What's so great about The Haunting of Hill House?

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Willow Talks Books

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 67

@groofay 3 ай бұрын

What's so great about The Haunting of Hill House? What ISN'T great about it?

@johnsmith8906 3 ай бұрын

I love this book so much. One part that always gets me is when it's remarked that the kitchen has 6 exits, one in nearly every direction. Someone says something like: "What does Mrs Dudley meet in her kitchen that she felt the need for 6 exits?"

@ChicaneryBear 3 ай бұрын

The secret of Hill House? That's right! Lesbianism.

@sotiredlol 16 күн бұрын

i was reading "after sappho" at the same time as haunting of hill house and thought it was just me wanting more gay LOL

@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944 17 күн бұрын

I just discovered your channel. "The Haunting of Hill House" was published the year I was born. I was introduced to the story in Robert Wise's 1963 movie, "The Haunting" when I was around 10 years old, and I immediately got a copy out of the library to read the book for myself. I was transfixed! As a young gay kid growing up in New York City, I picked up on the queer subtext immediately. To me, it wasn't subtext at all; it was blatant. I knew many women like Theo and Eleanor. I was fascinated with the architecture of Hill House: no right angles, a very complex floor plan, bizarre decor, the library in the tower with its rickety staircase, and everything being just a bit off kilter. I tried to replicate the floor plan from Jackson's description, but I was never able to work it out, even after working decades professionally in the field of architectural history. Even now I dream about it frequently. I see Hill House as a kind of metaphor for the human psyche, with my constant attempts to make sense of it akin to all of us trying to make sense of our own psyches. We all come up with stories to make sense of our lives and motivations, but they never quite match. Our own identities are ultimately a great Mystery. We cannot rationally make sense of it, but out of all this tension and confusion we turn out the most creative works of art in any medium. Then, out of the right angles, tasteful decor, good proportions, and sense of order, we discover those forgotten places that don't conform, with odd angles, doors that close themselves, and magnificent staircases that collapse under our feet. I loved Mike Flanagan's adaptation of the book. It's a completely different story, but it somehow manages to capture the creepiness of Jackson's book. Robert Wise's movie, "The Haunting" is also excellent and much closer to Jackson's book than the Flanagan series. I highly recommend it.

@angelwalker979 3 ай бұрын

'Journey's end in lovers meeting.'

@badfaith4u 3 ай бұрын

I don't like horror but I loved The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, and The Fall of the House of Usher. I completely binged them. Mike Flanagan is a genius.

@rachel1021 3 ай бұрын

Shirley Jackson is one of my most favorite writers. She truly was brilliant. 💚

@Zoe_Coles 3 ай бұрын

The glasses chain and Daria shirt is FANTASTIC!!

@WillowTalksBooks 3 ай бұрын

Thank you 🥹🖤

@mikedahuman 2 ай бұрын

Its nice to know that its not just my cats who are obsessed with chewing the corners of my books off the moment I leave my bedroom. I have a 1,400 page complete and uncut hardcover edition of Stephen Kings The Stand that cost $80, the first time i left them alone in my room with it on my desk, they had l chewed both corners on the cover.

@gospelflare 2 ай бұрын

the scariest thing about the haunting of hill house for me was getting read to filth by shirley jackson 30+ years before i was born. nell is just me with a worse relationship with her family. kinda terrifying knowing i'd be extremely susceptible to the influence of a haunted house.

@JoyfulOrb 2 ай бұрын

Damn, I relate to Nell for the anxiety and PTSD from abuse, and I'm so sorry you have a rougher time at home. I hope you aren't locked in a cowshed, honestly!

@ReadingNymph 3 ай бұрын

Im reading The Haunting of Hill House on Saturday, I'm even more excited now!

@glizzymcguire7 3 ай бұрын

I've watched so many videos on THOHH (book) and THOHH (series) but nothing hits quite as deep as your videos!! So happy you posted :) Also, I'm loving your short stories in your new book. Keep at it! ✴

@WillowTalksBooks 3 ай бұрын

Thank you so much!

@bjorndelima 3 ай бұрын

To me the greatest thing about it is that it led me to We have always lived in the castle :)

@esquaredreader 3 ай бұрын

My absolute favorite book. I read it every October. Love me some Shirley.

@gloria7190 3 ай бұрын

Wow! I had this book sitting on my bookshelf for years and I think you just convinced me to finally read it

@GentleReader01 3 ай бұрын

Theo’s sexuality is *just* beneath the surface, as in that argument with her partner described early on. I have zero doubts about Jackson’s intent. By the way, the women’s use of juvenile mannerisms was basically a pop culture fad of the time. There are brief mentions of it by annoyed Beat guys who wanted women paying attention to them, not entertaining each other.

