Okay, so I'm finally going back to my reading of Turn of The Screw, took out of the library again, and hopefully it goes better this time.
So for now I want to look at this, this is a criticism of the book:
"In this blood-curdling story, that imagination weaves the lives of two children, a governess in love with her employer, and a sprawling country house into a flawless story, still unsurpassed as the prototype of modern horror fiction."
that was from Google books-reviews. so anyway, I loved this one because it describes it as "blood-curling" but i guess I'll judge that for you. also the talk of imagination, this hints to be that it explores the caverns of our minds and plucks out the scariest images and delivers them and creates a universal fear we can share with the characters. It's also the marker for the "modern horror fiction" so I'll have to look at how it might have influenced the two books I've read. and finally they praised his style, though i didn't copy that part. So hopefully I'll get some good passages to explicate and truly dissect how he creates the fear.
So yah, those are my goals for this book. Leave a comment if you think i should focus on anything else. Thanks.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
overalls
Okay, so now, since I've finished analyzing a good amount, I'm going to sum this book up and then move on (or really back) to turn of the screw.
So overall "All That Lives" wasn't the scariest book I've ever read, however, it helped me a lot i looking at the genre. With this novel, we see the classic ghost story and how it affects the human family in turn. Though it lagged a bit in excitement, and the end was very unsatisfactory, i would never say it was a bad book. Overall Sanders has a concise style and handles the scary scenes pretty well. She however, fell into a trap most of us do-inexperience. unlike King who knows how to moderate his scariness, she seemed to go a bit over the top with it in order to impress me as a reader. It was as if King knew his book was going to be scary, he didn't need you to tell him, and in that confidence he made it scarier because of its simpleness. whereas hers began to become to fictional and thus losing its effect, as stated in prior posts.
Also in comparison to King, this book is basically the same theme, scary being. You can't define what that being is but it's scary and mean- in one case it was a hotel, this time just a voice, still same idea though. So why did she flounder? Again i think it's the same idea, experience and skill. With Sanders the voice was equally as sophisticated as the madness behind the hotel, but hers was much more on the surface and it lacked the fear power because it became predictable and unimaginable. In the beginning, and in all of the Shining, i never knew what was coming and when it did i was shocked because i could totally see that happening in real life-thus scary.
So in terms of comparison, this horror can not compete with the last one, even though they deal with the same idea.
So overall "All That Lives" wasn't the scariest book I've ever read, however, it helped me a lot i looking at the genre. With this novel, we see the classic ghost story and how it affects the human family in turn. Though it lagged a bit in excitement, and the end was very unsatisfactory, i would never say it was a bad book. Overall Sanders has a concise style and handles the scary scenes pretty well. She however, fell into a trap most of us do-inexperience. unlike King who knows how to moderate his scariness, she seemed to go a bit over the top with it in order to impress me as a reader. It was as if King knew his book was going to be scary, he didn't need you to tell him, and in that confidence he made it scarier because of its simpleness. whereas hers began to become to fictional and thus losing its effect, as stated in prior posts.
Also in comparison to King, this book is basically the same theme, scary being. You can't define what that being is but it's scary and mean- in one case it was a hotel, this time just a voice, still same idea though. So why did she flounder? Again i think it's the same idea, experience and skill. With Sanders the voice was equally as sophisticated as the madness behind the hotel, but hers was much more on the surface and it lacked the fear power because it became predictable and unimaginable. In the beginning, and in all of the Shining, i never knew what was coming and when it did i was shocked because i could totally see that happening in real life-thus scary.
So in terms of comparison, this horror can not compete with the last one, even though they deal with the same idea.
Final Theme
Okay, so I'm going to make one more post about themes. One of the final themes I saw in the book was that of strength, in a very general term. Let me be more specific.
Firstly, let's take character by character. Starting, of course, with Betsy, the main character. Though at first glance, she is definitely not a strong female character. By the end she grows up and is able to demonstrate a huge growth in confidence and strength. And that comes mostly from her finding herself. This story takes us through most of her late childhood early teenage years so we basically get to watch as she becomes who she was always meant to be. Even though at one point she remarks "I was frightened and my heart threatened to burst inside my chest..." 194 she stands up after the spirit attacks her and says, "I am much recovered now," 196 even though it nearly killed her. In these small ways Betsy shows her inner strength . She is the only one psychically abused by the spirit and yet she never really lets it hold her back. Similarly in the end, it is Betsy that makes the ultimate sacrifice, she gives up on a chance to have a good life with the man she has always loved and yet she gives it up and in the end delivers the demon back to where it belongs, finally fulfilling its prophesies and thus laying it to rest.
In the same way her father and brother (Jack and John Jr.)show this kind of strength in that they stand up for what they believe and nothing the spirit ever did could ruin that. They were the hardiest of men in that even in the women's fears and angst, the men refused to give it the pleasure of winning and never let the thing influence their minds. The strength of these two characters, though shown in a different way is still moving in that even in their fear the refuse to give into the spirit. It is a beacon of hope how they manage to stay sound of their own beliefs and intentions through such influence, and in the end it kills Jack Bell, but he died strong.
And finally in Lucy, her mother (though for one reason of the next I wrote it was Mary in the last one, sorry, it's not, it's definitely Lucy) she watches as her son, the eldest Jesse leaves, her next son John is sent away, and finally in the death of her husband are all brought on from the presence of the spirit. However, even through her own eventual sickness, she remains the stone for her family-and in that way she is definitely one of the strongest characters, because she never loves sight of her duties and of her love of Jack and her children, though things were in deed so difficult.
Firstly, let's take character by character. Starting, of course, with Betsy, the main character. Though at first glance, she is definitely not a strong female character. By the end she grows up and is able to demonstrate a huge growth in confidence and strength. And that comes mostly from her finding herself. This story takes us through most of her late childhood early teenage years so we basically get to watch as she becomes who she was always meant to be. Even though at one point she remarks "I was frightened and my heart threatened to burst inside my chest..." 194 she stands up after the spirit attacks her and says, "I am much recovered now," 196 even though it nearly killed her. In these small ways Betsy shows her inner strength . She is the only one psychically abused by the spirit and yet she never really lets it hold her back. Similarly in the end, it is Betsy that makes the ultimate sacrifice, she gives up on a chance to have a good life with the man she has always loved and yet she gives it up and in the end delivers the demon back to where it belongs, finally fulfilling its prophesies and thus laying it to rest.
In the same way her father and brother (Jack and John Jr.)show this kind of strength in that they stand up for what they believe and nothing the spirit ever did could ruin that. They were the hardiest of men in that even in the women's fears and angst, the men refused to give it the pleasure of winning and never let the thing influence their minds. The strength of these two characters, though shown in a different way is still moving in that even in their fear the refuse to give into the spirit. It is a beacon of hope how they manage to stay sound of their own beliefs and intentions through such influence, and in the end it kills Jack Bell, but he died strong.
And finally in Lucy, her mother (though for one reason of the next I wrote it was Mary in the last one, sorry, it's not, it's definitely Lucy) she watches as her son, the eldest Jesse leaves, her next son John is sent away, and finally in the death of her husband are all brought on from the presence of the spirit. However, even through her own eventual sickness, she remains the stone for her family-and in that way she is definitely one of the strongest characters, because she never loves sight of her duties and of her love of Jack and her children, though things were in deed so difficult.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Theme dos!
Okay, so this is going to be the long awaited, short post. I promise, at least one.
So this is going to be about the second theme i found in the book. I kind of touched on it last time. To me, I felt that a lot of what the ghost did was inorder to make the family pay for what they've done in the past.We see this especially with her father. Who often committed terrible things, though he was a strangely just and honorable man. But still the ghost drove him to his death in payment for his sins.
In the same way he spared her mother, becasue she was so virtous, the spirit often remarked on how he cared deeply for her and loved her for how kind and holy she was.
The set up between the two is very powerful, he is the man, the butter on the bread, and he is strong, dependable, and very god-fearing. Ideal, just like his wife is. And yet, though he is in appearance the ideal man in those ways, we find out throughout the story that in the past he's done some very shady things, and hurt people. The spirit takes this and tortures him for it. However, his wife, Mary, has never really hurt anyone, and has always been loving. The spirit can see her for what she truly is, as it sees John. Throughout the book, in who the spirit spares or punishes there is that feeling of judgement, that this is a vehicle for God's punishment. Though in truth we find out it's not, just a lost soul who is torturing people with no real reason, rather than he saw something in thier hearts.
so yes, theme 2: punishment for one's sins. Religion is a major part in this novel, and especially here we see that the author feels deeply about judgement.
So this is going to be about the second theme i found in the book. I kind of touched on it last time. To me, I felt that a lot of what the ghost did was inorder to make the family pay for what they've done in the past.We see this especially with her father. Who often committed terrible things, though he was a strangely just and honorable man. But still the ghost drove him to his death in payment for his sins.
