The thing I didn't immediately realize about Shirley Jackson on first reading is that most of her stories (including "The Lottery" and We Have Always Lived in the Castle) are set in Vermont... and after spending some time in Vermont myself, it was startling to come back to her work and realize just how evocative they are of the landscape and culture. I think you could set these stories anywhere, but there is something about them as written that is tied to a particular place in a particular time that Jackson was observing and commenting on as an outsider herself, and once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it.
My other Shirley Jackson-related whiplash: realizing that she was the author of "Charles", a humorous short story where nothing terrible happens that I had to read in middle school. Talk about range!
I also recommend The Haunting of Hill House, which also uses absence and negation to great effect, and has one of the eeriest and evocative openings of all time.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2023-10-27 02:02 pm (UTC)The thing I didn't immediately realize about Shirley Jackson on first reading is that most of her stories (including "The Lottery" and We Have Always Lived in the Castle) are set in Vermont... and after spending some time in Vermont myself, it was startling to come back to her work and realize just how evocative they are of the landscape and culture. I think you could set these stories anywhere, but there is something about them as written that is tied to a particular place in a particular time that Jackson was observing and commenting on as an outsider herself, and once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it.
My other Shirley Jackson-related whiplash: realizing that she was the author of "Charles", a humorous short story where nothing terrible happens that I had to read in middle school. Talk about range!
I also recommend The Haunting of Hill House, which also uses absence and negation to great effect, and has one of the eeriest and evocative openings of all time.