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Title: The Lottery : And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson ISBN: 0-374-51681-2 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1982 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 (60 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Insightful, funny, creepy
Comment: I never read the short story "the Lottery" in school or anything, but had it recommended to me by my mum after she heard I loved Ira Levin's "the Stepford Wives". I didn't know it was a short story, so when I got the book and saw it was the last story included, I decided to leave it till the end and read the stories front-to-back.
I really enjoy Margaret Atwood, and find similarities in the writing style of her and Shirley Jackson; perhaps it's the feminine perspective, the insight, the banal everyday detail laid out with great care. I found myself really enjoying the book, and always of course anticipating the final story.
Highlights for me in this book include "Charles", about the 'troubled classmate' of a woman's young son; "the Renegade", in which a woman feels compassion for her dog's ignorant activities; "Dorothy and My Grandmother and the Sailors", which reminded me of my paranoia of the unknown as a child and my then-absolute belief in my family's viewpoints; "Of Course" made me squirm with awkwardness at the "thin-ice" of introductions and laugh out loud; and of course, "the Lottery" was a great way for this book to end for me. I kind of anticipated what was going to happen, but it was no less effective when it did.
The feeling of helplessness is present in many of these stories, of a woman watching her life through confused eyes and feeling a loss of control, not being able to relate to or understand the people around her. The stories and characters were very real, the conversation between characters very natural. Every awkward moment, every suspicious action, is captured beautifully. I really liked this book. I would recommend it highly; I am not usually a fan of short stories, but these were wonderful. I found myself looking forward to sitting down to read one here and there, and all of them left me thinking about them afterwards.
**Interesting note: as I was reading the short story of "the Lottery", I found myself reminded of a music video by Marilyn Manson, for the song "Man That You Fear". Looking this connection up on the internet, I found that he used the story as his inspiration for the video. Even if you can't stomach Marilyn Manson, it's an interesting (and inoffensive!) visualization (though somewhat altered) of the story, and worth checking out for interest's sake. Just thought I'd mention it!
Rating: 3
Summary: Lottery - 5 stars, Remainder - 3 stars
Comment: I purchased this book on the fact that the Lottery is a great story and extremely eerie. Another reason for purchasing this was the overall high rating for this book by everyone. That was incredibly misleading. If you read thru the other reviews of this book closely, you will find that most people are telling you about the brilliance of the story "The Lottery" and not the other stories in this compilation.
I expected stories on par with the Lottery in this collection. I didn't find it. The majority of other stories do not fall in to the classification of horror stories like the Lottery or "The Haunting of Hill House" which Shirley Jackson is also so famous for. The stories would fall in to the region of American Literature, not horror or mystery. As some other reviewers have noted there are multiple stories that don't come to a conclusion as one would expect with either a horror or mystery story but are a poignant tale of literature.
I am a huge mystery buff and definitely part of the pull of this collection was that it was in the mystery section of my bookstore. That along with the other items I previously mentioned convinced me to buy it. If you find yourself buying this for mystery or horror stories, take a pass. If you are looking to reread "The Lottery" I would recommend taking this book out from the library. This purchase is only wise for literature enthusiasts.
Rating: 5
Summary: I won!
Comment: These are some of the best short stories I've ever read. Buy this one today! They made a tv movie about The Lottery but I won't ruin it for you.
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Title: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson ISBN: 0140071083 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: June, 1984 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson ISBN: 0140071075 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: June, 1984 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Come Along With Me: Part of a Novel, Sixteen Stories, and Three Lectures by Shirley Jackson, Stanley E. Hyman ISBN: 0140250379 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Just an Ordinary Day : The Uncollected Stories Of Shirley Jackson by Shirley Jackson ISBN: 0553378333 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson ISBN: 0140267670 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1997 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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