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The Intoxicated
A terrifying short story from Shirley Jackson, the master of the macabre tale.
Shirley Jackson's chilling tales of creeping unease and random cruelty have the power to unsettle and terrify unlike any other. When her story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail. It became known as one of the greatest short stories ever written. Have you read her yet?
'Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written' Donna Tartt
'An amazing writer ... if you haven't read any of her short stories ... you have missed out on something marvellous' Neil Gaiman
'Her stories are stunning, timeless - as relevant and terrifying now as when they were first published ... 'The Lottery' is so much an icon in the history of the American short story that one could argue it has moved from the canon of American twentieth-century fiction directly into the American psyche, our collective unconscious' A. M. Homes
Shirley Jackson was born in California in 1916. When her short story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail; it has since become one of the greatest American stories of all time. Her first novel, The Road Through the Wall, was published in the same year and was followed by five more: Hangsaman, The Bird's Nest, The Sundial, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, widely seen as her masterpiece. Shirley Jackson died in her sleep at the age of 48.
11 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1949
6 people are currently reading
354 people want to read
About the author
Shirley Jackson
340 books11.3k followersShirley Jackson was an influential American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years. She has influenced such writers as Stephen King, Nigel Kneale, and Richard Matheson.
She is best known for her dystopian short story, "The Lottery" (1948), which suggests there is a deeply unsettling underside to bucolic, smalltown America. In her critical biography of Shirley Jackson, Lenemaja Friedman notes that when Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery" was published in the June 28, 1948, issue of The New Yorker, it received a response that "no New Yorker story had ever received." Hundreds of letters poured in that were characterized by, as Jackson put it, "bewilderment, speculation and old-fashioned abuse."
Jackson's husband, the literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, wrote in his preface to a posthumous anthology of her work that "she consistently refused to be interviewed, to explain or promote her work in any fashion, or to take public stands and be the pundit of the Sunday supplements. She believed that her books would speak for her clearly enough over the years." Hyman insisted the darker aspects of Jackson's works were not, as some critics claimed, the product of "personal, even neurotic, fantasies", but that Jackson intended, as "a sensitive and faithful anatomy of our times, fitting symbols for our distressing world of the concentration camp and the Bomb", to mirror humanity's Cold War-era fears. Jackson may even have taken pleasure in the subversive impact of her work, as revealed by Hyman's statement that she "was always proud that the Union of South Africa banned The Lottery', and she felt that they at least understood the story".
In 1965, Jackson died of heart failure in her sleep, at her home in North Bennington Vermont, at the age of 48.
She is best known for her dystopian short story, "The Lottery" (1948), which suggests there is a deeply unsettling underside to bucolic, smalltown America. In her critical biography of Shirley Jackson, Lenemaja Friedman notes that when Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery" was published in the June 28, 1948, issue of The New Yorker, it received a response that "no New Yorker story had ever received." Hundreds of letters poured in that were characterized by, as Jackson put it, "bewilderment, speculation and old-fashioned abuse."
Jackson's husband, the literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, wrote in his preface to a posthumous anthology of her work that "she consistently refused to be interviewed, to explain or promote her work in any fashion, or to take public stands and be the pundit of the Sunday supplements. She believed that her books would speak for her clearly enough over the years." Hyman insisted the darker aspects of Jackson's works were not, as some critics claimed, the product of "personal, even neurotic, fantasies", but that Jackson intended, as "a sensitive and faithful anatomy of our times, fitting symbols for our distressing world of the concentration camp and the Bomb", to mirror humanity's Cold War-era fears. Jackson may even have taken pleasure in the subversive impact of her work, as revealed by Hyman's statement that she "was always proud that the Union of South Africa banned The Lottery', and she felt that they at least understood the story".
In 1965, Jackson died of heart failure in her sleep, at her home in North Bennington Vermont, at the age of 48.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
July 6, 2017
Two strangers, an adult and a teenager, meet inside a kitchen during a house party. While party guests drink wine, laugh, and listen to the piano, the two in the kitchen discuss the future. The teen discuss her predictions, dark and grim, as the gentleman listens. He discovers that she's intelligent and astute.
With WW2 out of the way, she feels that the world's end lives upon them, which may do humankind even better. With the past behind them, humanity may get a chance to rebuild by leaving the old life (e.g. rules, expectations) by the wayside, while allowing the new to create a better society aware of what's best for them.
