Book Club: September/October

[Cyndi Kingsley]

I finished last night, which was great because it's due tomorrow and I wouldn't have been able to renew! I didn't find it spooky so much as it created this really unsettled feeling for me the more I read it. But thoroughly enjoyed this read.

Spoiler: I'm talking about the ending so you've been warned!

I do have to say that I did not see Nell driving into a tree at the end! Like what the heck?! I didn't think it was smart to let her leave on her own, though I did get the doctor's thought that she needed a clean break from Hill House. I get that she felt she had nothing to go back to, that this was the most exciting point of her life that she was being from, and she'd been rejected by Theo.

Those last chapters where she was sneaking around and then that evening when she was having her break and running around the place were especially well written.

I have been trying to make sense of why Arthur and Mrs. Montague were even introduced because I agree that it seemed to take away from the tension building to that point. They were believers in the supernatural where the others were approaching it from more of a 'let's see what happens' so I guess that's one reason. Eager to hear other folks thoughts for why they were introduced.

it's interesting to hear from you all how much the Netflix show diverges from the book because I thought the way it was written was very much scenes in their time at Hill House.

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

Spoiler

I have been trying to make sense of why Arthur and Mrs. Montague were even introduced because I agree that it seemed to take away from the tension building to that point. They were believers in the supernatural where the others were approaching it from more of a 'let's see what happens' so I guess that's one reason. Eager to hear other folks thoughts for why they were introduced.

it's interesting to hear from you all how much the Netflix show diverges from the book because I thought the way it was written was very much scenes in their time at Hill House.

Yeah, I think having people who were bought in as a juxtaposition to the rest isn't a bad direction to take the story, but introducing them that late in the game was a mess. I had originally expected Dr. Montague to be the one filling that role, and the 'test subjects' so to speak to be the sceptics.

I haven't seen the Netflix series, but when I took a look at the summary on Wikipedia I had to double check I was even looking at the right page. It seems to keep the setting broadly and some of the character names, but change just about everything else. Apparently there was a faithful movie adaptation in the 60s and a much less faithful one in the 90s, which flopped pretty badly. The 1960s one actually sounded pretty interesting to me - I'm considering checking it out. Here's the summary for the Netflix show, for anyone who hasn't seen it;

In the summer of 1992, Hugh and Olivia Crain and their five children—Steven, Shirley, Theodora (Theo), Luke, and Eleanor (Nell)—move into Hill House to renovate the mansion in order to sell it and build their own house, designed by Olivia. However, due to unexpected repairs, they have to stay longer, and they begin to experience increasing paranormal phenomena, resulting in a tragic loss and the family fleeing from the house. Twenty-six years later, the Crain siblings and their estranged father reunite after another tragedy strikes them, and they are forced to confront how their time in Hill House has affected each of them.