Books2Movies Club discussion

When it was first published, the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson received so much hate mail and people even cancelled their subscriptions to New Yorker. Today such a reaction may sound odd, but it speaks volumes about the effect story had on their readers. I wonder if you are all going to be shocked too. Do you dare to take that risk? You can read the story for free on the New Yorker website :)

As for adaptations, there were some short features, the most prominent one being a 1969 short film that you can watch at our club's video page, and the 1996 TV film, nominated for a Saturn for Best Single Genre Television Presentation. There were some rumors that Shirley Jackson's estate will produce a new adaptation of the story, but I cannot find any reliable source about that.

If you'd like to complement your reading and watching with a study guide, this one looks inspiring: SHMOOP: The Lottery Study Guide.

I hope the story will have some impact on you! Freely share your thoughts and impressions here.

I remember reading in HS English class and being horrified. I have vague recollection of seeing it in film form, shot in black and white, but my memory isn’t what it used to be.

Well I took the risk of being shocked, but the shock to me was mainly that it is such a short story! I begun listening to it as an audiobook when I started a mountain of ironing, when the story was finished the mountain was still just as high. All in all I thought it was a good story, I did want more information about the village and the lottery - but I think the power is that you just don't know, so it gets stuck in your head. I'm definitely going to watch one of the recommendations.