Finished this last night, and despite picturing Julie Harris as Eleanor throughout the reading, I still can see how Jackson has written the character skillfully as a troubled young woman who in fact was exactly what Harris portrayed.
I had seen the original movie several times, and I remember thinking at the time that Harris played Eleanor with a bit of overacting–that breathless, pathetic, "please like me" manner that she does so well. But it seems that Jackson wrote the character so perfectly well that I saw the way she was, noticed when she started changing, and my feelings towards her changed as the story unrolled.
While Jackson is also a master crafter of the subtleties of the ghost story–or rather, the horror tale, I would say, as much of what goes on may indeed be in Eleanor’s mind and may have infected the others to that point of imagination as well–the plot is fairly light, the drama is not overly intense with conflict, and I’d say the true prize in this novel is the unveiling of the layers of Eleanor’s subconscious mind.
Well written, of course, and both entertaining and challenging in its way, The Haunting of Hill House is one of the better books I’ve read in this genre that has managed to maintain its literary status as well.
Oh yes, and I don’t know whether the movie changed the ending, or perhaps I just blanked out that part in my mind, but the final scene is just priceless not only for its twist, but for its (excuse the pun) impact.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology