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babewiththepower.bsky.social · @babewiththepower.bsky.social@bridge.neodb.net

Rated We Have Always Lived in the Castle 6/10

The writer of the introduction to this book says that even if you think you've never heard of Shirley Jackson, you've heard of her or her stories and then describes the plot to "The Lottery," seemingly the first thing people name of her works. I'd have to be sorry to say to Jonathan Lethem (an author I'd never heard of), but neither the title nor the plot sounded familiar to me at all. The title for her novel "The Haunting of Hill House" does, but since horror isn't a genre I'm interested in reading, I've never read it. As for this book, it was an interesting if somewhat predictable short novel. The surprise? detail was obvious from the first conversation at the dinner table, so I mainly read the story for the bizarre behavior of the characters. It took a little bit to get into the groove of reading the writing style, it having been written in the early 1960s. It definitely reminded me, as I found others comment on the internet, of the style of "The Twilight Zone" of which unsurprisingly this was published right in the middle of its original run. Only without an amazing revelation of a morality tale at the end. More like something from "The Addams Family." I would've wanted more story, but then I always have that reaction to most short stories and novellas, so that's not surprising. It was an enjoyable enough short read out of my usual wheelhouse.

#book

Published 2026-08-18 17:59 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere