The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Fiction (Bantam Classics)

Book Description

To read a story by Henry James is to enter a world--a rich, perfectly crafted domain of vivid language and splendid, complex characters. Devious children, sparring lovers, capricious American girls, obtuse bachelors, sibylline spinsters and charming Europeans populate these five fascinating Nouvelles --works which represent the author in both his early and late phases. From the apparitions of evil that haunt the governess in The Turn Of The Screw to the startling self-scrutiny of an egotistical man in The Beast In The Jungle, the mysterious tumings of human behavior are skillfully and coolly observed--proving Henry James to be a master of psychological insight as well as one of the finest stylists of modern English literature.

Customer Reviews:

book review.......2007-09-17

This book has five short fiction tales. The longest story is about 200 pages, and the shortest one is around 90 pages. This book is great for bringing on an airplane, or if you just have a short amount of free time. The stories are easy to read in an hour or so at a time.

The Screw Turns Slowly But Effectively!.......2006-07-14

Although this story churns slowly and with a writing style that many of us are not used to, it makes up for it with a great, chilling story that sticks with you after the last pages are over. This is one of those books you have to read in the quiet to concentrate on each word, but it is all the quiet that can make this book scare you. James' obviously did a masterful job on the story, with his cliffhanger ending, because to this day, people are still giving their interpretation of it and what it means. And this story was published over 100 years ago, in 1898. Any author would LOVE to have people still talking about a book like that, for better or worse. I love the characters throughout this story, and you begin to wonder what exactly is going on - is she seeing ghosts? Are the kids seeing ghosts? Has she lost her mind? All good questions and at the end, you still might be scratching your head, but it is still a satsifying conclusion that lets your creative mind decipher it all. In conclusion, this book is a pretty slow read considering it's only like 100 pages, but once you get half way, you're not going to want to put it down!

Unnerving Tale Hidden Inside Some Stories in a Flashback.......2003-03-16

On the surface this is a story about an either haunted or hysterical governess who juggles words with true virtuosity, stringing them into psychologically insightful sentences. But that is all just camouflage, as is the many-layered structure of this tale. When the chips are finally down, the truth emerges, even though it is never explicitly stated --- how could it possibly have been stated explicitly in 1898? --- this is a story about pedophilia and its effects on a ten year old boy. At the core of this tale lies the relationship between the boy Miles and his uncle's servant Quint at Bly, the uncle's country estate. The housekeeper Mrs. Crose informs the new governess that the too-good-to-be-true Miles had been "bad" in the past, he would disappear for hours in the company of Quint who was not only "much too free" but also engaged in "depravity." Sent off to a boarding school, Miles gets expelled for what he tells his classmates presumably about this depravity. When at the very end of the tale the governess confronts Miles about these matters, he appears to expire in the last four words of the tale's last sentence. Yet at the start of the unresolved flashback which this tale represents, Miles may yet be alive as a middle-aged family man named Douglas, who reads to his friends the whole tale as written down by the governess herself.

Is Douglas the grownup Miles? James doesn't tell, but this remains a fascinating possibility perfectly consistent with the rest of this tale. Further conflations of characters are equally well compatible with the "facts." The uncle who lived at Bly and then left his estate at the very time of Quint's accidental death doesn't want to ever again hear of his nephew or to return to Bly. Could it be that it was not Quint who engaged in pedophilia, but that it was the uncle himself who abused his orphaned nephew? In their numerous dialogues the Governess and Mrs. Crose complete each other's sentences to such a degree that one gets the distinct impression that one is dealing with the ruminations of a single character and like Quint, so Mrs. Crose too can easily be removed from the scene. In fact James does just that shortly before tale's end, while getting rid of Miles' little sister Flora at the same time. He sends them to London to visit the uncle. There is one more character, the earlier governess Jessel, whose only role is to impose a certain degree of symmetry to the tale, and to appear in one climactic scene.