The gentleman leaves, shaking his head at the teen's overreaction as he greets her father in the living room.
Age meets wisdom. Who's the wiser? A drunken old man or a self-conscious teenager?
There's no horror in this story; yet, awkwardness encircles as you expect a scene from The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer. Alas, nothing much happens.
With WW2 out of the way, she feels that the world's end lives upon them, which may do humankind even better. With the past behind them, humanity may get a chance to rebuild by leaving the old life (e.g. rules, expectations) by the wayside, while allowing the new to create a better society aware of what's best for them.
The gentleman leaves, shaking his head at the teen's overreaction as he greets her father in the living room.
Age meets wisdom. Who's the wiser? A drunken old man or a self-conscious teenager?
There's no horror in this story; yet, awkwardness encircles as you expect a scene from The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer. Alas, nothing much happens.
November 4, 2022
Escrito en 1946, es un relato muy corto con un invitado ebrio en una fiesta que mantiene una breve conversación con la adolescente de 17 años de la casa.
Una breve, interesante y deprimente conversación sobre el futuro del mundo -relevante a día de hoy- capaz de poner sobrio a cualquiera. Su excesiva brevedad y ese final abrupto dejan cierta sensación de tristeza y trivialidad.
Una breve, interesante y deprimente conversación sobre el futuro del mundo -relevante a día de hoy- capaz de poner sobrio a cualquiera. Su excesiva brevedad y ese final abrupto dejan cierta sensación de tristeza y trivialidad.
May 26, 2020
Ich finde DIE BERAUSCHTEN wirklich gut und mich erheitert der Gedanke sehr, was Onkel Hemingway wohl zur 17-jährigen Eileen gesagt hätte.
Da kommt also der sturzbesoffene 30-jährige Partygast in die Küche gewankt und spricht herablassend und nur des Dekorums halber mit einem 17-jährigen Mädchen Mädchen!!! Was der arme Kerl nicht alles auf sich nehmen muss. Zu allem Überfluss schreibt die auch noch einen Aufsatz über die Zukunft der Welt, statt sich nur für Schmuck und Cocktails zu interessieren, wie es Mädchen "seinerzeit" (heißt, als er noch jung war, also ca. 10 Jahre zuvor) noch getan haben. All sein männliches Dominanzgebaren hilft nichts, Eileen lässt sich nicht mundtot machen.
Die Welt wie wir sie kennen, postuliert sie, wird untergehen. Und:
"Well, after all," she said, "it isn´t as though we didn´t know about it in advance."
Greta Thunberg lässt grüßen!
Der Gast ahnt es, er würde sein Primat verlieren (das er eigentlich eh schon verspielt hat), also "erledigt" er den Fall:
"I think it´s a little silly for you to fill your mind with all this morbid trash. Buy yourself a movie magazine and settle down."
Der ist glatt in der Lage, den Weltuntergang im Rausch zu verpennen; kam ja eh nur in die Küche, um nicht im Wohnzimmer bewusstlos zu werden.
Ich finde an dem Text nicht nur den Impetus gelungen, sondern auch den sparsamen Einsatz der Mittel, mit dem ein Maximum an Wirkung erzielt wird.
Eileen könnte übrigens die Zwillingsschwester von Natalie aus Hangsaman sein. Hoffen wir, dass sie nicht in den Garten geht ...
Da kommt also der sturzbesoffene 30-jährige Partygast in die Küche gewankt und spricht herablassend und nur des Dekorums halber mit einem 17-jährigen Mädchen Mädchen!!! Was der arme Kerl nicht alles auf sich nehmen muss. Zu allem Überfluss schreibt die auch noch einen Aufsatz über die Zukunft der Welt, statt sich nur für Schmuck und Cocktails zu interessieren, wie es Mädchen "seinerzeit" (heißt, als er noch jung war, also ca. 10 Jahre zuvor) noch getan haben. All sein männliches Dominanzgebaren hilft nichts, Eileen lässt sich nicht mundtot machen.
Die Welt wie wir sie kennen, postuliert sie, wird untergehen. Und:
"Well, after all," she said, "it isn´t as though we didn´t know about it in advance."
Greta Thunberg lässt grüßen!
Der Gast ahnt es, er würde sein Primat verlieren (das er eigentlich eh schon verspielt hat), also "erledigt" er den Fall:
"I think it´s a little silly for you to fill your mind with all this morbid trash. Buy yourself a movie magazine and settle down."
