Even though after reading Henry James in school several times and then declaring him my nemesis, for he is the master triumphant of the never-ending sentence, and saying I would never read from him again, I could not then resist the pull of an audiobook narrated by Emma Thompson, and indeed I am glad I did not do so.
Phewf, done with that nonsense. That is what it is like to read Henry James. The first paragraph in The Wings of the Dove nearly killed me. But that is the magic of Emma Thompson. Maybe The Turn of the Screw is just more readable than his other books, but I think most of my enjoyment of it is due to her performance. She brings the story to life, and she brings clarity to James’s words. I downloaded this book for free ages ago from Audible, and I am only now getting around to listen to it because I pulled it out of my TBR Jar. That thing does have its uses.
All that said, I’m only giving this three stars because I don’t know what to make of the story. I can’t make it make full sense in my head, even after reading lots of other people’s analysis, and several detailed summaries. It is ambiguous, and I do not do well with ambiguity. The longer it sits with me, the more infuriating the ending is. I know I am in the minority on this one, because even people who don’t read classics all that much like this one. I do want to watch the movie adaptation, The Innocents, and maybe The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix, and then we’ll see.