Why all these dispensable main characters, why the fireside chat of all kinds of minor characters at the time when the flashback is entered never to be left again, and finally why even use a flashback? I think these are all diversionary tactics on James' part. The central story he tells is so very unorthodox, unnerving and incendiary that he prefers to hide it with great care and great success among all this clutter. As I said, in 1898 he would have been pilloried for openly writing about pedophilia. The challenge of doing so all the same, has resulted in a masterpiece of ambiguity, which still clearly conveys its point. This interpretation of the story is supported by the fact that Benjamin Britten, one of the twentieth century's greatest opera composers, has set "The Turn of the Screw". Britten was himself apparently interested in pubescent boys and pedophilia drives the stories of three of his masterpieces. Based on what has been written about Henry James, he may not have been a stranger to this subject either.

The style of this tale is fascinating. On the one hand it is formal, quite pedantic, quite precious and removed, as if carving itself a much-needed ditch separating the narrative from the reader. It does not grant easy access. On the other hand all those long sentences with big words tend to have a mesmerizing effect that absorbs the reader into the story better than even the most honest and well-meaning informality ever could. There is a certain rhythm and poetic drive to some crucial passages. For instance, as one enters the flashback, the first few pages have the drive of a prose poem or of a symhony. With it James welcomes the reader to his realm. No wonder "The Turn of the Screw" ultimately landed on the opera stage.

clear, precise, even-handed stylist.......2003-02-09

Henry James wrote in a clear, precise even-handed American style that has not grown stale despite the passage of over 100 years. The two stories that stand out here to me are the two that are usually singled out by reviewers, "Daisy Miller" and "The Turn Of The Screw", the former because of its sensual European atmospherics and the fact that even back in 1900 an American female could be considered overly outgoing or prurient by community standards, even if she was probably just an extroverted American; the latter because James effectively creates the controlled terror of a ghost story involving children at a British greathouse, perhaps a bit like Poe. But the other 3 stories all have something going for them: "The Jolly Corner", is also a ghost story,set in New York; "The Beast Of the Jungle" creates a sense of mysterious suspense within the context of a couple's love relationship, and "Washington Square" is the story of a love relationship forbidden by the girl's
sophisticated doctor father.

The Best of One-of-the-Best Short Story Writers.......2001-03-30

This is a good collection of Henry James' best. Each short story is a pager-turner rich with insights into American and British life at the end of the 1800's. He doesn't make his characters Romantic heroes but real, flawed, interesting and complex. James definately ranks among the best of the Realism and Naturalism authors like Twain, Dresler, Crane and Howells.

The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics)

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Base menials
The Turn of the Screw: And Other Stories
A Horror Story that falls a little short of a Classic
a bad writer's best book

The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics)
Henry James
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192834045

Book Description

Whether viewed as a subtle, self-conscious exploration of the haunted house of Victorian culture, filled with echoes of sexual and social unease, or simply as "the most hopelessly evil story we have ever read," The Turn of the Screw is probably the most famous of ghostly tales and certainly
the most eerily equivocal. This new edition includes three rarely reprinted ghost stories from the 1890s, "Sir Edmund Orme," "Owen Wingrave," and "The Friends of the Friends," as well as relevant extracts from James's notebooks and journals.

Customer Reviews:

Base menials.......2006-12-06

Henry James is a prime aristocrat, a not always very subtle defender of the leisure class. Two short stories in this bundle show it profusely.
In `The Turn of the Screw', two aristocratic children are haunted by two `base menials' (`You reminded him that Quint was only a base menial?'). Henry James fears really that the higher classes will be contaminated and corrupted by the lower classes: `I should continue to defer to the old tradition of the criminality of those caretakers of the young who minister to superstition and fears.'
The evil comes out of the lower classes, `For the love of all the evil that the pair (of servants) put into them.'
At the end, one of the children succumbs to the same fate as the child in `Erlkoenig' by Goethe, Erlkoenig being the quintessence of the evil force, the killer of innocence.

