The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Works

by Henry James

ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP

Four of the best-known and best-loved works of short fiction by a recognized master of the genre.

EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:
• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information
• A chronology of the author's life and work
• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context
• An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations
• Detailed explanatory notes
• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work
• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction
• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.

SERIES EDITED BY CYNTHIA BRANTLEY JOHNSON

Genres: Fiction

496 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1880

About the author

Henry James was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.
He is best known for his novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, the English, and continental Europeans, such as The Portrait of a Lady. His later works, such as The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character's psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his late works have been compared to Impressionist painting.
His novella The Turn of the Screw has garnered a reputation as the most analysed and ambiguous ghost story in the English language and remains his most widely adapted work in other media. He wrote other highly regarded ghost stories, such as "The Jolly Corner".
James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, James largely relocated to Europe as a young man, and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, a year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916. Jorge Luis Borges said "I have visited some literatures of East and West; I have compiled an encyclopedic compendium of fantastic literature; I have translated Kafka, Melville, and Bloy; I know of no stranger work than that of Henry James."

Reviews

[Jwt Jan50 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 3* star rating is always a little ambiguous for me. The talent is clear. The story captures the 'creepy' for me even with James' somewhat laborious prose. And yet, he's still a long way from favorite or memorable. I've embarked on a Henry James excursion this year. So, even though 'The Aspern Papers' and 'The Turn of the Screw' didn't turn out to be 'compelling,' I'm going to stay the course. For creepiness/thrills I have to rate him behind Poe, H. G. Wells ('The Island of Dr Moreau') or Bram Stoker's 'Dracula.' After a break, I'm coming back to a biography entitled 'Henry James: The Portrait of a Novel,' James' 'Portrait of a Lady,' (last read in 1979) and Tuchman's 'The Proud Tower.'

[Kallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though off to a slow start, I was soon hooked and read this straight through in one day. The apparitions . . . I felt a real chill whenever they showed up. James has a real knack for creepiness. I very much like the fact that I don't know if the governess was mad or everyone else in the story (besides the children) unwilling to see what she saw. I don't assume that James meant his own story to be interpreted as metaphor, but that's how I interpret it. I think it's quite possible to see evil where others do not and that is part of the horror in this story.

[Jacob Heartstone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains six short novels by Henry James that I mostly enjoyed. I like the author's writing style and his quiet way of telling stories. That being said, I enjoyed the first three stories much more than the last three, as the characters and the stories themselves felt much more intriguing to me. Out of all six novellas, I liked The Aspern Papers best.