In the same way he spared her mother, becasue she was so virtous, the spirit often remarked on how he cared deeply for her and loved her for how kind and holy she was.
The set up between the two is very powerful, he is the man, the butter on the bread, and he is strong, dependable, and very god-fearing. Ideal, just like his wife is. And yet, though he is in appearance the ideal man in those ways, we find out throughout the story that in the past he's done some very shady things, and hurt people. The spirit takes this and tortures him for it. However, his wife, Mary, has never really hurt anyone, and has always been loving. The spirit can see her for what she truly is, as it sees John. Throughout the book, in who the spirit spares or punishes there is that feeling of judgement, that this is a vehicle for God's punishment. Though in truth we find out it's not, just a lost soul who is torturing people with no real reason, rather than he saw something in thier hearts.
so yes, theme 2: punishment for one's sins. Religion is a major part in this novel, and especially here we see that the author feels deeply about judgement.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Analyze this!
okay a new blog got added, called Moving on just scroll down a little to find it, it was a previous draft i just finished, so it got posted near the other Jan. ones. sorry.
So, here is a part from the novel that i thought was a little chilling, I"m going to share it with you *yay!* and tell you why i think it's scarrrry.
"I awoke in the dark to the distinct sounds of lips, smacking near my ear, and from the foot of my bed came a gulping sound, as if some human being were gasping for air. I was terrified and paralyzed with fear, and abruptly my quilt was ripped off my body and my braid twisted from behind and pulled so hard my head was raised with a painful jerk off the bed."
Okay, so first off the imagery, "lips, smacking" I got an immediate image with this description. I actually took it very literally, and saw an image of someone, or thing, right next to her, and that's chilling. It's there but yet she can't see it or stop it, complete loss of control, like i talked about earlier. The image is clear, brief, and yet very strong. Also there is this back story about a little slave on the farm that she used to play with, and one day as punishment for sneaking extra food, she is forced to shove cotton into her mouth, and that is the sound she makes. So really, though unknown to Betsy, this is actually like her past coming back to haunt her. Which is what the spirit hints to be doing all along, just trying to make them pay for their past sins.
Okay, and obviously, another key description here is how she "awoke in the dark." What is a better scene for scariness other than "dark" and that she awoke, generally when this happens we come straight from sleep and are bewildered or unaware of our surroundings, so the reader gets a sense that she is being taken by surprise, or off guard. The darkness, implies a very eerie scene. Often times in the "dark" is when the jumpy stuff comes out, it is in literature, a time when we are most often scared or in danger, because we can't as easily see what is going on around us.
Next part, this is what really got me all into it, "I was terrified and paralyzed with fear, and abruptly..." The pace of the passage just picked up a lot for me, and i fell into it, i was completely absorbed into her fear. The idea that she was paralyzed it just emphasises her lack of control and when I get scared, that's also what i do just in that i freeze, you can't do anything, simply wait and hope for the best. That's a terrible feeling to experience and to read as well. And I just connected very completely to it.
So overall, i could go deeper into it, but i think i did a good job :)
But the overall effect of this passage is that, as a reader i connected. Though this is a very fictional situation- i still felt like i could easily be going through this because the emotions and actions are so real, i can feel my braid getting twisted. I thought the author just did a very good job with that aspect of it all.
So, here is a part from the novel that i thought was a little chilling, I"m going to share it with you *yay!* and tell you why i think it's scarrrry.
"I awoke in the dark to the distinct sounds of lips, smacking near my ear, and from the foot of my bed came a gulping sound, as if some human being were gasping for air. I was terrified and paralyzed with fear, and abruptly my quilt was ripped off my body and my braid twisted from behind and pulled so hard my head was raised with a painful jerk off the bed."
Okay, so first off the imagery, "lips, smacking" I got an immediate image with this description. I actually took it very literally, and saw an image of someone, or thing, right next to her, and that's chilling. It's there but yet she can't see it or stop it, complete loss of control, like i talked about earlier. The image is clear, brief, and yet very strong. Also there is this back story about a little slave on the farm that she used to play with, and one day as punishment for sneaking extra food, she is forced to shove cotton into her mouth, and that is the sound she makes. So really, though unknown to Betsy, this is actually like her past coming back to haunt her. Which is what the spirit hints to be doing all along, just trying to make them pay for their past sins.
