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The Turn of the Screw

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The Turn of the Screw

By: Henry James
Narrated by: Vanessa Benjamin
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One of the world’s most famous intellectual ghost stories, The Turn of the Screw is a haunting tale of suspected supernatural possession. A governess at a country house claims that Miles and Flora, two orphaned children in her care, are being controlled by spirits for some evil purpose. No one else can see the ghosts, and the children themselves are silent. Are they being dominated by spectral forces, or are they hiding something? Is the governess simply paranoid, or is something else going on? With its ambiguous content and powerful narrative technique, the story challenges the listener to determine whether the unnamed governess is a reliable witness or a neurotic with an overheated imagination.

(P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Classics Horror Philosophy Society Suspense Thriller & Suspense Horror Fiction
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Critic reviews

“A most wonderful, lurid, poisonous little tale.”

(Oscar Wilde)

“Both narrators are skilled and capable, and render James’ complex prose as clearly as it would be on the page, if not more so…just what a good audiobook should do.”

(AudioFile)

“Benjamin’s accent and emotional undercurrents are just right. This excellent production highlights James’ gorgeous prose and skill at creating and sustaining a mood of growing unease and horror.”

(Booklist (audio review))

“This enigmatic, chilling, classic ghost story is especially well told in semivoiced narrations. Simon Vance presents the introductory material…Suiting her presentation well to James’ elaborate prose style, actress Vanessa Benjamin then relates [the governess’] experiences.”

(SoundCommentary.com)

“More than a horrific ghost story, The Turn of the Screw is an enigmatic and disturbing psychological novel that probes the source of terror in neuroses and moral degradation…The Turn of the Screw will continue to fascinate and to intrigue because James’ ‘cold artistic calculation’ has so filled it with suggestiveness and intentional ambiguity that it may be read at different levels and with new revelations at each successive reading.”

(Masterpieces of World Literature)

“The reader’s mind is forced to hold to two levels of awareness: the story as told, and the story to be deduced.”

(Leon Edel, literary critic and Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer of Henry James)
All stars
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The female reader did well until she tried to speak in the voice of the housekeeper, putting on a “servant” accent that sounded more like Estuary to me. Very distracting. Ugly too. I tried to keep listening but gave up. A nineteenth century servant would have had a pleasant rural burr.

Unconvinced

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I quit at the halfway mark. I kept waiting for it to get better. Imagine prissy, victorian women gasping and being horrified 24/7, more at peoples behaviour than at a ghost. They gasp at each other, gasp at the children, gasp at the servants and suffer histrionics. There is a ghost. It appears at a window and occasionally observes the gaspers...The children are somehow involved but could care less about the ghost. If half-way through, the "mystery" has not managed to capture me...I could care less about the gaspers.

If you want horror, something even vaguely scary...take a pass... if you want frantic hissy-fits, go for it.

Ghost story? More like little women.

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Much preferred the film - unusual for me. I usually prefer the book (or audiobook). In this case, the speed of the narration is such that it's very hard to understand. With printed text, it's possible to go back to the start of the (full page) sentence and give it another shot.

A little impenetrable

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I read this wanting to understand whether the source material for much of The Haunting of Bly Manor’ gave any insights into the Netflix adaptation. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. Quite the reverse, in fact… what you know from Bly Manor confuses and corrupts your understanding of the source.

The Turn of The Screw is supposed to be confusing and unclear. The point of it is that you need to work out whether the Governess recording her account is a reliable witness. Those of us coming to it from Bly will be certain she is: but in the book that’s pretty unlikely. It’s been adapted so often precisely because the book itself is so open to interpretation. Unresolved it lives in the memory of your mind tries to work out the puzzle.

In terms of the performance… it’s ok, but I found myself unable to focus on it for long. I suspect that this book is stronger in print than in audiobook, and that the mind wanders at precisely the points where our narrator becomes more confused. Next time I’ll stick to the source. Glad I heard it though.

A confusing novel, better read than heard

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I wanted to read this book because I had seen so many TV and film adaptations that I wanted to know for myself what James was saying with regards to whether the governess was indeed having a ghostly encounter or if it was all in her mind. Much as I enjoyed this book, I am unfortunately none-the-wiser, and resorting to Wiki, can see that I am not the only one, with the 'reality' of the ghosts vs. the state of governess' mind a point of great contention. An interesting listen which I am glad I bought.

Good

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