Turn of the Screw, The

James, Henry

  7 Reviews

A psychological novel and a ghost story in which the spirits of children reappear to haunt a governess. Or do they? [Small font]

Comments from Groups

We found the small print of 'Turn of the Screw' detracted from our enjoyment of this book. Some of us had read it before and found it as 'spooky' as ever!! Lower Hutt 004

Antique language and style, but a thrilling psychological drama. Awhitu 001

The overall comments were that the book's language was extremely flowery, and not what we (in the 21st century) are used to. Apart from that perspective however, the book was an interesting choice to illustrate how much writing styles have changed. Auckland 276

We felt the book asked more questions than it answered, however, as often happens, the discussion made some realise they had enjoyed the book more than they thought. Some got to watch the movie before reading the book, and realised that it was the language rather than the story they didn't like. Drummond 001

'Turn of the Screw' was not liked by all, but it was a good opportunity to read some more of the other stories by Henry James. We decided that the 'Turn of the Screw' challenged our credulity - we found it hard to accept how superstitious society was in those days. We had a great time dissecting some of the characters; we felt we couldn't really believe in any of them! Nevertheless our discussion was certainly lively! Lower Hutt 006

Although we may not have been terribly impressed with this 'ghost' story by Henry James - there is no doubt that he loved the written word, and showed great attention to form and detail not found in fiction today. Provided great group discussion. Auckland 066

Not everyone in the group could survive this book's 'wordiness'. Some finished, others persevered partway! The obscure language and meandering style made it a reasonably laborious read. Wanganui 005

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