Okay, and obviously, another key description here is how she "awoke in the dark." What is a better scene for scariness other than "dark" and that she awoke, generally when this happens we come straight from sleep and are bewildered or unaware of our surroundings, so the reader gets a sense that she is being taken by surprise, or off guard. The darkness, implies a very eerie scene. Often times in the "dark" is when the jumpy stuff comes out, it is in literature, a time when we are most often scared or in danger, because we can't as easily see what is going on around us.
Next part, this is what really got me all into it, "I was terrified and paralyzed with fear, and abruptly..." The pace of the passage just picked up a lot for me, and i fell into it, i was completely absorbed into her fear. The idea that she was paralyzed it just emphasises her lack of control and when I get scared, that's also what i do just in that i freeze, you can't do anything, simply wait and hope for the best. That's a terrible feeling to experience and to read as well. And I just connected very completely to it.
So overall, i could go deeper into it, but i think i did a good job :)
But the overall effect of this passage is that, as a reader i connected. Though this is a very fictional situation- i still felt like i could easily be going through this because the emotions and actions are so real, i can feel my braid getting twisted. I thought the author just did a very good job with that aspect of it all.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Update
So here is another post on the "All that Lives" novel I have read. So as I said in the last post, at a certain point in the novel the story line gets to be really boring and as a reader I am no longer chilled by the prospect of picking it up at night. So what i want to look at is why this happened, I mean after all the first half of this book was really chilling, it caught me up and made me dig deep under the covers, so what happened that by the end all i wanted to do was finish it?!
Well the first thing is that it no longer had that feeling of surprise i talked about earlier in my last blog. It was like every character in the book simply just settled into their role. At night the spirit would come to the house, the family would get scared, they would crowd together, wait out the night, wake up it'd all be over, and then go on with their lives, to start it up all over again the next night. My issue with this, is not about her writing, or the circumstances, because her style and method were all chilling, just as in the beginning, she knew how to capture a reader into the moment all right. The problem arose when it became regular, there was no longer anything to look forward to, as a reader I knew that the spirit would come and torture them. Not Scary. But as much as i didn't like it, looking on it now, I'm happy it happened, because it helped to show me what can make books not scary-therefore emphasizing what does make a story scary for me. The jumpy ahh! moments come from us not knowing what to expect. And even in our daily lives, that's one of the things that really scares most people, because the moment where they can't control what is going on around them anymore is the moment where they become scared that they have lost control of their own lives, and they will wither away into some lost part of themselves. So all horror writers do it take this everyday worry of losing control of your mind/situation and twist it around and pump some adrenaline into you.
And also,there is the fact, that this "spirit" thing comes to life. She allows for it to learn human speech, in fact, because it is a spirit, in the book its actually all knowing kind of. it's like the idea that once we 'move on' the world is opened up to eternally. But anyway, it comes to life and can now fully interact with the family whenever it wants...okay getting good right? No. The author completely takes advantage of it, and abuses her creative authority. The ghost pretty much becomes part of the family. It helps the family, but hates the father, and tortures them for it, but really it
loves this family. What happened here? Scary much? No! There is nothing unknown about it anymore, it's become commonplace, as in like, well if we can't get rid of the spirit we might as well be nice to it, sort of idea, and at this point, the novel totally went downhill for me. Okay, that was a little biased, sorry for my smashing of the book. anyway, looking at it objectively again, What happened here? What the author did was take a scary situation and in attempt to increase it and kind of make it envelop their everyday lives, in a you can't escape me kind of way, she tries to work with the idea of still losing control over something and being a t the mercy of another.
So, through all of it's faults--what did i learn from this book? A good scary book, not only catches the reader up and has all those scary elements to it, but it takes what we know and throws it out the window, even the reader can't control the situation, I want to put down the book and come up with my own ending-but i still keep reading. It's an everyday fear of loss of control or the unknown and magnify it to a point where this seems as if it will never end, as if it could happen to you just that moment! What makes a lame scary novel? When the scariness of the situation is replaced with a feeling of honestly? yeah right this could never happen.