In `Owen Wingrave' (masterly transformed into an opera by Benjamin Britten), the main character refuses to step into the tradition of his ancestors and to become a soldier (and die on the battlefield). On the contrary, he calls war an overwhelming stupidity, the `crash barbarism'. He doesn't understand `why nations don't tear to pieces the governments, the rulers that go for them.'
For Henry James, the ideas and the behavior of Owen Wingrave are like `falling in love with a low girl.'
At the end, Owen is slain by the ghost of one of his ancestors, dying on his own battlefield (for his ideas). The last words of the story (`gained field') would mean that the aristocracy has adopted the `anti-war' policy.

These perfectly constructed and brilliantly written stories reveal Henry James's real obsession: preserve the `purity' of his kind.

The Turn of the Screw: And Other Stories.......2002-11-14

You guys missed the most dramatic plot twist in history!

Think about it there was no gost it was all in Governess's head, and she is the true villain.

This is trully the best horror book I have ever read.

A Horror Story that falls a little short of a Classic.......2001-12-06

I didn't like the first person style in which most of this book is written. The times when someone else besides the governess is speaking it becomes hard to follow who is talking. However after completing this novella, I realize this style may have been needed to raise some questions in the reader's minds whether or not the governess is just imagining all that she sees, or whether there really are ghosts about the manor trying to corrupt these cherub like children to do unspeakable evil. At times I felt the suspense was forced. Too many pages were used to explain why she just didn't come out and confront the children in the first place, speak to their uncle, or speak to someone at the school. The introductory pages of people telling ghost stories seemed unnecessary as well since it is never tied back in to the story at the end. At times the story shows so much potential to build you up to a great surprise climax at the end, but then in my opinion, it falls short.

a bad writer's best book.......2000-10-30

A young governess is hired to look after two seemingly angelic orphans--Flora and Miles. Seemingly, but why was Miles dismissed from school? and who are the strangers who the governess sees at windows? As in most of James' work, these questions are raised but not answered. However, in this novella he is presenting a gothic mystery, so the open ended questions are appropriate.

Apparently Turn of the Screw was controversial when James wrote it, because of it's presentation of children as potentially wicked. In the era of Littleton, I don't think there's anyone left who will argue that children are incapable of evil.

It's just a good creepy little tale.

Amazon.com

The story starts conventionally enough with friends sharing ghost stories 'round the fire on Christmas Eve. One of the guests tells about a governess at a country house plagued by supernatural visitors. But in the hands of Henry James, the master of nuance, this little tale of terror is an exquisite gem of sexual and psychological ambiguity. Only the young governess can see the ghosts; only she suspects that the previous governess and her lover are controlling the two orphaned children (a girl and a boy) for some evil purpose. The household staff don't know what she's talking about, the children are evasive when questioned, and the master of the house (the children's uncle) is absent. Why does the young girl claim not to see a perfectly visible woman standing on the far side of the lake? Are the children being deceptive, or is the governess being paranoid? By leaving the questions unanswered, The Turn of Screw generates spine-tingling anxiety in its mesmerized readers.

Book Description

Tor Classics are affordably-priced editions designed to attract the young reader. Original dynamic cover art enthusiastically represents the excitement of each story. Appropriate "reader friendly" type sizes have been chosen for each title-offering clear, accurate, and readable text. All editions are complete and unabridged, and feature Introductions and Afterwords.This edition of The Turn of the Screw includes a Foreword, Biographical Note, and Afterword.

Download Description

Henry James' short novels provide an overview of his entire career and serve as an excellent introduction to his singular art and imagination.

Customer Reviews:

Fear May Be Nonexistent but the Tale is Still Mysterious.......2007-10-03

From the opening page, we have it that nothing matches this tale's dreadfulness, uncanny ugliness, and horror. Now, for the people reading it around the beginning of the 20th century (when it was published), this might have held true, but for a reader of the present day, this tale isn't going to strike them as being in the least scary. Basically, the only elements of the story that can be construed as even remotely scary are the presence of two ghosts, who just seem to be wandering around looking for something.

