The Turn of the Screw (Abridged) Audiobook

" Twisted & creepy, this is an excellent ghost story. I'd heard about it for years, but was never brave enough to attempt a story this old till now. I'm really glad I did! The ending, for those who have NOT read it, is rather startling :) "

" You know, for a ghost story this wasn't scary at all. In fact, I would call it a snooze-fest. 1.5 stars out of 5 (rounded down). "

" great audio book version with that woman with the amazing voice. "

" I read this as a young teenager, then it was required in a creative writing course. Amazing. Best to read in a group so you can discuss, interpret it in its original context, and as a milestone in the history of American fiction. "

" For such a short novella, this felt awfully long. "

" it was between ok and liked it really. Best part about it was the way he conveyed the increase in the characters hysteria, worst was the plot necessary to explain these emotional environments. "

" High Modernist Horror Story. Shrill ambiguity. Obfuscation as tone. "

" I know everyone thinks this is great, and it is well written, I just found it kind of boring. "

" I enjoyed it and found it interesting but somehow my expectations weren't fully met. "

" Too much of an exercise for my liking. For me the story couldn't breath because James suffocated it in postmodern tricks (though, of course, he wouldn't have called them that since the term did not yet exist). Plus, it's almost all telling, very little showing, so I never got a good sense of the children's behavior, nor of the estate as a whole. Again, I understand why James trapped the story in the narrator's consciousness, but I think he sacrificed too much for that brooding, insular tone. "

" Ah, the wordy horrors of neurosis. "

" i hate henry james not for the literary gymnastics and mastery of word play that he wields on each and every page. i hate henry james because every one of his stories, seems to me, to have a cold rotten black heart. now, i love melancholy, depressive characters and unhappy endings much more than most people i know and much more than i love not using caps i might add. sylvia plath is easy reading to me. but with james, the only redeeming quality is his linguistic prowess. strip all of that away and you've got flowers in the attic. yep. i went there. "

" This book did not meet up to my expectations. I can see where the book, The Lady in Black, could have derived from this story as there are quite a few similarities; however, The Lady in Black was more suspenseful and read much better. "

" Kinda creepy,and confusing...ended too abruptly. "

" I can't say I enjoyed reading this short story as much as I did other Henry James books but it still was a pretty good read. The writing is impeccable, of course, but I think the plot and characters somehow lacked substance. Many questions are asked, little answers are given. One question in particular has been bugging me since I finished the book: what had the boy done to be expelled from school? If anybody finds out, please let me know! "

" I'm not sure how to rate this book or even if I understood it. Chloe Parks made me read this as the price for letting me read Lord of the Flies. "

" Excellent. Creepy story telling. Promotes dialogue about the protagonist. "

" You know, for a ghost story this wasn't scary at all. In fact, I would call it a snooze-fest. 1.5 stars out of 5 (rounded down). "

" This book is all about communication. And neglect. "

" Used to drive my Novels classes crazy with this one...hmmm! "

" Although this is a short story I really didn't enjoy it until it was discussed at book club, through other peoples points of view I could appreciate it. "

" An exercise in, if I may use such a phrase, and, indeed, I must, since, having exhausted my mind in the search for an alternative description, and having arrived at no other more apt term, the usage of commas. "

" Scaring and terrific. Loved the plot and the classic ghosts. "

" This book made an indelible impression on me, fifty years ago. "

" Slight disappointment. It's premise is full of potential, but characters are simplistic, it also lacks truly spooky/scary atmosphere which is essential for horror stories. "

" Certainly spooky and odd. Perhaps too obscure for real popularity. I don't like books about children generally, either. But this is a memorable effort. I like James's shorter fiction better than his novels, really, but there are more interesting stories than this in his output. "

" What a constant subjection to ambiguity. How dare you trick me into indirectness! The only fact was the ending, how sudden and unexpected. "

" The story started off with such promise, I thought it was well written and the characters well developed however, the ending ruined the whole thing. A lot of the plot line, including the story from the first couple of chapters, were completely unresolved and I was left wondering. "

" Only got through 38%, glad I didn't have to pay for this one. Too wordy, old style writing. "

" Perfect as a ghost story. Perfect as a psychological thriller. Perfect as a novel. Perfect plot, perfect characterization. Marvellous. "

" I didn't like the ambiguous ending, although I can see why literature classes might enjoy analyzing the book. It wasn't a fun and entertaining read, which is what I was expecting. "

" Chose 5 stars for this book because Henry James was and always will be a genius. Haunting and ghastly, "The Turn of the Screw" remains a classic now and always. So happy that I finally made the time to read it. "

" Still find his style extraordinary after all these years since first reading it. Frustrating at times, but the ambiguity - and at times incoherence - suit his purpose well in this deliberately ambiguous story. "

