just finished shirley jackson's marvelously creepy "we have always lived in the castle," a delicious mouthful of poison that i greatly enjoyed, and also a rare depiction of agoraphobia in fiction
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I taught this book to 10th graders and we all agreed that the last conversation between Merricat and Constance ("We're so happy now") was just the creepiest.
Merricat is a delicious character, especially as the novel’s narrator. If you’re interested in more of Jackson’s works that engage with agoraphobia, I recommend two of her short stories: ‘A Day in the Jungle’ and ‘Pillar of Salt’.
What elements of the characters or the story do they most relate to? Any insights they share that stand out for you. Parts of the lesson you know will sit with them, and how they react when you get to those parts…
I love teenagers. I wish more adults got to witness how smart & insightful they are
Merricat is a wonderfully neurotic character and Jackson did an amazing job conveying the isolation and loneliness the characters experience. Grim, but kinda heartwarming at the same time. Great book, I definitely need to read more Jackson
When I read it in high school I really romanticized it and was like hm yes that sounds like a better lifestyle choice than...high school. I still love it. Definitely read Hill House if you haven't, the best told ghost story.
It's frequently framed generically in ways that I don't think serve it well. It's explicitly a fairy tale (the book directly refers to this a number of times) and I think it reads better as a fairy tale than a "mystery," which is how it is sometimes categorized.
That makes sense. I did have the good fortune of going into it not knowing much about it. I think, if I remember correctly, that nothing about the prose grabbed me, but it has been a few years so I'm not sure.
The narrator is skewed but very literal and straightforward, which can feel strange at times, but I think her opening paragraph is among the best opening paragraphs I've ever read. Just a hell of a lot of character development delivered efficiently and matter-of-factly.
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It's one of my favorite short stories. It gets under my skin every time I read it.
I love teenagers. I wish more adults got to witness how smart & insightful they are
Children of Famous Parents. It’s truly a curse