We Have Always Lived in the Castle

DON'T................POST....................SPOILERS!!!! FOR TH

DON'T................POST....................SPOILERS!!!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHAT IS WRONG WITH SOME PEOPLE??!!!!

6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

A Work of Literary Magic

I am a voracious reader, and was never able to choose a single 'favorite' book until I read 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle.' I was immediately captivated by the ethereal narrative of the haunted and haunting Mary Katherine Blackwood, and the eccentricities of Constance and Uncle Julian add depth, humour, and sorrow to the book. Mary Katherine's perspective makes Cousin Charles a thoroughly despicable and intrusive presence, and it is enjoyable to speculate on how she might have dealt with him had circumstances not thankfully driven him away. 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' is a bewitching novel.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

an outstanding psychological novel

jackson skillfully manipulates the readers by bringing them into the mindset of merricat, making them realize everything isn't always black and white. a truly startling voyag einto a disturbed mind that leaves no reader unaffected.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

This woman is a genius

Jackson naturally imbues seemingly normal events with a pervasive terror that makes it impossible to put her book down until you've fit all the pieces together to view the rich and horrible story her words paint.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Another look into craziness

A masterful tale of three family members living in isolation after one of the members has poisoned the rest of the family. An unusual look into mental illness. I enjoyed the story but it did not have near the impact on me as The Lottery. Nevertheless, a great story.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Friends

I need a lend me friend:(

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

This book was bad!!!!

the book had no exciting parts and it just kept going on about how merricat is a killer. i mean you already know who it is so it is not that surprising.

2 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

FA Fascinating

I haven't read a foray into the mind of a mentally disturbed character this detailed and flawless since The Sound and the Fury. Jackson's hand is nearly invisible and if read in one sitting, it's quite easy to forget that the narrator isn't all there due to an unusual childhood (to say the least).

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good Read

I really liked this book. It was fast moving, nicely plotted. If you have read and liked any other books by this author, you will enjoy this one too.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great reading of a fascinating book

Bernadette Dunne does a great job of bringing Shirley Jackson's last novel to life. A strange, disturbing tale of a broken family and the terrible consequences of a community's failure to forgive the past. Definitely worth a listen.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

It was just okay...

*SPOILER ALERT*

This book was quite short, but it definitely had an impact. The characters are so amazing! I love how odd and superstitious Merricat is and I really felt her emotions flood into me as I read how much she disliked Charles. Some of the events I didn't see coming. But when Merricat had said she would put death in everyone's food and watch them die, I had really hoped to see her go through with that plan. When she didn't, I wasn't too surprised, the book is short, and there wasn't much time left for her to kill people at the rate the book was going. I hope my eagerness for her to kill people doesn't come across as creepy. But this book is one of my favorites now, as much as I didn't love the ending.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Twisted But Intriguing.

As are all stories by Shirley Jackson, this book is one that has a very unique twist in the plot. This is certainly a book that will keep you wanting to know what happens next. It is also a story that will keep you thinking. Clues and omens are very significant in this piece of literature. These omens intrigue the reader at first and then result in an "Ah Ha!" moment later on in the story. Also, there are many opportunities to explore different "what ifs" and form your own opinion on certain backgrounds. Although maybe not a book for the permanent library, it is a quick read that I would recommend reading once.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Discovering A New (Old) Author

I love Shirley Jackson's writing style. I read The Lottery years ago and came across it again on the internet. After re-reading the story, I thought it would be interesting to read something else by Ms.Jackson. She did not disappoint. Although I suspected the identity of the true murderer, I love the way she develped the characters and the storyline. I passed this along to a friend who had never heard of Ms.Jackson~ she really emjoyed the story too. Quite an unconventional ending.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good book!

I liked this - kind of weird in places, but it was a good book!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Dizzying Read That Pulled Me In.....

This book was not what I expected and even more, strangely thrilling, eerie and chilling, the story takes twists and turns that had me unable to stop turning the pages, a captive to this unexpected and rather brilliant story....

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

High School Reading With A Twist

You pick up the book and it looks like a high school reading list book.' You begin to read it, and your initial thoughts are amplified. But then, the twist. You are looking into the lives of a family which puts the dys in dysfunctional. One person has Alzheimers, another person suffers from Agoraphobia, a third person is an eighteen year old with the mind of an eleven year old, and the last family member has waited to weasel in with intentions of corruption and thievery, and ... one of these individuals is the mass murderer of seven people in their own family.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

It is a tale of true terror

I think you really have to just set yourself in the shoes of mary katherine, this woman although girl like truly is insane her habits have no bounderies. Spoiled rich kid suffering from middle child sindrom merricat brings terror alive with her twisted reality

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Amazing Work- Jackson's best

This strange tale was hard to put down. The awkward behavior of the characters questions their sanity. Merricat, though in her twenties, acts and is spoken to like a child. The line, 'I'm going to put death in all their food and watch them die.....the way I did before,' was frightful and insane, yet readers cannot help love the main characters and feel sorry for their positon in society.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What was she thinking?!

This book was very...um...crazy. All I can say is that all the people were insane. Merricat poisons her family and no one seems to care. I mean she wants to live on the moon, but won't leave the house. And one more thing...hello?...is there a plot in there?!

1 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

One of my book resolutions this year was to read and review more

One of my book resolutions this year was to read and review more classics.  I thought I would start off the year with a book that's had a big resurgence lately.  Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a twisted, quirky little book that raises more questions than it answers.  What is normal? Who is the villain? How do we, as a society, create the very monsters we fear?




The story is told from the perspective of 18 year old Mary Katherine Blackwood (Merricat), a mentally unstable but interesting girl who lives with her older sister and their aging uncle in a huge house outside of a small village.  Merricat's sister, Constance, was accused of poisoning the rest of the family several years before but acquitted.  Still, the town reviles the Blackwoods and abuses them to the point that Constance refuses to leave home.  This leaves Merricat in charge of anything that involves going out in public and fuels her deep-seeded hatred of the villagers.  Even with all of the turmoil the Blackwoods love each other and are happy with their lives and their home until their cousin Charles shows up and starts to take over.




This book is really special because it takes the classic idea of a village plagued by a villainous family and reverses the roles.  With this being said, the Blackwoods are not at all canonized in the book.  Rather, they are shown for what they are: an unstable, dysfunctional and most-likely homicidal group of social outcasts.  Still, the "normal" townspeople are far more dangerous and cruel.




This book was full of quirk and dark humor, which I loved.  I really appreciated the care the author took with the main characters.  They felt like very realistic people and that made the events of the book even crazier.  In a way this book was charming.  While it was very strange, it had comfortable and familiar feel, much (I would imagine) like the Blackwood's home.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun way to start getting into more classics.