" This was more of ghost story than a mystery. It is scary, but it just didn't suit my mood for a pre-Christmas mystery. James's style distracted from the story at times. "

" This story is "crazy" good. I love scary stories where you can't tell if something supernatural is going on or if the character is going slowly insane. Hawthorne's style does mean lengthly descriptive sentences, but I personally like it. "

" I loved the story, but the diction was excruciatingly hard to navigate. "

" What a bizarre little story... "

" Another book makes me feel like an idiot ... I recently saw a two-actor play based on the book and was creeped out beyond words, so I couldn't wait to read the book. Honestly, had I not seen the play, I would have no gorram clue what was going on in this book. First, it wasn't creepy at all (except maybe Jessel on the stair). Second, the governess just leapt to wild conclusions, supporting the theory that she's crazy, but there was little else to suggest it was all imagined. There was no resolution to anything - the book starts out with a lengthy (9-page) description of the man getting the manuscript and putting off telling the story, and yet James never returns to that. We never go back to the uncle, or any explanation of why he doesn't want to hear about the children. We never find out why Miles was expelled, or what Jessel and Quint did to the children. Maybe if I lived in the 1890's, I would understand the extremely vague references. I just felt so dissatisfied by this novel. It seemed like a first draft. There are all these theories about what the book is about, probably because it's so confusing. What if James didn't make it such a mystery on purpose? Maybe he just did a bad job. I loved the writing, I loved the voice of the governess. In that sense, it was well-written and enjoyable, but as a story, it just seemed so incomplete to me. It was reminiscent of The Woman in White, which also was supposedly this huge, classic mystery, but just fell flat. At least Turn of the Screw was a good length and didn't have 300 filler pages like WIW. "

" 13 when I read this. still say the governess was the cause of miles death!! "

" Short ghost story. Pretty entertaining. Not what I expected. "

" Loved the story...but, this is my first Henry James read and all I can think is that I've never seen so many commas in my life! I found it distracting. "

" from my journal in 2001: it was wordy in an old-fashioned British way and also such in its prenetious, strained interpersonal relations, but it was a pretty good read. "

" THE ONLY THING HE WROTE THAT I TRULY ENJOYED...SHIVERED &SHIVERED. "

" It wasn't scary. It was too vague for it to be scary. It left more questions and at times confused me. That doesn't equal scary for me. "

" I loved the story, but the diction was excruciatingly hard to navigate. "

" Creepy story about a governess and her pupils in what may or may not be a haunted house. Henry James keeps the reader wondering whether the governess is crazy or being tormented. Worth reading if you're a horror fan or just appreciate a well written short story. "

" James has a somewhat convoluted way with a sentence, but once I got with the rhythm, it was enjoyable. I've seen just about every big and little screen adaptation of the story, so it was about time I read the book. "

" I had to read this for school. It's the perfect book to apply all these literary theories too, but it left me really confused. It could be that I sped read it to finish it in less than a week. "

" This book scared the crap out of me at times. I avoided reading it late at night. "

" This is a brilliant book! So many layers of meaning and ambiguities, Henry James was a genius and an excellent story teller. "

" This is a haunting, brilliantly written tale! Kept half in suspense throughout, our minds fill in the blanks in this ghost story. Do go see Britten's opera! "

" I'm working my way through the classics and found this book one of the best. It really plays with one's mind as we never know the truth of the events as they occur. James is a great writer; if only I could write as well! "

" Creepy and a little baffling. "

" Great classic mystery. Suitable for high school students. Throughout the book the author makes the reader wonder what is really going on. "

" I cannot get over how convoluted Henry James's language can be. "

" If you love mystery and slightly chilling fiction - this is it. One of those books that I couldn't put down, but had me hiding underneath the covers! "

" This is a brilliant book! So many layers of meaning and ambiguities, Henry James was a genius and an excellent story teller. "

" One of those books that has the power to transform the way we look at the world. "

" Excelente - No pude dejar la lectura hasta el final "

" I feel like there was a lot of juicy subtext going on that I didn't pick up because the actual wording of the story was ridiculously verbose and convoluted. I might re-read this in the future just to try to get the full experience. "

" Thought I had better read this after finishing "Florence and Giles" "

" Loved it. Just about as much suspense as I can handle in a book. I also wrote my senior thesis on Henry James, so I am a little biased. "

" This book is SO scary that I'm bothered reading it alone before my husband comes to bed. Who knew a BOOK could be so scary?! "

" it was between ok and liked it really. Best part about it was the way he conveyed the increase in the characters hysteria, worst was the plot necessary to explain these emotional environments. "

" nothing less than five stars. amazing piece of literature though my approach would be connected to the idea of heroism and the failure of the governess to be a true hero and save the children. "

" This was one of those books that I thought I was supposed to like because it's famous. I didn't. Henry James can even make a novella too long and slow and wordy. "

