Turn Of The Screw
Discussion
Ok, so being a caring parent that tries to support his kids with their schoolwork as far as I can, I have always read what my kids have had to read for GCSEs etc. So we can discuss it and prepare them for exams. So far, the list has been quite good. Various Shakespear, To Kill A Mockingbird, etc.
Now my son has embarked on English Lit A level and his first read, Henry James's Turn of the Screw.
My heart sank. I remember reading it at school myself and hating it. Still, I was young and foolish then, and now I'm a grown up, so I'd appreciate its nuences now.
Do I f
k! What an absolute steaming pile of crap. Why is this drivel considered a classic. It's complete tripe. So come on T.O.T.S. fans, what am I missing?
Now my son has embarked on English Lit A level and his first read, Henry James's Turn of the Screw.
My heart sank. I remember reading it at school myself and hating it. Still, I was young and foolish then, and now I'm a grown up, so I'd appreciate its nuences now.
Do I f
k! What an absolute steaming pile of crap. Why is this drivel considered a classic. It's complete tripe. So come on T.O.T.S. fans, what am I missing? Well I've finished it now. Still don't really understand what it was all about. Possibly the worst book I've ever read in my entire life.
To summarise...Victorian bloke stands up in front of fire and says "I'm going to tell you a ghost story". Everyone really excited. "next Thursday"...everyone really annoyed. "It so scary it's locked away so I can't get it delivered until thursday."
Come Thursday. "This is a true story there's this young woman, gets a job in a mansion looking after 2 orphans under the care of their uncle, who she fancies. The uncle buggers off and leaves her to it. The kids arrive back from school, but the boy has been expelled, but he's so nice. Then the 2 kids see 2 people who used to work for the uncle and they were close to but both the people are dead. And anyway, these ghosts appear from time to time, and the young woman gets annoyed that the kids talk to them, and vows to find out why the kid was kicked out of school, but doesn't, and the ghosts disappear so we don't really know if they existed or not and there's a housekeeper called Mrs Grosse who's really nice or is she and then the kids get the young woman sacked for talking about ghosts and she still likes the uncle.
The End.
If I missed anything, and given that this is a classic piece of literature and Oscar Wilde said it was brilliant, I think I probably have, please feel free to educate me
To summarise...Victorian bloke stands up in front of fire and says "I'm going to tell you a ghost story". Everyone really excited. "next Thursday"...everyone really annoyed. "It so scary it's locked away so I can't get it delivered until thursday."
Come Thursday. "This is a true story there's this young woman, gets a job in a mansion looking after 2 orphans under the care of their uncle, who she fancies. The uncle buggers off and leaves her to it. The kids arrive back from school, but the boy has been expelled, but he's so nice. Then the 2 kids see 2 people who used to work for the uncle and they were close to but both the people are dead. And anyway, these ghosts appear from time to time, and the young woman gets annoyed that the kids talk to them, and vows to find out why the kid was kicked out of school, but doesn't, and the ghosts disappear so we don't really know if they existed or not and there's a housekeeper called Mrs Grosse who's really nice or is she and then the kids get the young woman sacked for talking about ghosts and she still likes the uncle.
The End.
If I missed anything, and given that this is a classic piece of literature and Oscar Wilde said it was brilliant, I think I probably have, please feel free to educate me
Sorry to spoil the record run 
I haven't read TOTS, but I know what you mean. I'm sure many classics are living on the "Emperor's New Clothes" sort of reputation. I read Journey To The Centre Of The Earth last year. It read like the sort of story I used to write when I was 12; Several good ideas poorly strung together, with the author losing interest half way though, and having to think of a get-out-of-jail-free device.
I haven't read TOTS, but I know what you mean. I'm sure many classics are living on the "Emperor's New Clothes" sort of reputation. I read Journey To The Centre Of The Earth last year. It read like the sort of story I used to write when I was 12; Several good ideas poorly strung together, with the author losing interest half way though, and having to think of a get-out-of-jail-free device.
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