The Little Stranger is a gothic novel by Sarah Waters. The story is set in the collapsing mansion of the Ayres family. The book starts off harmless enough but develops into a ghost story (the s p o o k).
Honestly, I was not that impressed by the plot. There was very little tension and suspense compared to books like Harry Potter, and while the plot twists weren’t quite predictable, they weren’t earth-shattering either. I felt throughout reading that I could put the book down and go eat a snack. The transition from normalcy to madness was well executed because the dread gradually creeps and ramps up, but some parts felt slow and a little tedious. Granted, this may be because of my state of mind while reading. Because I read this while my brain was still addicted to the dopamine rushes from Youtube and other fast-paced apps, my criticism of the pace may be because of my brain in overdrive. I am currently re-reading to verify.
While the book was underwhelming in plot, the language was very fascinating to me. Although I’m sure many other old books adopt the same tone, reading a style of writing I never saw before was still surprising. The narrator was extremely sensitive to verbal and nonverbal cues in a descriptive and thoughtful way. His speech shifted around from self-deprecating to reflective; it was almost like the narrator was thinking his thoughts and mocking them at the same time. The author’s way of writing his speech gave me a good idea on his character and how his mind worked, and described the setting in a vivid yet natural way.
Without giving anything away, here are a few lines from the book:
“… The weathered sandstone edging. They made it look blurred and slightly uncertain—like an ice, I thought, just beginning to melt in the sun” (Waters 1).
“The experience can leave one drained, but also oddly wakeful and edgy, and now my mind, with nothing to anchor it, began to run over the details of the past few hours like a film on a loop” (Waters 483).
When the narrator described the sandstone, I immediately got a hazy and mysterious “vibe” instead of the typical grand academic atmosphere most books describe with sandstone. In the second quote, instead of saying something like “I was so tired, but still clear minded for some reason. I drifted off to sleep still thinking about what just happened,” Waters writes that the doctor felt “oddly wakeful” and that his mind was unanchored. The author avoided cheesiness and cliché, and added an introspective film over the narrator’s observations.
If you’re just looking for a quick spook, I think you’d have a better shot with something by Poe. That said, I would highly recommend The Little Stranger for a model of musing and contemplative writing. It might be interesting to observe how the author indirectly describes things for a more natural and thought-provoking tone.
The book doesn't seem too interesting, but I like how you brought up how the book is narrated. It seems like a cool narrative style. I don't think I'll ever pick up this book for fun, but maybe as a way to look at the author's descriptions for new perspectives. Nice review!
ReplyDeleteI feel like this would be a book that I would maybe read the first few chapters, and then end up forgetting about the whole book. In my opinion it seems a bit bland and from what you said, the similarities to other books seems like too much.
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