Title: The Crucible
Author: Arthur Miller
Author: Arthur Miller
Original title: The Crucible
First published: 1953
Genre: Historical, Classic
Series: --
Publisher: Penguin
Format: Paperback
Pages: 143
Finished: 01/12/2020
Summary: The place is Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, an enclave of rigid piety huddled on the edge of a wilderness. Its inhabitants believe unquestioningly in their own sanctity. But in Arthur Miller's edgy masterpiece, that very belief will have poisonous consequences when a vengeful teenager accuses a rival of witchcraft-and then when those accusations multiply to consume the entire village.
First published: 1953
Genre: Historical, Classic
Series: --
Publisher: Penguin
Format: Paperback
Pages: 143
Finished: 01/12/2020
Summary: The place is Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, an enclave of rigid piety huddled on the edge of a wilderness. Its inhabitants believe unquestioningly in their own sanctity. But in Arthur Miller's edgy masterpiece, that very belief will have poisonous consequences when a vengeful teenager accuses a rival of witchcraft-and then when those accusations multiply to consume the entire village.
My thoughts: I have very little to say about this play. I didn't care for any of the characters, I was mildly interested in the storytelling, and I was overall not particularly entertained. Sure, it was interesting to learn more about what happened to cause the witch trials in Salem, but this format did not entice me. I wish the author had gone deeper into his comparison of the Salem witch trials and the hunt for communists in America in the 1950's, but alas, only a page or two were dedicated to the topic. Perhaps if he had revisited the comparison more throughout the novel, I would have found it more interesting. Instead, it was rather tedious to me and I got the characters slightly confused with each other. Despite the low number of pages, this book just went on and on forever. I'm happy to leave it behind.
Rating: 2,75/5
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My thoughts: I'm almost surprised to see this labelled as a horror novel on Goodreads, but when I think about it perhaps I shouldn't be. "The Fifth Child" is certainly an uncanny work of fiction, where we follow a mother and a family deteriorating and gradually dissolving. Harriet and David are greedy in their pursuit of creating a large family together and when they produce a fifth child despite the warnings given by their relatives, things start to go wrong. The child is like an alien to them, and one cannot help but feel slightly unsettled by the character. Most of all, Harriet was a frustrating character to follow, since she has so many opportunities throughout the novel to really change what is going on and repair the bonds broken in the family. Instead, she pours all her energy into this fifth child and neglects her four other children. All the time, I was hoping for Ben to exit their lives, but at the same time I understood why Harriet held on to him. She did what she thought was right, which was to keep Ben and try to raise him to be a functioning member of society. However, she failed and simultaneously let down the rest of her family as well. This story truly is a tragedy and Lessing wrote it well. It was a little bit too depressing for what I wanted to read at the time, and it put me in a bit of a sour mood. Overall, it's a good novel.
Rating: 3,25/5
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Title: The Fifth Child
Author: Doris Lessing
Original title: The Fifth Child
First published: 1988
Genre: Contemporary, Horror
Series: --
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Format: Paperback
Pages: 159
Finished: 31/12/2020
Summary: Four children, a beautiful old house, the love of relatives and friends, Harriet and David Lovatt’s life is a glorious hymn to domestic bliss and old-fashioned family values. But when their fifth child is born, a sickly and implacable shadow is cast over this tender idyll. Large and ugly, violent and uncontrollable, the infant Ben, ‘full of cold dislike’, tears at Harriet’s breast. Struggling to care for her new-born child, faced with a darkness and a strange defiance she has never known before, Harriet is deeply afraid of what, exactly, she has brought into the world…
First published: 1988
Genre: Contemporary, Horror
Series: --
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Format: Paperback
Pages: 159
Finished: 31/12/2020
Summary: Four children, a beautiful old house, the love of relatives and friends, Harriet and David Lovatt’s life is a glorious hymn to domestic bliss and old-fashioned family values. But when their fifth child is born, a sickly and implacable shadow is cast over this tender idyll. Large and ugly, violent and uncontrollable, the infant Ben, ‘full of cold dislike’, tears at Harriet’s breast. Struggling to care for her new-born child, faced with a darkness and a strange defiance she has never known before, Harriet is deeply afraid of what, exactly, she has brought into the world…
My thoughts: I'm almost surprised to see this labelled as a horror novel on Goodreads, but when I think about it perhaps I shouldn't be. "The Fifth Child" is certainly an uncanny work of fiction, where we follow a mother and a family deteriorating and gradually dissolving. Harriet and David are greedy in their pursuit of creating a large family together and when they produce a fifth child despite the warnings given by their relatives, things start to go wrong. The child is like an alien to them, and one cannot help but feel slightly unsettled by the character. Most of all, Harriet was a frustrating character to follow, since she has so many opportunities throughout the novel to really change what is going on and repair the bonds broken in the family. Instead, she pours all her energy into this fifth child and neglects her four other children. All the time, I was hoping for Ben to exit their lives, but at the same time I understood why Harriet held on to him. She did what she thought was right, which was to keep Ben and try to raise him to be a functioning member of society. However, she failed and simultaneously let down the rest of her family as well. This story truly is a tragedy and Lessing wrote it well. It was a little bit too depressing for what I wanted to read at the time, and it put me in a bit of a sour mood. Overall, it's a good novel.
Rating: 3,25/5
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Author: Susan Hill
Original title: The Woman in Black
First published: 1983
Genre: Horror, Gothic
Series: --
Publisher: Vintage
Format: Paperback
Pages: 200
Finished: 25/01/2021
Summary: Proud and solitary, Eel Marsh House surveys the windswept reaches of the salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the house's sole inhabitant, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. It is not until he glimpses a pale young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose.
First published: 1983
Genre: Horror, Gothic
Series: --
Publisher: Vintage
Format: Paperback
Pages: 200
Finished: 25/01/2021
Summary: Proud and solitary, Eel Marsh House surveys the windswept reaches of the salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the house's sole inhabitant, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. It is not until he glimpses a pale young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose.
My thoughts: I read this for a course in literary analysis in university. Despite not being a big fan of horror novels or movies, for the pure reason that they have little effect on me, I did quite enjoy this book. The writing was atmospheric and brilliantly descriptive and the mystery was suitably eerie. I became very interested in finding out how the story would evolve and end. The resolution was both satisfactory and the opposite. Spoiler alert (mark the following white text to read it): once Kipps was struck by the revenge of the woman in black, I had thought he'd try to finally return to Eel Marsh House and banish the ghosts for good so that the same could not happen to others. So, did I find it spooky? Was I creeped out? I cannot say I was frightened by this story. It was, as I said, fairly eerie, but it did not have me at the edge of my seat. I would have wished for more dangerous encounters, more supernatural instances, and perhaps even a little gore. Though in fairness, I do not know if such elements, either, could have stirred horror in me. Overall, I appreciated the writing style and the landscapes that Hill created in this novel. I wouldn't mind reading it again for an essay.
Rating: 3,5/5
