The Turn Of The Screw: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds And Sources, Essays In Criticism

James, Henry; Kimbrough, Robert (Editor)

ISBN 10: 0393096696 / ISBN 13: 9780393096699

Published by W W Norton & Co Inc, Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 1966

About this Item

3Rd Printing Of This Trade Paperback Edition. A Norton Critical Edition. Two Small Dimples On The Front Cover.

Seller Inventory # 025965

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Turn Of The Screw: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds And Sources, Essays In Criticism
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 1966
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393096696
• ISBN 13: 9780393096699
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature / Literary Criticism / Literary coll...

About this title

Synopsis

Henry James' short novels provide an overview of his entire career and serve as an excellent introduction to his singular art and imagination. This collection includes The Turn of the Screw, Daisy Miller, The Beast in the Jungle, An International Episode, The Aspern Papers and The Altar of the Dead. Major course adoption potential.

Review

The story starts conventionally enough with friends sharing ghost stories 'round the fire on Christmas Eve. One of the guests tells about a governess at a country house plagued by supernatural visitors. But in the hands of Henry James, the master of nuance, this little tale of terror is an exquisite gem of sexual and psychological ambiguity. Only the young governess can see the ghosts; only she suspects that the previous governess and her lover are controlling the two orphaned children (a girl and a boy) for some evil purpose. The household staff don't know what she's talking about, the children are evasive when questioned, and the master of the house (the children's uncle) is absent. Why does the young girl claim not to see a perfectly visible woman standing on the far side of the lake? Are the children being deceptive, or is the governess being paranoid? By leaving the questions unanswered, The Turn of Screw generates spine-tingling anxiety in its mesmerized readers.