@bobbykeniston7240 3 ай бұрын

I read this for the first time last October, and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. I guess the reason it was such a great read for me can be summed up in the last bit of my goodreads review: In many ways, Jackson shows us that what really haunts us all is the prospect of loneliness. Of never being missed. Of never fitting in.

@remingtongraves 3 ай бұрын

Ooo, just added it to my Amazon book wish list. Thank you. I’ve never read it but I watched the Mike Flanagan show. I loved it. I actually watched it a couple months after my sister died and it truly helped with the grieving process. I hadn’t been able to really cry because I had too many responsibilities and my mind was on overdrive at the time. But I watched that show and I just fell apart, especially during the scene where Theo explains to Shirley why she was touching her husband. So far everything Flanagan has made for Netflix has been absolutely exquisite. - Also, another great example of a cover song that forms it’s own identify from the original is Tori Amos’ 1992 cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Green Spirit.” That song must have sounded like magick then when covers like these weren’t commonplace like they are now. Check it out if you haven’t!

@vivianarmstrong3329 2 ай бұрын

The Haunting of Hill House is one of my all time favorite stories.

@LiteraryStoner 3 ай бұрын

I've read and loved The Haunting of Hill House and We've Always Lived in the Castle. I need to read more by her. I haven't watched any tv show or movie adaptation yet though.

@AshDaniWrites 3 ай бұрын

I just started this book yesterday! Can't wait to finish it and then come back to this video!!

@ericneff9908 3 ай бұрын

Just finished this book and popped on YT to find some insight into what I just experienced. Delighted to find your channel. In ALL of its content and messaging. Cheers!

@WillowTalksBooks 3 ай бұрын

Good timing!

@EmlynBoyle 3 ай бұрын

While I’ve certainly seen both the classic film and MF show (let’s not mention the 90s movie), I’ve only ever flirted with the idea of reading the original book (though that opening description is burned into my brain). Now you’ve persuaded me to check out the novel, so thanks! 🙏🏻

@Nixx0912 3 ай бұрын

Same for me. The movie really scared me (the 90ties one made me laugh, it was so bad) it was so well done. The series was great too but more straightforward with the scares, but it's impressive to get the viewer so uncomfortable just using the sound and light without showing anything explicitly.

@ZosoLU 3 ай бұрын

I read this book originally as a jaded early 20-something looking for explicit scares, and was left wanting. Having watched the classic film since, I started latching onto Eleanor and appreciating her character. I understood the loneliness, the self-doubt, the feeling of hopeless inadequacy. (Part of this comes as being an adopted aging trans egg whose family now ignores.) Nell just wants somewhere to belong. She wants some purpose and acceptance. Holy cow, can we all understand that? I need to go back to this book again and revisit it without the jump scare expectations. And for the writing. Has an author EVER written a better first paragraph? Ever?

@danielaweberdani 3 ай бұрын

having loved everything I've ever read by shirley, I don't know what I was waiting for to read this, maybe an impeccable video about it? thanks. ⚘

@barbaralemon4170 3 ай бұрын

Another terrific insightful review. Thank you!

@Amoscrts 3 ай бұрын

I love your Daria shirt!

@Nixx0912 3 ай бұрын

Mike Flanagan is great, I haven't found anything by him that I would consider bad. Have you seen the orginal movie though? It's very creepy and atmospherique, I would recommend it for the spooky season.

@Arca30 Ай бұрын

I expected more of this book to be honest, but I’ll re-read it eventually. Thank you ❤

@rllysilli 25 күн бұрын

really dig this analysis! trying to get back into fiction books and just finished hill house, great read. you make a lot of great points of things that went over my head! the idea of this story being a bit dated in the sense it helped carve a path for horror going forward, along with the aspects of femininity made for a really unique story with such interesting perspectives. now that I think of it, it was reminding me of The Bell Jar at times with the way it presented ideas or themes. thanks for putting this together! also A+ Daria shirt

@julietijerina8176 3 ай бұрын

Can someone explain what the deal is with the picnic? I loved this book except this one scene where something actually scary should be happening, but it's the exact opposite. Is this a metaphor for self-sabotage when something good happens to us? I had absolutely no idea what the hell is supposed to be going on here.

@WillowTalksBooks 3 ай бұрын

I actually got confused by the picnic as well. It felt shoehorned in for the sake of strangeness. I can’t figure out the meaning behind it

@katiejlumsden 3 ай бұрын

Such a wonderful book 🥰

@TonyB-u1y 3 ай бұрын

I loved reading this book but it did confused me! So thanks for this great review.

