5 bright and glowing stars!

There are twenty-five short stories in this collection. When I have more time, I’ll probably review each of them in more detail, but right now, I want to give credit to Shirley Jackson’s talent at storytelling, because all of these stories are incredible to read.

First of all, what strike me the most about this group of stories is the variety among them. You get different characters, plots, conflicts and so on. And I believe it speaks millions to Shirley Jackson’s storytelling. It is sometimes too easy to keep writing the same genre over and over. Or to use over and over the same topics one is comfortable with. The danger here could be that the writer’s work is all over the place.

This is not the case with Mrs. Jackson. While her stories are all very different, they share something. They all appear to be set in a place that could be our own world. The stories, the conflicts are indeed those of human nature. But she appears to be dealing here with the inner darkness that’s within people.

In a few of the stories we get to see racism, and in others there it is jealousy and the desire to see others being humiliated. I had shivers running down my spine when I was reading one story called “Charlie”,

in which a girl talks about Charlie, who her mother supposes is one of her classmates. Only the girls’ mother discovers that there is no Charlie in her daughter’s class

. That’s a true terrifying

(because children are inherently creepy)

. The interesting thing is that in every case, the dark element is not apparent at first reading. It kind of sweeps through the sentences, and when you finally read it, you find yourself accepting it as normal.

I don’t really know what else I can say about this collection. It is an amazing group of short stories, easy and fun reads. It allows for a lot of thought and reflection on the type of world we want to live in. I enjoyed it a lot, and I’d gladly recommend it to anyone. Now I want to read more of Shirley Jackson’s work (which probably tells that I loved this book).

“The Lottery”

This is a masterful short story. I won’t tell the plot because I don’t wish to spoil the story to anyone wishing to read. But I’ll say that the way in which the story develops and unfolds is amazing. At first, we don’t really know what the lottery is about, but yet we feel there’s something awkward in the air. Most of the characters don’t appear to be very comfortable about the situation.

And nothing is said about the prize. It bothered me quite a bit while reading, but in the end I realized why it was so. It wasn't pretty, if you want to know.

The story is full of little hints that only appear to fit in the big picture after reading it. I’ve read it a few times now, and I’m still impressed that I missed the whole thing the first time.
Yes, Shirley Jackson is pretty amazing.