" Chose 5 stars for this book because Henry James was and always will be a genius. Haunting and ghastly, "The Turn of the Screw" remains a classic now and always. So happy that I finally made the time to read it. "

" Fifth of public-domain classics I never read from Project Gutenberg read on my iPod using iBooks software. "

" As ludicrous as the Victorian sensibilities in this book are, it is still a very spooky yet elegant book. It is a castle ruin of words and a web of vagueness. But godawful neurotic and intolerably ... Victorian. "

" A marvellous mindscrew that kept me in suspense and had me genuinely sympathizing with the plight of the terrified (and at times, terrifying) governess. This is a classic gothic novel and one that defined many of the key tropes of the genre as it stands today. "

" I really enjoyed this novel. Until one of my university lecturers delved into the depth of critical theory and ripped it apart. Now, I need to ensure a bottle of wine follows a bottle of gaviscon when I read it. "

" Absolutely brilliant. Because of this book I'm going to start a classics journey...something that used to seem impossible. "

" This book scared me to death. Made the mistake of reading it at night, on my own on Halloween. Slept with the light on for a week after that. "

" This book scared me to death. Made the mistake of reading it at night, on my own on Halloween. Slept with the light on for a week after that. "

" Thought I had better read this after finishing "Florence and Giles" "

" Thought I had better read this after finishing "Florence and Giles" "

" Very interesting story. This is another story in which the reader is allowed to conjecture as to what really happened. The story is vague enough to allow the reader to come up with many conclusions, creating another "turn of the screw". "

" Very interesting story. This is another story in which the reader is allowed to conjecture as to what really happened. The story is vague enough to allow the reader to come up with many conclusions, creating another "turn of the screw". "

" If you love mystery and slightly chilling fiction - this is it. One of those books that I couldn't put down, but had me hiding underneath the covers! "

" If you love mystery and slightly chilling fiction - this is it. One of those books that I couldn't put down, but had me hiding underneath the covers! "

" I'm working my way through the classics and found this book one of the best. It really plays with one's mind as we never know the truth of the events as they occur. James is a great writer; if only I could write as well! "

" I'm working my way through the classics and found this book one of the best. It really plays with one's mind as we never know the truth of the events as they occur. James is a great writer; if only I could write as well! "

" This clas­sic ghost story is a delight to read. With­out “spe­cial effects” and unbe­liev­able telling James has writ­ten an intrigu­ing hor­rific plot that sucks you in and doesn’t let go until the last sen­tence. And what a last sen­tence it is: total shock! "

" This clas­sic ghost story is a delight to read. With­out “spe­cial effects” and unbe­liev­able telling James has writ­ten an intrigu­ing hor­rific plot that sucks you in and doesn’t let go until the last sen­tence. And what a last sen­tence it is: total shock! "

" One of my favorite ghost stories (or are they really 'ghosts'?) The whole novella is filled with psychological ambiguity - are the angelic children really evil or is the caring governess insane? "

" One of my favorite ghost stories (or are they really 'ghosts'?) The whole novella is filled with psychological ambiguity - are the angelic children really evil or is the caring governess insane? "

" This was so dumb. I'm glad I wasn't around during this time period because ghost stories were too boring and wordy. By the time it got to the climax I was totally over it. Just lame and confusing. I'm gonna go eat some cheesecake now and forget what this was about. "

" This was so dumb. I'm glad I wasn't around during this time period because ghost stories were too boring and wordy. By the time it got to the climax I was totally over it. Just lame and confusing. I'm gonna go eat some cheesecake now and forget what this was about. "

" This novella is very good and very creepy, and it only gets more so the more times you read it. The creepiest part comes when you ask yourself whom you can trust... "

" James has a somewhat convoluted way with a sentence, but once I got with the rhythm, it was enjoyable. I've seen just about every big and little screen adaptation of the story, so it was about time I read the book. "

" This novella is very good and very creepy, and it only gets more so the more times you read it. The creepiest part comes when you ask yourself whom you can trust... "

" James has a somewhat convoluted way with a sentence, but once I got with the rhythm, it was enjoyable. I've seen just about every big and little screen adaptation of the story, so it was about time I read the book. "

" Strange book - sudden and suspensful ending. I liked it. "

" Strange book - sudden and suspensful ending. I liked it. "

" I'm not sure I understand the ending... All of that for him just to die???? "

" I'm not sure I understand the ending... All of that for him just to die???? "

" A very interesting read. The ending seemed rather sudden and unexpected. I enjoyed the blurring between reality and imagination--that it was never certain whether ghosts were really appearing or not. "

" A very interesting read. The ending seemed rather sudden and unexpected. I enjoyed the blurring between reality and imagination--that it was never certain whether ghosts were really appearing or not. "

" Actually, I read this book for school. Have to do a book report until 10/23/10. But, I enjoy reading it. Don't know yet where it is leading... "