@jamieserrano827 3 ай бұрын

I don’t know when I think of Hillhouse I think of some Gothic estate somewhere remote in New England that’s The vibes I get from Hill House

@MsPixieD 3 ай бұрын

Shirley Jackson is one of those authors (like Daphne du Maurier) that I got queer vibes from, then was surprised to find out they were long-term married with a bunch of kids. (Not that those things were mutually exclusive.) I didn't remember the house as being locationless! Totally felt it was New England, perhaps Shirley's own house, definitely near the "castle" of her other book, or perhaps near the Dunwich horror house. When listening to your review, about how Nell is haunted by Hill House, I immediately thought *she is also haunting* the house/ the house and people staying there are haunted *by her*. That would be the ironic, layered meaning to the title. Right now I'm reading a non-fiction book about the Barbizon for this month's library book club. The author spends several chapters focusing on the pressures of 1950s women to be wives and mothers and nothing else. This topic is therefore up for me right now. Those women were constantly told to just jettison their college education, intelligence, ambition, career aspirations, and definitely any non-breeder sexual identity of any kind. Through that lens, Theo (a boy's name) has to escape that house, those restrictions, and can be read as queer-coded or as representing any "masculine" aspirations. I was going to say "had it pounded into them," which is probably good word choice because the whole zeitgeist was rapey in so many ways. And there's the word geist, like ghost, like there's haunting in every aspect of the 50s experience. In the classic psychoanalytic mode of things that are repressed clawing their way back into consciousness and showing up weird (uncanny), it's no wonder the female experience is resonating so keenly for you in this book.

@spiritsage3921 3 ай бұрын

Your shirt! I love Daria so much ❤

@SandrineDamfino 3 ай бұрын

You totally have convinced me to give this book another chance. It's one I had started reading two years ago and did not finish. I blame myself entirely and not Shirley Jackson's talent, or lack thereof, because I was so silly as to make the mistake of reading The Haunting of Hill House right after finishing Henry James' Turn of the Screw (which I loved so very much!!) I feel like I should have given it some time and given a chance to THOHH and allow it to infuse my mind with its own atmosphere and charm, and not exist in my brain only by comparison with Henry James's masterpiece. I get this issue sometimes when I read two novels in a row that belong in the same genre or share similar elements. Especially when one has made a huge impression on me. It sort of outshines anything I pick up next. Probably a side effect of book hangover. Idk if I'm making sense 😅 Totally loved Mike Flanagan's work on THOHH, Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and,omg, I have watched The Fall of The House of Usher on a loop about 5 times in a row because I couldn't get enough of it. This guy is talented, he truly captures the spirit of the books he adapts. Definitely going back to Shirley Jackson and Hill House, adding the book to my reading schedule. Thanks Willow, I really love your videos, and especially I have a soft spot for your reviews of classics. ❤

@constancecampbell4610 3 ай бұрын

Brilliant discussion. One of my favorites. I would disagree with just one small thing, just slightly. You mentioned that all the haunting takes place at night. I clearly remember reading this the first time in broad daylight and getting super spooked by a scene in the garden, also in broad daylight. Still makes me laugh at my young self. Lol.

@literarylove123 3 ай бұрын

Fantastic analysis!

@rociomiranda5684 2 ай бұрын

Theo is gay. It's implied, but quite clear, I think. And Eleanor hesitates between her attraction to both Theo and Luke.

@haleyr3028 2 ай бұрын

Sounds like a discussion on trauma and relationships by your description; "wants a space of her own, even if it is haunted...". Edit: added it to my very long TBR list.

@davebrzeski 3 ай бұрын

Sadly, when one hears that the manufacturer is offering £100 off, one pretty much knows that one still can't afford it. 😢 I almost forgot... The Haunting of Hill House is one of my favourite books, and must never be allowed to be forgotten about. However, I have to confess that I bailed on the TV show after just 2 episodes.

@spiritsage3921 3 ай бұрын

I totally agree. It’s an amazing book.

@tyghe_bright 3 ай бұрын

Mary W. has great taste in books! 🐈‍⬛

@Gen-yh1jz 3 ай бұрын

It is on my TBR.

@zachreads 3 ай бұрын

Have you read The Sundial by Shirley Jackson? I have read and loved almost all of her books but The Sundial was my most recent and by far least favorite. It's kind of her first attempt at We Have always lived in the castle but much much worse.

@Nagchampa765 3 ай бұрын

Willow! Idk if you listen to audiobooks but if you do I would love to see an audiobook rec list from you! All the ones I’ve found, the people making it have very different taste than me and I end up not loving them too much 😭