Now, while this tale falls woefully short in instilling fear in its reader, it nonetheless remains a very entertaining read, because the mystery that unfolds in this short tale isn't derived from the scariness it is meant to produce; the tale's mystery is just as mysterious in the absence of fear as it would be if it were presence.

The mystery concerns a governess who has recently taken on employment at an isolated country estate. Her two charges are a boy and a girl, Miles, and Flora, who are both graced with overwhelming physical beauty, intellectually quite adept, and impeccably well behaved. In short, they seem to be ideal children. Miles has actually been dismissed from his school for unspecified reasons, but the governess chalks this up to unfair treatment given all his redeeming virtues. So, all is well until one day she encounters a ghost on her daily walk about the premises.

This encounter starts a chain of events lead to the governess adopting a Sherlock Holmes persona and baptizing Mrs. Goose, the housekeeper, into the role of her Watson. In the course of her investigation, she encounters another ghost, learns what both ghost are after, and who they are, and begins to question whether Miles and Flora's displayed perfection is just a façade to mask their sinister nature. The key to solving the mystery turns on with what caused Miles's dismissal from school and the identity of the two ghosts.

In this brief work, James has crafted a rather well paced mystery that is told with descriptively rich language and with elaborate and fluid prose. In other words, it was quite a pleasure to read.

Dissapointed and Confused!.......2007-09-13

Huh??? I've just finished reading this story and feel as if I've wasted 3 months of my life! Normally, I enjoy this particular genre, Victorian and Gothic settings, etc. Not this time. I'm still left with two questions. First of all, were the "ghosts" real or a figment of the narrator's imagination? Secondly, I was dying to find out what the young boy had done to cause his expulsion from school. Also, the narratives were drawn out way too long! After the first ten pages, I was bored to tears! I'll give James one more chance before I cast him aside for good!

PAINFULLY BORING.......2007-07-21

I was under the impression this was going to be a rare find of a thriller. Instead, I found it painfully boring, laborious, and way too chatty. I certainly could have gotten the point in ten pages or less. Save yourself the effort and avoid this one.

a story for our time.......2007-07-20

It's a hard read because there is no happy ending. Read it not from the paranoid governess' point of view, but from that of her defenseless charges and you have the story of what happens to too many kids these days. With their parents too self-absorbed to care about protecting, or even just raising, them, these kids are figuratively left -- like those in the story -- on their own, while the P.C. police is given full charge of their upbringing. Those who survive do so by absorbing the self-destructive thinking, which society and the schools demand of them. Those who resist, suffer the consequences because, like the self-righteous governess, the P.C. police is incapable of examining its own culpability in any harm which results from their actions.

Not worth the hype.......2007-07-01

This is the second Henry James book I have read (the 1st being Washington Square) and in both cases, I have not been very impressed. Henry James had great ideas for stories, but he really did not execute them well. Now, I really like literature from this time period, but James stifles his narrative with so much unnecessary language that one gets lost and the suspense of the story falls flat.

I did not find this story in the least chilling and was often frustrated with James' style. Others might find James a good read, but not I.

Ghosts, Demons, and Henry James: The Turn of the Screw at the Turn of the Century

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Ghosts, Demons, and Henry James: The Turn of the Screw at the Turn of the Century
Peter G. Beidler
Manufacturer: Univ of Missouri Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0826206840

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Self and Form in Modern Narrative
Vincent P. Pecora
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0801837685

Turn of the Screw and Other Short Fiction

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Turn of the Screw and Other Short Fiction

Manufacturer: Bantam Books(Classic & Loveswept)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

The Turn of The Screw and Other Short Novels

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The Turn of The Screw and Other Short Novels
Henry James
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels
Henry James
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels
Henry James
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels
Henry James
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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