The Turn of the Screw: A Book Review

Today I'm reviewing The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

Happy Spooky Season!
Today we're delving deep into the eerie realms of classic horror literature with an in-depth review of "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James! 📜👻 Prepare to be chilled to the bone as we navigate through the misty corridors of Bly, unraveling the intricate web of ghosts, paranoia, and psychological horror that has ensnared readers for over a century! 🏰👀

🔍 What's hiding in the shadows?
Join me in dissecting this timeless novella and exploring its cryptic characters, ambiguous plot twists, and unsettling themes that have spawned countless adaptations, theories, and scholarly debates. 📚🎭

🗣️ YOUR THOUGHTS MATTER! 🗣️
👇 Drop your thoughts, theories, and your own supernatural experiences in the comments below! Let’s get a spectral conversation going! 👻💬

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[alma]

I agree completely about the convoluted writing, after a certain point I just started skimming. I always thought the ghosts were real, only after reading reviews afterwards (trying to see if I was the only one that found it boring) did I think that the governess might be crazy.

[wayward.philosopher]

This is one of my favorite books! As for the whether ghosts were real, i tend to take a "Schrödinger's 'Ghost'" view, they are simultaneously real and not real. Also I think the style of james' prose was a product of his time AND the fact that he was an American living in Britain. And one either likes that or not.

[al]

I’ve heard of this book but I’ve never read it. I have however watched “The Others” with Nicole Kidman. The premise of this book reminds me so much of that movie.

[chuck]

Thank you for sharing your love of literature and for encouraging us to explore this spooky gem. 📖👻👏

[DavideMazzetti]

This is one of my all-time favourites and repeated readings repay the effort. I've seen reviews on Amazon complaining that its too difficult, boring tedious and too complicated. For me, this is a symptom of being unable to concentrate and wanting instant gratification. Tales like this require work on the part of the reader and this is part of its pleasure.

[skunke]

Great video as always and now I need to check this one out. With the themes you talked about, it reminded me quite a bit about The Yellow Wallpaper which is another gothic horror story. Highly recommend it even though it’s short. I’m already looking forward to see what you think about Dracula. It’s my favorite gothic horror book for sure and it has inspired my own writing quite a bit as well :)

[rodgilley-writer]

Awesome video! You sent this book to my overpopulated goodreads TBR :) Well done!

[mmmoynihan]

Fantastic video as per usual.

Read the book in anticipation and to be honest I think you enjoyed this more than I did. In fact I’m sure you liked it more than I did because I kinda hated it.

Now I’m going to qualify that by saying that I read Jane Eyre not long ago and I may have a touch of governess in a creepy house fatigue.

I think there’s a fine line between ambiguity and just bad plotting. I think James is so preoccupied with atmosphere and description that he flat out doesn’t bother to properly describe the events that take place in the plot. He was perfectly happy to be definitive with the ghosts motivations despite no evidence in the text beyond “I just know”

I think the character motivations are completely unbelievable and Miles wasn’t creepy. He was just a little sh*t.

The one blessing of this book. It was short. I was ready to quit but then realised it was two thirds finished so I may as well carry on. Glad you enjoyed though. You’re more ‘glass half full’ than I am.

In answer to the big question, yes I do think that the ghosts were real, purely based on the governess describing the face of Quint to Mrs Grose even though she wasn’t aware of him or the fact that he died. If James meant it to be ambiguous he did that badly as well.

I’m looking forward to your Dracula review. I’ve read that book so many times over the years and I love it, but it is very, very flawed. It’ll be interesting to see how a first time reader reacts to it, will you just see the flaws or enjoy it for being more than the sum of its parts?

On to your next book framed in diary entries.

[Rosie-nm]

I have just finished reading "The Turn of the Screw" and I loved it. I also loved the ending. I thought it a brilliant book. I think that the ghosts were not real and that the reader is treated to the workings of a mind that spiralls into madness. It is book I will remember, a book open to interpretation, a book that can be discussed endlessly, a book to read again and again, a book that makes you think and ponder over, a worthy classic.

[isalovestoread]

In the perfect world you would talk about all the books in the world (I would never get tired) <3

[samhayes]

The ghosts were real. Otherwise, how would the governess be able to accurately describe the former employees when she had never met them?

[keithbell]

Personally, I am looking forward to reading the book. One of my favorite all time classic horror films is based on a play,
that springs from "The Turn of the Screw".
And that movie is the 1961 movie- "The Innocents".
I get bored with the predicatble, ao the ambiguity aspect of that story captures my full attention. It beckons me as does a mystery novel that does not reveal the full depth of the mystery. It leaves the rest up to me to figure it out for myself. And if the mystery is shrouded in something that goes bump in the night, and the reader is left with no explanation as to what causes that clearly disturbing "bump"?
That is a story that haunts you long after you have finished the story.

[raffaellaelisapitteri]

I am reading it ( in my own language - Italian) and I found as you pointed out that the way of writing is just to sophisticated.
Sometimes I had to read a sentence more than once, now I can't be bothered anymore since I just want to reach the end hoping it will make sense but I ve got the feeling that it will not.
I like your accent, is it from London?
Bye from Italy.

[shimtest]

the great thing about this book is that James said it's a perfect puzzle, so it proves impossible to say if the ghosts are real or not

[Mark-nhhs]

The Victorians were the masters of Traditional Ghost Stories esp around Christmas times.

[pad]

I was really hoping for a spoiler review of this novella. I would have very much liked to hear your opinion on that ending. As to whether the ghost were real, I'm leaning more to the ghost not being real.

[laramichael]

Thnks for clarifing the storyline🤣🙂‍↕️✊🏼

[rachaelfayy]

Michelle dockerty as a second cousin is such a flex tho

[TheHonourableDaisyWells]

I'd like to think the ghosts are real, like what if the children had been possessed by them the whole time, what if both the kids had always been dead, there is just something underlyingly off about them, but I guess that could just be unreliable narration...

[thomasceneri]

Hi there - 3 stars for The Turn of the Screw???? For shame!!! 😂 Mrs. Grose is the head housekeeper. No, I don’t think that the governess is seeing ghosts. I think it’s her neurosis and sexual repression. Check out Edmund Wilson’s essay on The Turn of the Screw. He opened up a whole world of seeing the novel from a psychological perspective.