Der ist glatt in der Lage, den Weltuntergang im Rausch zu verpennen; kam ja eh nur in die Küche, um nicht im Wohnzimmer bewusstlos zu werden.
Ich finde an dem Text nicht nur den Impetus gelungen, sondern auch den sparsamen Einsatz der Mittel, mit dem ein Maximum an Wirkung erzielt wird.
Eileen könnte übrigens die Zwillingsschwester von Natalie aus Hangsaman sein. Hoffen wir, dass sie nicht in den Garten geht ...
May 3, 2023
An interesting and bitter exchange between a slightly drunk (middle-aged?) man and a teenager girl. She is very pessimistic about the future, which to me seems like a hallmark of youth. I think as people get older they learn to accept the world for how it is, and not how it should be. Young people often see the ideal we should be striving for, and see how far the world is from it.
"What are you saying about the future of the world?"
"I don’t really think it’s got much future,” she said, “at least the way we’ve got it now.”
I think in the current moment, climate issues have this generational divide. Young people are the most pessimistic, and often blame older generations for being the careless ones who create the dreary future. As Eileen says: “If people had been really, honestly scared when you were young we wouldn’t be so badly off today.” However having been written in the late 40s it’s not clear what Eileen thinks will happen, if it’s war or environmental destruction.
The story culminates quietly in the man's realization that he's been outwitted by this jaded teenage girl. He doesn't know what to say back to her. This reminds me of being a teenager. How often older people assumed they could win arguments with me, only to realize teenagers are not as simple-minded and naïve as they expect them to be.
The additional irony is that the adults of the house are all drunk, at a house party. The teenage girl is writing an essay about the future and drinking coffee, seemingly the only serious and responsible one in the house at this moment. It's truth in fiction. So often it really is like this. Adults are the ones who decide to let go of their ideals and just enjoy life because hey, life is short. The clash between generation is often like in this story - pessimistic teenager, older adult telling them to just get over it (while realizing the teenager has a point).
I read a review of this story that mentions this was written just a few years after World War 2, so perhaps the older man's optimism comes from the view that if humans can survive a world war, they can survive anything. Review here: (https://www.readthisroom.co.uk/post/t...)
The dialogue is really a conflict between optimism and pessimism. I think that depending on the issue and your stance on it (climate change, social issues, etc) you can side with either of the characters, being either the one urging others to take an issue more seriously, or telling the alarmists to calm down and be less morbid. When you have a strong stance on a divisive issue, you will see the other person as the strange one, just like these two characters do.
The story is available here:
https://fsgworkinprogress.com/2016/12...
"What are you saying about the future of the world?"
"I don’t really think it’s got much future,” she said, “at least the way we’ve got it now.”
I think in the current moment, climate issues have this generational divide. Young people are the most pessimistic, and often blame older generations for being the careless ones who create the dreary future. As Eileen says: “If people had been really, honestly scared when you were young we wouldn’t be so badly off today.” However having been written in the late 40s it’s not clear what Eileen thinks will happen, if it’s war or environmental destruction.
The story culminates quietly in the man's realization that he's been outwitted by this jaded teenage girl. He doesn't know what to say back to her. This reminds me of being a teenager. How often older people assumed they could win arguments with me, only to realize teenagers are not as simple-minded and naïve as they expect them to be.
The additional irony is that the adults of the house are all drunk, at a house party. The teenage girl is writing an essay about the future and drinking coffee, seemingly the only serious and responsible one in the house at this moment. It's truth in fiction. So often it really is like this. Adults are the ones who decide to let go of their ideals and just enjoy life because hey, life is short. The clash between generation is often like in this story - pessimistic teenager, older adult telling them to just get over it (while realizing the teenager has a point).
I read a review of this story that mentions this was written just a few years after World War 2, so perhaps the older man's optimism comes from the view that if humans can survive a world war, they can survive anything. Review here: (https://www.readthisroom.co.uk/post/t...)
The dialogue is really a conflict between optimism and pessimism. I think that depending on the issue and your stance on it (climate change, social issues, etc) you can side with either of the characters, being either the one urging others to take an issue more seriously, or telling the alarmists to calm down and be less morbid. When you have a strong stance on a divisive issue, you will see the other person as the strange one, just like these two characters do.
The story is available here:
https://fsgworkinprogress.com/2016/12...
April 17, 2017
the intoxicated is a short, awkward story, about "the future of the world". It's a conversation between a drunken party goer and the host's seventeen years old daughter.
