So, I think Turn of the Screw wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. At first, the narrative really kept screwing me up because of the ridiculously long sentences and quick shifts to different subjects. I had to keep going back over and over to understand what the Governess was even talking about. Also, I hated that the governess overused her pronouns, so then I would get confused about whom she was talking about. It took a long time to get used to the way Henry James was writing the story.
But after I got used to it, I got into the story. I really liked the overall plot and how everyone in our class wondered if Bruce Willis would show up at the very end. To be honest, the plot would make a really good horror movie (I apologize if there is one already. I'm not a big scary movie person.) and the Governess would probably die at the end instead of just holding Miles as he died. She'd be perfect: she's book smart but not street smart, much too trusting, naive, and loves her charges to much to believe they're evil. Add in some bad visual effects and some screaming, and you've got yourself a blockbuster hit!
So, I suppose I have to trust Ms. Arko from now on when she promises the book isn't that bad. I thought I was going to despise it, but once I got used to the narrative and dialogue, the story became pretty entertaining, especially when the Governess shrugs off obvious danger signals that she should pack up and leave that creepy manor, like when Miles is kicked out of school or when she sees Quint and doesn't tell anyone about it. If you see it as a horror movie, it's much better to read.
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I agree Meghann, the narrative was confusing and hard to understand. The point of view, first person written in stream of consciousness, was very annoying. Additionally, the long run-on sentences made the novel difficult to read and hard to understand. I think I must have read the first page a couple of times before I fully understood it.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the confusing combination of stream of consciousness and immense vocabulary made the turn of the screw a difficult read, the book proved to be entertaining.
The story had a lot of suspense and made the reader want to continue reading.
This would be a very neat movie! It would be interesting to see how the director created it, because of the two viewpoints audiences have of this novel (whether the children see the ghosts or the governess is crazy). Just reading it, I find myself feeling suspense as well, and drawing similarities to movies like the Shining, where creepy small children emerge. I feel in instances like this the book has been placed into storylines, and audiences find something eerie about the innocence of children having an undertone of evilness. The change of viewpoints in the book was well thought out, and it shows the history in order for the rest of the book to solely concentrate on the plot line.
ReplyDeleteIt would make a cool movie Melanie but I think that it would be very hard to make. How would people percieve the Governess? Well that would all depend on how the director told the actress to act. Which in turn pretty much means that however the directer interprets the book that is how the actors will pertray it. So it might not be the same effect as the book. Also like in the end when the reader isn't sure whether or not the Governess killed Miles or not, that would be a very tough part in the movie. Because obviously by the actress's actions you would be able to tell if she was smothering him or if the boy was infact possessed. Therefore making a movie out of "Turn of the Screw" would be a very slippery slope. Everything about the movie would most likley work until it came to the points where James wanted to leave questions unanwsered.
ReplyDeleteIf the movie was made well, Turn of the Screw could be a very good horror flick. However, I think it would be very difficult to make. The director would have to make a definite stand on the reality of the ghosts because it would be hard to keep the story ambiguous. The actors' facial expressions would give away exactly what they were thinking. When watching an actor, you would definitely know if Ms. Grose actually believes the Governess or not. A lot of the mystery would be lost. I know that the Commonwheel Theatre in Lanesboro is putting on a play version of Turn of the Screw around Halloween, so it will be very interesting to see how they perform it.
ReplyDeleteKelsey Macken
ReplyDeleteWow, that is really interesting, I agree with Emilie in saying that the movie would be exceedingly hard to make. The movie would loose some of the ambiguity that the book has. Turn of the Screw is better off as a book, simply because it leaves the reader to think and answer questions on their own. In your opinion, do you think that Horror Movies should take a page out of James' book, and simply leave the ending up for the viewer to decide?
I agree, books like this would be very different in movie form because it is from 1st person, and in the movie you would not get into the governess' head, so the whole "mystery" of it would most likely be lost.
ReplyDeleteBut on the trusting ms. arko point, it seems like every time we go get a new book, we all dread getting into another one. I know i do. But like Meghann said, the books really dont turn out half bad to read. After beowulf, which took extreme effort just to understand what they were saying, and dantes inferno, the books we have read have all turned out pretty good, and simple enough to read. And ethan frome is turning out to be very interesting as well
i agree and dissagree with you on this one. i think the book would make a delightful horror movie. but the book was baaad. i had to torture myself into reading it. part of this may be because i always sarted reading it at about 10 o'clock in my pajamas in bed and was already tired. haha. point being that i also thought that the over-usage of pronouns was profoundly confusing and also made me mad at times. frustrating book overall.
ReplyDeleteI think it would make a good horror movie too. In fact, i'm pretty sure it has been made into a movie, not necessarily with the same title but if you think about it virtually every horror movie follows a story line almost identical to Turn of The Screw. I just did some research, Turn of The Screw is indeed a movie. There are actually two, one was made in 1999 and the other was, surprisingly, made a few months ago. It was released in December on BBC. Have we found something to do all class on Thursday? I think so. ;) (that wink is to imply my hint that we should watch the movie in class, not its normal connotation in text messages)
ReplyDeleteIt would be a great movie, more suspense than horror but I agree. (lol to the Bruce Willis comment 8th AP Lit is the best!) I thought this story was interesting. I, also, had a hard time reading it so I used sparknotes along with the book. (im guilty) Once, I got ahold of it, It was much easier! I agree with Ben. We should watch the movie in class. Ben, there are two verisons of the movie. One is a 1990 version and the other is a 2000 verison from my resources aka Flixster, next biggest movie website to IMDB.
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