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The Turn of the Screw by Henry James


Janet

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The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

The 'blurb'
The new governess is in sole charge of two orphan children. Although they are both remarkably well-behaved, intelligent and affectionate, she becomes increasingly uneasy. Especially after she sees a stranger seemingly in search of something - or someone; a man whom she discovers is dead, like her predecessor. She must then fight a frightening battle for her pupils and against the forces of evil, a battle in which her victory will be even more terrible.

I'd wanted to read this for some time, and when I saw the BBC were doing an adaptation on 30 December, I raced to try to get it finished - and managed literally 3 minutes before the programme started!

First published in 1898, The Turn of the Screw tells of an unnamed governess who is engaged to look after two orphan children by their guardian uncle. He tells the governess that he wishes to have no input in their lives and that she must deal with anything that arises as she sees fit, without bothering him.

At the house in Essex, she meets Flora and is immediately charmed by the child. The next day, she receives a letter, via the guardian, to say that Miles has been expelled from his school and is returning to Bly, and when Miles arrives he refuses to speak of his expulsion.

The governess starts seeing the figures of a man and woman in the grounds of the house, but when she questions the staff, nobody else has seen them. From descriptions it appears that the man is a former servant called Quint, and the woman is Miss Jessel who was once governess but both of these people are dead. The governess believes that Flora and Miles can see them too, but they both deny it - she fears that they have been corrupted by these ghosts, and believes that it's her job to save them.

As well as being a ghost story, this is a psychological thriller. Do the ghosts really exist, or are they merely a all a figment of the governess' imagination?

The ending of the novel comes as quite a surprise and leaves the reader wondering just what caused what happened to happen!



If you like all your ends tied up at the end of a novel, then it's possible that this could leave you feeling unsatisfied. I've found it quite hard to put my feelings down on electronic paper, but I have to say that it didn't quite live up to my expectations and even though I did enjoy it, it hasn't made me want to rush out to buy any more of James's novels, although I have had Daisy Miller highly recommended to me, so I might well give that a go in future.

Oh, and the BBC adaptation was rubbish, imho! :tongue:

The paperback is 120 pages long and is published by Penguin. The ISBN is 978-0140620610.

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The good thing about TV and film adaptations is that, good or bad, they make me want to read the book. That's true of the turm of the screw, which I watched (and enjoyed). Now I want to read the book. The version of the day of the Triffids bore little resemblence to the book, but people will probably pick up the book as a result.

 

regards

Ian

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I thought the recent TV adaptation was awful too. But I agree that it may just get more people to pick up the book and read it for themselves so that can only be good.

 

Loved the book so much that I doubt any screening of it would satisfy me. :D

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