I felt like the story ended abruptly and that there was much more to it.. but who knows what the writer was thinking when she chose that end.
I felt like the story ended abruptly and that there was much more to it.. but who knows what the writer was thinking when she chose that end.
October 28, 2023
Well, everything's symbolic in Shirley's books...
So, there are also many here but at its core, I just didn't find the conversation exchange interesting.
So, there are also many here but at its core, I just didn't find the conversation exchange interesting.
January 25, 2018
You could walk away from this story thinking nothing much happened. I think, however, it's more a social commentary piece....the intoxicated man wanders into the kitchen to escape the party and get sober. Well, the 17 year old he meets sobers him up real quick!
November 4, 2018
"If people had been really, honestly scared when you were young we wouldn't be so badly off today."
The Intoxicated is not one of Shirley Jackson's best short stories, but it's still pretty good. I saw that it had a lot of negative reviews on here, but I knew it couldn't be that bad. I've never read anything by her that I didn't like. The style of her writing always pulls me in and creeps me out; sometimes it's not as much about what she says as how she says it.
In a conversation she has with a drunk man at her parents' party, a young girl gives her prophetic vision for the future of the world, blaming his generation's decisions for the dark days ahead. She seems almost gleeful as she tells what her plans are for this armaggedon. The man acts as if she's getting on his nerves, but if you read between the lines, you can tell he's just feigning irritation to mask his fear.
"Kids nowadays"
The Intoxicated is not one of Shirley Jackson's best short stories, but it's still pretty good. I saw that it had a lot of negative reviews on here, but I knew it couldn't be that bad. I've never read anything by her that I didn't like. The style of her writing always pulls me in and creeps me out; sometimes it's not as much about what she says as how she says it.
In a conversation she has with a drunk man at her parents' party, a young girl gives her prophetic vision for the future of the world, blaming his generation's decisions for the dark days ahead. She seems almost gleeful as she tells what her plans are for this armaggedon. The man acts as if she's getting on his nerves, but if you read between the lines, you can tell he's just feigning irritation to mask his fear.
"Kids nowadays"
December 26, 2019
Maybe this isn't horror or literature or the best short story ever written but I love every single weirdo girl who scares old men that Shirley Jackson has ever written about and that's what matters.
November 1, 2023
“In my day,” he said, “girls thought of nothing but cocktails and necking.” - “That’s partly the trouble,” she answered him “If people had been really, honestly scared when you were young we wouldn’t be so badly off today.”
November 30, 2018
Relato de muy corta extensión sobre la conversación entre un invitado borracho de una fiesta y la hija adolescente de los anfitriones de la misma. Para mí pasó sin pena ni gloria creo que debido a lo anodino e intrascendente de la charla y a lo breve de la narración.
March 5, 2022
3.5⭐
This short story is another example of Shirley Jackson's brilliance in weaving a critique of social norms through an at first value seemingly simple setting .
The intoxicated man that has attended a party goes to the kitchen to sober up, meeting the young girl and daughter of the host and chatting with her idly about her life, school etc. She makes a mention of her essay on The End of The World , and discusses her anxieties surrounding the future probing with questions the man whose carefree attitude starts to feel a bit threatened .
The girl is in deep thoughts about the future and the world , the man is cheerful in ignorance, drunk and doesn't want to accept this metaphorical invitation to action and concern for the future.
This story can be a critique of how the older generations prefer the stage of half ignorance, willingful indifference, in fear of their choices and outcomes of said choices coming to be questioned and altered. When the newer generation comes to question them, the older generation doesn't want to listen , in fear of the newer generation actually being on the right, to be concerned ,to seek change . And thus the older generations choose ignorance , to go back to their ways, and pay no much heed to the inevitable destruction their actions can bring.
The house is full of this cheerful drunken atmosphere , but the alcohol could represent the generations' choice to believe that what they do isn't faulty, that they can indulge in themselves and that anything outside of this "home" doesn't concern them. But the young girl is sober and thinking about how if things continue, there will be not much left of this world .
Climate change perhaps , social norms , human behavior as society evolves and changes. At face value this story is short and simple , but if we see how intentionally Shirley Jackson writes , everything can be a symbolism,everything can be up to interpretation.
This short story is another example of Shirley Jackson's brilliance in weaving a critique of social norms through an at first value seemingly simple setting .
