Even after watching the film adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw I am still not sure how to "read" the story. The Masterpiece Theatre production of the book was very well done, I thought. I am sure there were some slight differences, but it seemed to stay pretty close to the story. (There might be more possible spoilers if you plan on reading the book or watching the movie--you can skip down to my other reading news below, if you'd like).
They seemed to really play up the angle that the Governess was quite taken with the Master. He seemed to lay it on thick that he needed someone to look after the children, which he wanted to have nothing to do with (which I thought a bit odd, but not surprising for this story). She was young and away from the home from the first time (her father being a parson and she the youngest of seven children), and she seemed quite smitten by him. After she was at Bly (the country home) Flora shows her the Master's bedroom, and she is seen later admiring his clothes. Even Mrs. Grose notices how taken she is with both the house and the family.
I really don't read many ghost stories, and perhaps I just haven't found the right one....but I tend to not get scared when reading these sorts of books. Of course the seed is planted in the mind, and I might be home alone and remember a particular scene and that's usually when the scary stuff kicks in. I suppose it is what your mind does with the story. I have to admit, though, when I was watching the movie, it did give me goosebumps. There is something about seeing Quint and Miss Jessel in the flesh, so to speak, and knowing they are meant to be dead that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end! And watching late at night with most of the lights off, and the eerie or booming music at just the right moments...well, all of a sudden it became scary. You get much more of a feeling in the movie (or at least I did) than in the book, that the children are seeing things that they are not letting on they have seen. So I still don't know what to think. The Governess was young and impressionable. She had a thing for the Master and then all of a sudden she starts seeing dead people that no one else admits to seeing. On the other hand you don't know what the kids are up to, and how is she able to describe these people so well without ever having met them? So many questions! Whatever Henry James was trying to do with his story, he certainly accomplished it. It is a psychological tale full of ambiguity. On the surface it is a wonderful ghost story, if you just read it as a ghost story. But if you decide to plumb the depths---there is oh so much there to find!
Other Reading Notes
I am a mere 75 pages away from finishing Little Women. I know how the story is going to play out at this point (I remember the movie version), but it is still enjoyable reading even though I know the ending. After I finish, I already have Indiana by George Sand on my night table, as the Slaves are discussing it later this month. That should be quite a change of pace after LW, since it "is the story of a naive, love-starved woman abused by her much older husband and deceived by a selfish seducer." There was certainly none of that in LW! I managed to also start Virginia Woolf's The Voyage Out this weekend. I am happy that it seems very readable, though it was sort of slow going at first. I know I won't be able to finish this by Friday (when the rest of the group will be moving along), but I am planning on taking this all at my own pace. I read a tad bit more of The Mystery of the Sea by Bram Stoker. I am happy to finally be introduced to the character of Marjory in the story as she will be Archibald's love interest (I always sort of like a story with a love interest...). Things should pick up here, I'd say. And one more...I started Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson--another psychological tale. I think if I can read a chapter every day, I should be able to get it finished by next weekend. I might actually read all five (and possibly a sixth) books in this challenge. All in all it was a pretty good weekend for reading!