The Lottery and Other Stories (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
'The Lottery', one of the most terrifying stories written in the twentieth century, created a sensation when it was published in 1948. Today it is considered a classic work of short fiction, remarkable for its combination of subtle suspense and pitch-perfect descriptions of both the chilling and the mundane. This collection, the only one to appear during Shirley Jackson's lifetime, unites 'The Lottery' with twenty-four equally unusual stories.
About the Author
Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco in 1919. She first received wide critical acclaim for her short story 'The Lottery', which was published in 1948. Her novels - which include The Sundial, The Bird's Nest, Hangsaman, The Road through the Wall, We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House - are characterised by her use of realistic settings for tales that often involve elements of horror and the occult. Raising Demons and Life Among the Savages are her two works of nonfiction. Come Along With Me is a collection of stories, lectures, and part of the novel she was working on when she died in 1965.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
beautifully crafted,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Lottery and Other Stories (Paperback)
Don't expect these short stories to be strong on plot. That isn't what they're about. They do, however offer the reader a disturbing perspective into the lives of single, lonely people in a land of rented accommodation, young married women who are not quite at ease with their circumstances and individuals out of synch with society, who seem to grow increasingly alienated as each story progresses. Shirley Jackson's writing is beautifully crafted and she is a master when it comes to incorporating tension and unease into the narrative. Her skill lies in her ability to penetrate the minds and thought processes of her characters, their motives, prejudices and insecurities. Yes, "The Lottery" is one of the more terrifying tales of this collection, but "The Flower Garden", although more mundane, has its own unique horror. These tales inhabit a world where the commonplace ever threatens to take on a nightmare reality. Uncanny!
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Illuminating snapshots of life,
By Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Lottery (Paperback)
Many people are familiar with the story "The Lottery," but it is just one of many incredible vignettes of life filling this collection. It is hard to understand today why "The Lottery" originally provoked such a strong reaction, yet it still packs a punch for first-time readers. While it does have aspects of horror, the remaining stories are basically literary. "Flower Garden" and "After You, My Dear Alphonse" deal with racism and would seem to be pretty bold statements for the time period (the book was published in 1948); the latter story seems particularly groundbreaking because of the unusual perspective it provides. "Charles" is a humorous yet illuminating look at the behavior of children, while "Afternoon in Linen" is an important statement on why children sometimes behave as they do. Jackson is at her best when describing the disenchanted adult. The helplessness of women is an important theme in many stories; many of the women described here feel helpless and subservient to their husbands, their neighbors, and their community. "Elizabeth" is a fairly long study of how one woman's wishes and dreams remain unfulfilled in later life. The housewife in "Got a Letter From Jimmy" is thoroughly exasperated by her husband's feelings, and since she cannot speak her mind to him, she is forced to fantasize about killing him. In "The Villager" a woman spontaneously chooses to become someone else entirely for a few minutes, and most of Jackson's heroines spend much time contemplating what could have been. In "Of Course," the fact that a new family has a few unorthodox views builds an unbreachable wall between brand-new neighbors. The women in these stories are always wondering what other people think about them and worrying about what others will say about them. Even when a group of women try to do something good to help the less fortunate, it backfires on them in "Come Dance With Me in Ireland." When a female character vacations with her husband in New York in "Pillar of Salt," she soon becomes "lost," afraid, and desperate to return home. "Colloquy" is the shortest story in the collection, but its protagonist speaks for most of Jackson's female characters when she asks whether she alone or the whole world has gone insane. My favorite story here is "The Daemon Lover." Herein, Jackson offers one of the most poignant, touching looks at loneliness, desperation, and fragility I have ever read. In the story, we spend a day with the protagonist as she prepares for her wedding, having become engaged just the night before to a James Harris. It is a depressing yet beautiful story, and I actually rate it higher than "The Lottery." The character of James Harris actually flitters throughout several of these stories, a phantom of sorts haunting several of Jackson's more memorable female characters. Jackson deals with very serious subjects, and the illumination provided by her unusual perspectives on life is vivid and poignant. When addressing racism, she shows how even an individual with the best of intentions and good will can still represent an unfortunate racist attitude. In speaking to morality and social values, she shows how hard it can be for an individual to go against tradition and the community to do what is right. She offers powerful insights on child (and adult) psychology. Even the couple of stories I did not really "get" offered insight into the living of life. Readers should not expect a book of horror stories when they pick up this book. The stories can be maudlin and even depressing, but they are philosophical, psychological, and sociological rather than creepy or spooky.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Authors, never concern yourself with what Mum and Dad will think,
By
This review is from: The Lottery and Other Stories (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
The Lottery is one of 25 contemporary American short stories from the 1940's printed in this volume. When first published in The New Yorker, the story surprised both the author and the magazine's staff by causing shock and outrage. Subscriptions were cancelled, apologies demanded, and even Shirley Jackson's parents expressed the wish that she should write something more wholesome. The shock arose from a barbaric ancient practice being given a contemporary setting. With time, the outrage subsided, but throughout the rest of her life Shirley Jackson continued to receive requests for an explanation of what the story was about. It is to be hoped that she also received many letters of appreciation of the way in which she builds the story. Of the 3,377 words, none are spare, none lacking, and scarcely any are out of place; and it seems unlikely that many readers over the years will have done other than devour them all at a single sitting.Of the rest of the collection, some stories are more memorable than others. `My Life with R H Macy', `Flower Garden' and `Dorothy and my Grandmother and the Sailors' are among my favourites, but all are worth reading - even studying, by those concerned with style and the construction of short stories. All are set in 1940's America, mostly but not entirely New York or New England and, as with The Lottery, the denouement almost invariably comes as at least something of a surprise.
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