The intoxicated man that has attended a party goes to the kitchen to sober up, meeting the young girl and daughter of the host and chatting with her idly about her life, school etc. She makes a mention of her essay on The End of The World , and discusses her anxieties surrounding the future probing with questions the man whose carefree attitude starts to feel a bit threatened .
The girl is in deep thoughts about the future and the world , the man is cheerful in ignorance, drunk and doesn't want to accept this metaphorical invitation to action and concern for the future.
This story can be a critique of how the older generations prefer the stage of half ignorance, willingful indifference, in fear of their choices and outcomes of said choices coming to be questioned and altered. When the newer generation comes to question them, the older generation doesn't want to listen , in fear of the newer generation actually being on the right, to be concerned ,to seek change . And thus the older generations choose ignorance , to go back to their ways, and pay no much heed to the inevitable destruction their actions can bring.
The house is full of this cheerful drunken atmosphere , but the alcohol could represent the generations' choice to believe that what they do isn't faulty, that they can indulge in themselves and that anything outside of this "home" doesn't concern them. But the young girl is sober and thinking about how if things continue, there will be not much left of this world .
Climate change perhaps , social norms , human behavior as society evolves and changes. At face value this story is short and simple , but if we see how intentionally Shirley Jackson writes , everything can be a symbolism,everything can be up to interpretation.
February 20, 2025
Kids.
A drunk man walks away from the house party into the kitchen, where he meets the hostess's young daughter, a seventeen years old girl with a morbid fascination for last day's Armageddon.
Meh. Even for someone who loves Armageddon and all stuff post-apocalyptic, I couldn't get into this one. And I would have ended it WAY differently.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1949] [11p] [Fiction] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
???????? The Lottery and Other Stories <--
-----------------------------------------------
Niños.
Un hombre borracho se aleja de la fiesta en la casa y entra en la cocina, donde conoce a la joven hija de la anfitriona, una chica de diecisiete años con una mórbida fascinación por el Armagedón de los últimos días.
Meh. Incluso para alguien que ama Armageddon y todo lo post-apocalíptico, no pude meterme en éste. Y yo lo habría terminado de una forma MUY diferente.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1949] [11p] [Ficción] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
A drunk man walks away from the house party into the kitchen, where he meets the hostess's young daughter, a seventeen years old girl with a morbid fascination for last day's Armageddon.
Meh. Even for someone who loves Armageddon and all stuff post-apocalyptic, I couldn't get into this one. And I would have ended it WAY differently.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1949] [11p] [Fiction] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
???????? The Lottery and Other Stories <--
-----------------------------------------------
Niños.
Un hombre borracho se aleja de la fiesta en la casa y entra en la cocina, donde conoce a la joven hija de la anfitriona, una chica de diecisiete años con una mórbida fascinación por el Armagedón de los últimos días.
Meh. Incluso para alguien que ama Armageddon y todo lo post-apocalíptico, no pude meterme en éste. Y yo lo habría terminado de una forma MUY diferente.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1949] [11p] [Ficción] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
October 31, 2020
This is the introductory story to Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Other Stories. It is a dialogue set during the dawn of the Cold War between a seventeen year old and one of her father's friends about the end of civilization. With WWII having passed, but the threat of nuclear annihilation on people's mind the teenager has a very bleak and pessimistic look at the future and the man is trying his best to put on a brave face, but he is in-truth just as scared as she is weary. Nothing supernatural happens in this story, but it does set the atmosphere for the rest of the book.
December 29, 2021
Not a particular spooky one from her, tho, very prophetic. An older gentleman ends up talking with a teen about her essay themed on the end of the world. As always, Jackson leaves you pondering the 'end' of the story, which is always a great sign of a great writer.
July 25, 2022
kids nowadays
March 10, 2022
I don't like short stories. I almost never read the things, it does me no good. By the next day I've forgotten the entire thing, so it always feels like wasting my time reading something I know I won't remember. So I don't often read short stories and the ones I do I almost never like. There are a few exceptions though, and at the top of the list is The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. I can read that story over and over and never get tired of it, it also helps to keep it in my mind, so I wanted to own it. But I have never owned it because I can't find it in a book store, and the only time I see it on an E-reader it is in a book of short stories and we all now know I don't like short stories. But I was in the mood for The Lottery so I broke down and bought the book of short stories and read the story twice. But now I'm stuck with a book filled with short stories, so I decided to read them and the first one in the book is Intoxicated. I read it in ten minutes, I thought I was only reading the first chapter the way it ended, but when I turned the page, no there is no second chapter that's how the book ends, if you can call it an ending. Because nothing happens, a man goes to a party and drinks too much, I have no idea why, but people do that. He goes into the kitchen to get away from the alcoholic drinks I guess and meets a girl, the daughter of the party's host. She talks to him about how the world is ending, which I assume is about to happen, he goes back to the party, I turn the page and...that's it. I'm still looking for that second chapter. I wonder if I'll ever find it, I wonder if the world will end, I wonder if I will ever read this again and remember it. I have my doubts to any of this. I'm on to the next short story. Happy reading.
