Here's what I said back on December 28th:

Shirley Jackson is a vivid horror writer, not vivid as in blood and gore, but like her most famous short story, The Lottery, her depictions of the horrors of human cruelty are ones that stick in your imagination forever. Since reading that short story way back in junior high, I'd never tried anything else that Jackson had written and was happy to have finally rediscovered her work with the short novel We Have Always Lived In the Castle, a chilling, twisted, smart, haunting book about a family rocked by murder, insanity, suspicion and class warfare.

Merricat Blackwood (named by Book Magazine as one of The 100 Best Fictional Characters Since 1900) is your narrator, a strange child of eighteen and one of the only surviving members of a prominent family that was killed at breakfast when someone put arsenic in their sugar. Constance, her older sister was acquitted of the murders and poor Uncle Julian's body and mind were permanently warped by his non lethal dosage. Together the three of them, along with Jonas, the cat, live in an old mansion apart from the rest of the village. They are completely sheltered from the outside world except for the two days a week Merricat goes into the village for goods and must endure the stares and laughter of the villagers, and Sundays when members of other prominent families bravely take tea with the two mysterious girls.

Their beloved castle is under the protection of Merricat's sympathetic magic described by wikipedia as:

“a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence. Imitation involves using effigies or poppets to affect the environment of people, or occasionally people themselves. Correspondence is based on the idea that one can influence something based on its relationship to another thing.”

For example, she buries items like a box of silver coins and nails her father's books to the surrounding trees to keep out strangers; once that book falls, she knows danger is imminent.

That danger comes in the form of Cousin Charles, a thieving manipulator who can fool the frail Constance, but not so easily the equally manipulative Merricat who envisions different ways he could die (turning him into a fly and leaving him in a spiders web, or perhaps just stomping him to death in the garden…) during a rather unappreciated visit. His presence sparks a chain of events that breaks down their odd routines and concludes in an eruption of fire and violence which marks the beginning of a new and far weirder way of life for the two sisters.

It's part Grey Gardens, part Tim Burton (who would have a grand time adapting this), part old timey Gaslight thriller, and I loved it. It was interesting to find out that Jackson was an agoraphobic herself, which is probably why the extremely eccentric but happy sisters are sympathetic and oddly relatable while all the outsiders are depicted as cruel or petty.

While Jackson isn't as well known today as she deserves to be, this, her last novel did come out in a new edition in 2007 with a smart looking cover featuring an illustration by Thomas Ott (pictured) but the original cover is also pretty wonderful and both adorn an equally great read.

RUNNERS UP:
The Demon Princes
Random Family
Code of the Woosters
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
A Friend of the Earth
Please Don't Promise Me Forever

See more: Books 1960s Best of Fiction Mysteries

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Posted on November 2, 2009

I'm not entirely sure what I expected from the internationally popular mystery, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but it wasn't what I got. I thought, based on the title, it would be kind of arty, off kilter, or exotic (though the setting in rural Sweden is, admittedly, pretty neat) but it's fairly straight forward, though quite complex in plot.

It's half in the tradition of “cozy” mysteries and half a pretty gruesome tale of severe sexual abuse. It's light and dark in turns and while I'm not sure that I truly loved it, it is a page turner.

A journalist and a social pariah become, through a semi unbelievable turn of events, partners in crime. Their assignment: to uncover the truth behind the decades-old disappearance of a young girl from a seemingly secluded island. Along the way, they unearth sinister secrets far more grisly than they expected.

It's at times ludicrous, and the language is a bit clunky, but that could just be the translation. Author Steig Larsson, a Swedish journalist turned novelist, (sadly) died right before his book was published and became a world wide sensation. Undoubtedly a film version will follow.

See more: Books 2000s Mysteries Scandinavian

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Posted on September 21, 2009

Doubt centers around an acting tour de force that never becomes annoying the way a lot of movies that feature acting tour de forces usually do (read: Rachel Getting Married). I really didn't have a lot of interest in seeing this one and think it was too mildly presented to audiences and advertised as something much more boring than it is. True, it's comprised of speeches and monologues (as you probably know, it's adapted by John Patrick Shanley from his own renowned stage play), but I found it completely compelling.

Much of the credit goes to the ever wonderful Meryl Streep – a woman who knows how to act with an accent (in this case Bronx, 1960s) who's so good so often that one takes her for granted and forgets her talents, or at least only recalls recent performances in Mama Mia and Prime over her roles in Kramer vs Kramer and Angels in America. But the credit extends to Philip Seymour Hoffman too (man who, when he's good, he's exceptional), this is one of his best roles in years (I also personally loved him most in Boogie Nights) and the small supporting cast, including Amy Adams doing wide-eyed as only she can and Viola Davis, are great.

Some critics have complained about the film's 'staginess', but it never bothered me. I thought it was a thought provoking still life of a problem that we now know has been far reaching and horrible. It plays with your emotions and prejudices and you find yourself in doubt as the plot progresses. The amiable characters that you like and want to believe may in fact be monsters, and those that are less likable and even frightening could actually be the only voice of reason. This was a real surprise.

See more: Movies 1960s 2000s Drama Historical Mysteries

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Posted on May 18, 2009

Extremely charming, pleasurable, and clever mystery comedy
starring Myrna Loy and William Powell as witty, carefree, martini-soaked aristocratic sleuths. The entire collection (six movies in all) was just released on DVD. All are good, and they are movies “you can watch with the whole family” this holiday and actually enjoy it.

See more: Movies 1930s Comedy Mysteries

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Posted on December 18, 2005