Languish.org

I recently reread "The Turn of the Screw."  I know that the crazy governess / real ghosts is supposed to be a major literary mystery; but in my reading it seemed obvious that the governess is unhinged.  This does leave the problem of how the governess could describe Peter Quint without ever having met him.  One could make the case that she was disturbed because she saw ghosts rather than vice-versa.  I'm leaning towards that interpretation right now; though that makes the story more HP Lovecraft than Henry James.   :cthulu:

I'm curious what Languish thinks on the subject.

I have never heard of this book.

English lit :bleeding:

I have always thought the Governess is obviously unstable but the ghosts are real - so she's not well equipped to deal with the situation to begin with and her mental health worsens due to the experience.

One of my favorite ghost stories, though, due to the aforementioned ambiguity.

Quote from: Grey Fox on May 28, 2014, 09:40:38 AM
I have never heard of this book.

English lit :bleeding:

Yeah, English lit books. Always with the screwing, and the governesses.

Oh wait, maybe that's just the kind I read.  :D

I've never finished reading anything by Henry James. -_-

The narrator is reading the late governess' memoirs, no? I always throught the children were trying to drive her mad and maybe roped in staff to act out the roles.

Quote from: Brazen on May 28, 2014, 10:15:28 AM
The narrator is reading the late governess' memoirs, no?

He's listening to a friend narrate the governess's memoirs at a holiday party.

QuoteI always throught the children were trying to drive her mad and maybe roped in staff to act out the roles.

In order for that to be the case they would have had to have gotten housekeeper to go along with their scheme.  That would explain how the governess could identify Peter Quint.  The housekeeper is also the only source of information about the ghosts and the supposed evil that previously happened in the house.

The children seem to be up to something.  I'm not so sure about the housekeeper, though.

Henry James. Uggh. He's no Henry Adams.

To quote James Thurber, "I have a reputation for having read all of Henry James, which would argue a misspent youth and middle age."

Umm.....


Henry James...American lit not British.

:contract:

Quote from: Josephus on May 29, 2014, 06:10:59 AM
Henry James...American lit not British.

:contract:

No-one said it was British, but it is English literature. Albeit with too few letter Us.

True.

But if you take a course in English Lit, at least here, it implies "over the pond" Chaucer and Tess of Dubervilles stuff.

you would only read this in an american Lit course.

Quote from: Josephus on May 29, 2014, 11:32:31 AM
True.

But if you take a course in English Lit, at least here, it implies "over the pond" Chaucer and Tess of Dubervilles stuff.

you would only read this in an american Lit course.

I'm pretty sure Henry James would have preferred to be put in the former category.   ;)

In Spain, "Spanish lit" courses include readings from both sides of the pond.

American classics were always part of British English Literature courses, but our idiotic education minister is making them less likely to be included. Though he has not, as was earlier reported, banned them.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/27/michael-gove-denies-ban-of-american-novels-from-gcse
(http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/27/michael-gove-denies-ban-of-american-novels-from-gcse)

QuoteHowever, the new syllabus leaves less flexibility for studying modern authors from outside the British isles – such as Steinbeck – although exam boards and teachers are free to include additional texts, or authors from outside of Britain and Ireland under the other categories.

I took a course in English lit in second year uni and a course in American lit in third year. We did Henry James in American lit. All I'm saying.

Quote from: Josephus on May 30, 2014, 05:50:11 AM
I took a course in English lit in second year uni and a course in American lit in third year. We did Henry James in American lit. All I'm saying.

Next time don't say it using the :contract: smiley unless you want to offend people by implying that they are stupid for not knowing how your university breaks down English-language literature.  All I'm saying.

Quote from: Josephus on May 30, 2014, 05:50:11 AM
I took a course in English lit in second year uni and a course in American lit in third year. We did Henry James in American lit. All I'm saying.

I've seen TS Eliot in British compilations.  Henry James also lived most of his life in the United Kingdom and also became an British subject.  James, though, did write about the American experience; so it would make more sense to put him as an American writer. 

(Though as a self-loathing American, he was practically Canadian.   :()

;)

Quote from: celedhring on May 30, 2014, 04:13:39 AM
In Spain, "Spanish lit" courses include readings from both sides of the pond.

