that within half a page of meeting her I was terribly in love with Theo. Luke is the family's representative, theoretically there to supervise and make sure no damage is done to the house, but he's all in on the spooky science. Montague is a bit less fleshed out, and seems most human when his wife arrives at the house.
From here on there may be spoilers. Be ye warned.
There's a lot of talk about the lesbian subtext, and while I was thrilled to see it, I don't think it's really lesbian subtext. Eleanor is having an adventure, doing all the things she thinks she's missed. Anybody who shows her affection or attention would be considered a potential romantic partner, and she's so repressed that she's constantly pulling them too close and then pushing them away. Theo is definitely flirting with her, but she's got a 'roommate' back home and none of this is serious, which makes her a particularly bad first crush.
But as the book draws to a close, Eleanor crosses a line and for the first time starts experiencing things that nobody else does, and she no longer needs to behave as she thinks people think she should, she no longer needs these people. There's a lot of talk about the house being haunted and possessing Eleanor, but starting with her childhood and moving on to the phenomena in the house it all looks like a poltergeist energy that Eleanor brought with her. The messages the 'ghosts' send are all to Eleanor, begging her to find a home, to stop the pain of being lost. The house doesn't possess her, she possesses the house. And whatever walks there walks alone.
The scene of her leaving the house was heartbreaking, but you knew how it would end and that's a salve to the reader. You know she's set herself free of all the weight of expectation and the fear of having to start a new life. I have a slew of questions, things like "What did Theo see at the picnic?" but I don't see a lot of writing about that sort of thing on the web, so I'll just have to come up with my own answers.
This book deserves its reputation. Jackson paints the atmosphere on, layer by layer, until we're just as stuck in the house as our four intrepid 'scientists'. Brief summary, a man of letters wants to objectively study paranormal phenomena, and goes about collecting a team of 'sensitive' assistants to live at Hill House, with a long and dark history. Nobody can stay in the house for more than a few days, except for the dour and creepy caretakers who still won't stay after dark, so nobody will hear you screaming if there's any trouble. Eleanor has spent her life caring for her invalid mother and now sleeps in a cot at her sister's house. She's repressed and terrified of everything. Theo is a bon vivant, and Jackson's writing is such that within half a page of meeting her I was terribly in love with Theo. Luke is the family's representative, theoretically there to supervise and make sure no damage is done to the house, but he's all in on the spooky science. Montague is a bit less fleshed out, and seems most human when his wife arrives at the house.
From here on there may be spoilers. Be ye warned.
There's a lot of talk about the lesbian subtext, and while I was thrilled to see it, I don't think it's really lesbian subtext. Eleanor is having an adventure, doing all the things she thinks she's missed. Anybody who shows her affection or attention would be considered a potential romantic partner, and she's so repressed that she's constantly pulling them too close and then pushing them away. Theo is definitely flirting with her, but she's got a 'roommate' back home and none of this is serious, which makes her a particularly bad first crush.
But as the book draws to a close, Eleanor crosses a line and for the first time starts experiencing things that nobody else does, and she no longer needs to behave as she thinks people think she should, she no longer needs these people. There's a lot of talk about the house being haunted and possessing Eleanor, but starting with her childhood and moving on to the phenomena in the house it all looks like a poltergeist energy that Eleanor brought with her. The messages the 'ghosts' send are all to Eleanor, begging her to find a home, to stop the pain of being lost. The house doesn't possess her, she possesses the house. And whatever walks there walks alone.
The scene of her leaving the house was heartbreaking, but you knew how it would end and that's a salve to the reader. You know she's set herself free of all the weight of expectation and the fear of having to start a new life. I have a slew of questions, things like "What did Theo see at the picnic?" but I don't see a lot of writing about that sort of thing on the web, so I'll just have to come up with my own answers.