So for authors everywhere, the everyday is where you start but by making it too disbelievingly, you can lose a reader as they begin to see the reality and logic behind the situation. :(
Well the first thing is that it no longer had that feeling of surprise i talked about earlier in my last blog. It was like every character in the book simply just settled into their role. At night the spirit would come to the house, the family would get scared, they would crowd together, wait out the night, wake up it'd all be over, and then go on with their lives, to start it up all over again the next night. My issue with this, is not about her writing, or the circumstances, because her style and method were all chilling, just as in the beginning, she knew how to capture a reader into the moment all right. The problem arose when it became regular, there was no longer anything to look forward to, as a reader I knew that the spirit would come and torture them. Not Scary. But as much as i didn't like it, looking on it now, I'm happy it happened, because it helped to show me what can make books not scary-therefore emphasizing what does make a story scary for me. The jumpy ahh! moments come from us not knowing what to expect. And even in our daily lives, that's one of the things that really scares most people, because the moment where they can't control what is going on around them anymore is the moment where they become scared that they have lost control of their own lives, and they will wither away into some lost part of themselves. So all horror writers do it take this everyday worry of losing control of your mind/situation and twist it around and pump some adrenaline into you.
And also,there is the fact, that this "spirit" thing comes to life. She allows for it to learn human speech, in fact, because it is a spirit, in the book its actually all knowing kind of. it's like the idea that once we 'move on' the world is opened up to eternally. But anyway, it comes to life and can now fully interact with the family whenever it wants...okay getting good right? No. The author completely takes advantage of it, and abuses her creative authority. The ghost pretty much becomes part of the family. It helps the family, but hates the father, and tortures them for it, but really it
loves this family. What happened here? Scary much? No! There is nothing unknown about it anymore, it's become commonplace, as in like, well if we can't get rid of the spirit we might as well be nice to it, sort of idea, and at this point, the novel totally went downhill for me. Okay, that was a little biased, sorry for my smashing of the book. anyway, looking at it objectively again, What happened here? What the author did was take a scary situation and in attempt to increase it and kind of make it envelop their everyday lives, in a you can't escape me kind of way, she tries to work with the idea of still losing control over something and being a t the mercy of another.
So, through all of it's faults--what did i learn from this book? A good scary book, not only catches the reader up and has all those scary elements to it, but it takes what we know and throws it out the window, even the reader can't control the situation, I want to put down the book and come up with my own ending-but i still keep reading. It's an everyday fear of loss of control or the unknown and magnify it to a point where this seems as if it will never end, as if it could happen to you just that moment! What makes a lame scary novel? When the scariness of the situation is replaced with a feeling of honestly? yeah right this could never happen.
So for authors everywhere, the everyday is where you start but by making it too disbelievingly, you can lose a reader as they begin to see the reality and logic behind the situation. :(
Monday, February 25, 2008
Getting to It
Okay, so I'm gunna do something a little different, yay. I'm actually stealing this from Adrian,
I'm making a list, I decided that maybe this will help make my ideas a little clearer.
How Sanders-Self makes this story Scary:
I'm making a list, I decided that maybe this will help make my ideas a little clearer.
How Sanders-Self makes this story Scary:
- The family she chooses to follow, is completely normal, there is nothing special about them for this time period. They love each other and only care about their crops and maintaining their image to their neighbors.
- The spirit, or being as she calls it, remains very mysterious. Through the beginning of the haunt, we know nothing of it, and it's visits are unexpected and unnerving-it comes and then goes without warning, because it is so unpredictable that just heightens our fear. Things that we can't control or escape are things that will spook every time.
- Her attempt to make the being even scarier by giving it the ability to think like a human and control their lives is "scary" in essence, *though in the book she kind of failed, just made it cheesy*because again, it takes away any power the family has, the fact that they are defenseless and at the mercy of things we can't understand is not funny.
For many, the spirit represents the unknown, it seems to have no purpose or end in sight, so for a reader this powerlessness of a usually steady and controlled family, makes it seem so real, so much like, wow this could happen, i could see this happening to people just like me. Heightening our fear.
How it compares to the "Shining":
- Takes the unknown and integrates it with the everyday-normal, average families turning against each other and destroying themselves as a result of their powerlessness.
- The reader, for the most part, can't always see what's haunting the family, the spooky parts are unexpected-element of surprise- and therefore we feel just as surrounded and trapped in the moment as the reader.
So far as I can tell, to wrap this up, the two books are scary because they deal with the untraceable in our everyday lives, these situations and people make readers feel like this is something that could happen to you. And also because the authors have the ability of keeping the reader jumping and guessing, the minute the reader suspects what is going on the scary of the novel is lost.
Just to my central question-why do we like being scared *and how, is above* i think, just from reading these two so far its almost as if we are confronting the fears in us by reading, and generally when you live through your fears you will come out not fearing it anymore.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