Are their courses that are specific to new world literature and peninsular literature in Spain?  If so how are they called?

Quote from: Savonarola on May 30, 2014, 08:21:01 AMI've seen TS Eliot in British compilations.  Henry James also lived most of his life in the United Kingdom and also became an British subject.  James, though, did write about the American experience; so it would make more sense to put him as an American writer. 

(Though as a self-loathing American, he was practically Canadian.   :()

;)

Yep. Think you can argue for James or Eliot as British and American literature (I'd say Eliot seems a far bigger deal over here).

Quote from: garbon on May 28, 2014, 10:01:55 AM
I've never finished reading anything by Henry James. -_-

He can be tedious.

Quote from: CountDeMoney on May 30, 2014, 10:18:15 PM

Quote from: garbon on May 28, 2014, 10:01:55 AM
I've never finished reading anything by Henry James. -_-

He can be tedious.

He can be nigh on unreadable.

But he can be very good and, if you've not read it, I really recommend The Master by Colm Toibin.

Henry James was definitely among those I had to read in American lit. Some short story. The Jungle, I think.
Strangely enough, no Poe, but Ralph Waldo Emerson was required. Herman Melville too, albeit just Bartleby The Scrivener, which I enjoyed a lot.

Quote from: Savonarola on May 30, 2014, 08:25:31 AM

Quote from: celedhring on May 30, 2014, 04:13:39 AM
In Spain, "Spanish lit" courses include readings from both sides of the pond.

Are their courses that are specific to new world literature and peninsular literature in Spain?  If so how are they called?

In general, the way literature is taught here is by breaking it down into periods "Spanish Golden Age", "XXth Century", etc... that include authors from all parts of the Spanish-speaking world. There are, however, specialty courses that usually go under the "Spanish-American literature" moniker.

Have in mind that a continuous body of Spanish-American literature didn't really appear until the XIXth century, and boomed in the XXth century, while Spain-Spanish literature has declined somewhat in the same period. So when you study Spanish lit you have all the great authors in Spain, and then the colonies become independent and suddenly all the great authors start coming from there. It's sort of organic, and given our relatively small population compared to America it makes sort of sense. Why study literature from Spain as separate from the SA literature, and not Mexican literature as separate from Chilean or Argentinian one?

Quote from: Norgy on May 31, 2014, 05:13:29 AM
Henry James was definitely among those I had to read in American lit. Some short story. The Jungle, I think.
Strangely enough, no Poe, but Ralph Waldo Emerson was required. Herman Melville too, albeit just Bartleby The Scrivener, which I enjoyed a lot.

Sounds like my course...we did Emerson and his buddy, Thoreau, read Melville's Bartleby as well as James...but we also did a fair bit of Poe as well.

Quote from: Norgy on May 31, 2014, 05:13:29 AM
Henry James was definitely among those I had to read in American lit. Some short story. The Jungle, I think.
Strangely enough, no Poe, but Ralph Waldo Emerson was required. Herman Melville too, albeit just Bartleby The Scrivener, which I enjoyed a lot.

I read "Bartleby  the Scrivener" in high school.  Our teacher was from the 60s.  He thought the big mystery in the story was Bartleby's behavior; and that was caused by an unfulfilling job at meager wages.  The man had kept Bartleby down.

After reading it again years later (and being from the 90s) I think the mystery in the story is why the lawyer puts up with Bartleby for as long as he does.

Do you guys study Swedish Lit?

Quote from: The Brain on May 31, 2014, 02:14:31 PM
Do you guys study Swedish Lit?

all mystery novels, isn't it? ;)

Quote from: Josephus on May 31, 2014, 03:16:27 PM

Quote from: The Brain on May 31, 2014, 02:14:31 PM
Do you guys study Swedish Lit?

all mystery novels, isn't it? ;)

Yes.

(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi13.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa299%2FSlayhem%2Fpippi_zps69558cad.jpg&hash=7cae01ec2916a7840f35ec5a1ee15b83a744e55c)

and Pippi, of course, can't forget Pippi.

Quote from: Josephus on June 01, 2014, 07:01:18 AM
and Pippi, of course, can't forget Pippi.

Not after he helped save Faramir!