Assorted Reviews #5

[alaterdate]

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Didn't think I was going to like this one because it's so old (1895), thought it was going to be as dry as the paper I was reading it on, but it was an exciting adventure! I didn't care too much about the moralizing or theories on human nature with this one—didn't particularly agree or disagree with them. I did like that future human descendants had "degraded" and weren't hyper intelligent mono-culture (and/or hivemind) bald freaks. Also my god—I loved Weena.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. First of all, this book gets a little leeway for being slow because it's old. Second, I did find it incredibly boring at times because I've already seen SO MANY movies based on it.
It has the Turn of the Screw thing where it makes you wonder how much was supernatural (if any) and how much was the main character's mental issues. Though I don't really like this sort of plot I might like to annotate my own copy of this novel sometime.
I really liked Eleanor and I like the reading of her as a repressed lesbian, and I like that she died.. The end scene really gets you screaming. There were some excellent lines of prose in this book!

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I liked this story much better than Hill House. It was fun how I went from feeling sorry for Merricat to realizing she had more power than I assumed. I liked her. I also liked the unravelling of the day the Blackwoods died and even though the truth becomes obvious before it's explicitly revealed the added certainty of it throws the reader back to the beginning of the book and going "ah, what a terrible girl," loved it.

Comments

[queenlua]

agreed that The Time Machine holds up shockingly well. i read it in college, expected it to feel incredibly tepid/bland in comparison to all the newer SF i'd read, and... yeah, turns out Wells was real good

and gosh i've really gotta read We Have Always Lived In The Castle huh

[alaterdate]

I knew The Time Machine popularized time travel (machines) so I always assumed it had also popularized the things I don't like about time travel stories. I was wrong, which made it feel refreshing. (I think all the utopian bald people came from his later works? Men Like Gods seems to be the one.) Not only that, but I thought Wells was very good at keeping the suspense of the story going. I'm surprised it was his first novel. It's excellent.
Have you read anything else of his that you would recommend? I've only read this! I've always been meaning to read The Invisible Man, but somehow never pick it up... lol.

I hope you can find time for We Have Always Lived in the Castle; it's short, but packed with nuance.

[queenlua]

ha, you read my mind—i was going to say The Invisible Man. the protag is a enntertaining/awful, twisty lil bastard & it's another really solid romp; i really enjoyed it :)

[alaterdate]

Ooh, that sounds like a character I'll enjoy. A good motivator to finally pick it up 😁

[anneapocalypse]

I haven't read Shirley Jackson since college, I don't think, and this is making me want to check these out! I also keep meaning to pick up some H.G. Wells--I read some many years ago but I'd like to revisit them.

[alaterdate]

It's the perfect season for Shirley Jackson and I think H.G. Wells too, The Time Machine had some spooky vibes. I'm looking forward to reading more of Wells' novels, I've spent too long shying away from scifi.