July 19, 2024
gonna start collecting short stories the way i collect short films… this one was soooo spooky, Jackson is the queen of spooky… not spiritual, or slasher, or demonic, but the way that dialogue alone can turn your stomach really quickly. love it.
August 13, 2024
well alright then.
March 18, 2024
Nothing really happened. I kept expecting something but it was a whole lot of nothing.
March 4, 2019
Not my favourite Shirley Jackson story, but it was alright. I think it’s one of those with a lot more weight to the conversation, a little bit of older generation versus younger. In modern context, it’s a little Baby Boomer vs Millenial/iGen vibes. Not much happens plot wise but it’s more of a think piece.
August 1, 2022
In 1949's "The Intoxicated", Jackson juxtaposes a cocktail party with discussion of the end of the world due to human activity. Like Dorothy Parker, Shirley Jackson was as smart as a whip. They both used short fiction to disturb readers into thinking about reality.
This is great stuff, as good as it gets. Read it, read it, read it!
This is great stuff, as good as it gets. Read it, read it, read it!
June 19, 2021
Boomer meets doomer. But because this is written in the forties, it actually predates the ok boomer meme. Kids nowadays.
December 10, 2022
Wow. This was written ~100 years ago, yet has never been more relevant than it is today.
July 10, 2025
My 3rd Shirley Jackson work. Though extreme short, I can't say what I feel about it.
On one hand, the conversation being had between the teenager and old man is deceptively simple, but what’s being said — or left unsaid — is of complexity. The girl’s eerie calmness, her dispassionate assessment of future pained in shadows, contrasts jarringly with the man’s vague nostalgia.. Even at his age.. I have her view of the world. Again.. love how her writing always feel contemporary though writing years ago.
"What are you saying about the future of the world?"
"I don’t really think it’s got much future,” she said, “at least the way we’ve got it now.”
“In my day,” he said, “girls thought of nothing but cocktails and necking.”
“That’s partly the trouble,” she answered him “If people had been really, honestly scared when you were young we wouldn’t be so badly off today.”
On one hand, the conversation being had between the teenager and old man is deceptively simple, but what’s being said — or left unsaid — is of complexity. The girl’s eerie calmness, her dispassionate assessment of future pained in shadows, contrasts jarringly with the man’s vague nostalgia.. Even at his age.. I have her view of the world. Again.. love how her writing always feel contemporary though writing years ago.
"What are you saying about the future of the world?"
"I don’t really think it’s got much future,” she said, “at least the way we’ve got it now.”
“In my day,” he said, “girls thought of nothing but cocktails and necking.”
“That’s partly the trouble,” she answered him “If people had been really, honestly scared when you were young we wouldn’t be so badly off today.”
July 23, 2023
Super short, only like 6 pages. But then again all Shirley Jackson stories are tiny. I was hoping for some dramatic plot twist at the end but there were none. So I’m betting the point of this story is moreso what ever you decide to take away from it.
May 4, 2025
House party, drunk adults. An adult man goes to the kitchen to sober up where he meets a teenager making predictions about the future and can't find anything to refute her arguments. Because deep down, he knows she's right?
The girl's arguments were too vague for me, though.
The girl's arguments were too vague for me, though.
October 26, 2025
The real horror is being radlicalized
November 8, 2025
Esperaba un poco más, aunque la chica resaltó algo perturbadora.
June 4, 2024
Realmente, y al ser un cuento de Shirley Jackson, esperaba otro final pero, luego de un poco de reflexión una vez finalizada la lectura, entendí que no siempre hay que ir por el lado de los finales que te dejen sin aliento y que una historia que tenga su plato fuerte en el nudo de la misma, sin necesidad de un estrepitoso o contundente final, también es una gran historia. Por eso mis cuatro estrellas.
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