The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

The Turn of the Screw is a ghost story by Henry James, which was originally published in 1898. The novel opens with a group of friends who are telling ghost stories. After hearing a ghost story involving a child, a man named Douglas proposes to tell the group a true story about two children. Douglas asks the party to wait for a manuscript to be delivered to him. He explains that the story was written by a woman who was once his sister’s governess and that it describes events in her life. Douglas was in love with the governess. She is now dead, but members of the group realize that Douglas still has strong feelings for her.

Days later, the manuscript arrives, and the story begins. The entire story is told from the point of view of the Bly governess. Because of this narrative construction, the reader must evaluate the honesty of the story. It reminded me of the narration of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.

The governess takes a job caring for two children at Bly. The one condition of her job is that she must never speak to the Master of the house about the children, who are his niece and nephew, Flora and Miles. The governess agrees to these bizarre conditions and falls in love at first sight with the Master. She befriends Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper.

When ten-year-old Miles is expelled from school, he joins his eight-year-old sister at home. Soon, strange events begin occurring. The governess sees two ghosts, Peter Quint (the former gardener) and Miss Jessel (the former governess). The governess takes it upon herself to protect the children from the ghosts and believes the ghosts and children are communicating with one another. But through her actions, will the governess help or hurt the children?

I think the greatness of this story is how mysteriously vague it is. It left me with so many questions. Is the governess crazy? Are the children crazy or possessed? Are there really ghosts? When the governess speaks to the children, do they know which "he" and "she" the governess is asking them about, and vice versa? I wondered if the characters understood one another, and how much of the conversations were one-sided. The governess makes many presumptions. For instance, she never asks why Miles was expelled from school. At first, the governess believes Miles is an angel and then she later thinks he’s a demon, but how much did the boy’s behavior really change?

Looking back, most of the motivations, especially those of the children are coaxed. For instance, at the lake, is Flora really possessed and ugly, or is she just scared of her freakish and unrelenting governess? The children may be biding their time until their Uncle arrives, thinking that the governess mails their letters and that he's busy. Meanwhile, the governess has hoarded their letters.

I wondered how the governess identified the ghosts. Mrs. Grose recognized Peter Quint upon hearing his description, but the governess pounced on the idea and furthered it rapidly. The governess also leapt at the idea of Miss Jessel being one of the ghosts with little rationale. One thing that I found odd was the episode involving crying on the steps. The governess first sees Miss Jessel cry there, and later she cries in the same location. What did this repetition mean? Was it to show how similar Miss Jessel and governess were in temperament and position, or did it serve some other purpose? Is Miss Jessel simply the governess's idea of herself or what she could become?

The governess's love of the Master is also inexplicable. Does she truly feel his love is reciprocated through his disinterest? Does Mrs. Grose understand that the governess is in love with the Master? In addition, the governess was so worried about Miss Jessel and Peter Quint controlling the children, but she did the same thing. The governess was definitely strange, but it's impossible to argue that the children were not. They were equally strange.

In the closing scene, did either Miles or the governess name Miss Jessel? I wasn't sure who said it. The use of "he" and "she" leave almost any scenario possible.

After I finished the novel, I came up with a strange idea in trying to connect the prologue to the main story. I began wondering if Miles was really Douglas and if Miles did not die at the story’s conclusion. I went back to the prologue and re-read it. I was surprised that there was no return to the story-telling group at the end of the story, and instead, the tale just ended. Douglas's description gives the impression that he was in love with the governess, putting his impartiality into question. He mentioned that the woman was his younger sister's governess, which made me wonder if his younger sister was Flora and if he was still-alive Miles. Of course, I may be over-reaching. The main purpose of the prologue may have been to put distance between the reader and the governess, and the use of the manuscript could have been a contrivance to tell such a long story.

Another thing puzzled me about the governess. After such a horrid experience, would she really want to seek a new position as a governess ever again? I surely wouldn't. I wonder also at the conditions the governess agreed to. She committed to go to an isolated house and raise two children she had never seen without ever being able to contact their only relation. Why would someone agree to that?

In reading theories online, one reader said that they believed that Mrs. Grose was in fact the children’s mother from an affair with the Uncle, and that the governess had taken control of the children from their mother by making her inferior in her own home. Stemming from this, it was suggested that Mrs. Grose was conniving to make the governess mad by planting ideas in her mind. Though I did not see this during my reading, I thought it was an interesting take.

The Turn of the Screw is one of those books that leaves you with many questions and an eerie feeling. It’s the type of book that demands re-reading.

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Advice for a Young Investigator by Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934) was a Spanish scientist. He made groundbreaking discoveries on the anatomy of the brain and nervous system. For his pioneering scientific research, Cajal received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1906 with Camillo Golgi.

Three drawings by Santiago Ramon y Cajal from the book Comparative Study of the Sensory Areas of the Human Cortex (1899). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Cajal made many beautiful and detailed studies of the microscopic structures of neurons and the brain. One example, shown above, are his detailed drawings showing a comparative study of the areas of the human cortex. The left panel shows the Nissl-stained visual cortex of a human adult. The middle panel shows the Nissl-stained motor cortex of a human adult. The right panel shows a Golgi-stained cortex of a 1 1/2-month-old infant.

In Advice for a Young Investigator (1897), Santiago Ramon y Cajal provides encouragement for scientists, particularly new investigators. Many parts of the book were humorous, in particular the characterizations of scientists and the impediments in the way of scientific progress. Cajal wrote his advice for an audience of male scientists (he considers women helpmates). However, ignoring the sexism of the time, Cajal’s advice and teachings can be applied by women scientists too.

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The Trumpeter Swan by Skylar Hansen

The Trumpeter Swan: A White Perfection (1984) is a book by Skylar Hansen about four trumpeter swan breeding pairs. The trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator) is the largest waterfowl species in North America. Hansen observed and photographed the birds and their offspring for a year, paying particular attention to parenting behaviors and offspring survival.

The male swans are called "cobs," and the females are termed "pens." Although the birds once had a vast range that covered most of Canada and the northern United States, their breeding grounds are now localized in small regions. Once the cob and pen form pair bonds, the swans nest together for life. They form strong attachments to their nest sites and guard their nesting territory fiercely.

I hadn’t read a book about nature and wildlife for so long. This book reminded me of what I'd been missing. My favorite thing about the book was the photographs. The photos were all taken by the author, and they were striking and beautiful.

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Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927) tells the story of two French missionary priests, Bishop Jean Latour and Father Joseph Vaillant, who aim to establish a Roman Catholic diocese in New Mexico. It is a work of historical fiction. Cather roughly based these characters on Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the first Archbishop of Santa Fe, and Joseph Projectus Machebeuf, the first Bishop of Denver.

Latour and Vaillant were childhood friends. In contrast to Latour, who is serious and introverted, Vaillant is charismatic and outgoing. Both men are deeply committed to their work. Latour and Vaillant are responsible for a vast area of the Southwest. There are no roads or trains in the region yet, and there is no set way to travel, which makes their journeys difficult. The two French priests face many adventures and challenges in their work. The men are isolated in their tasks and goals, and both Latour and Vaillant are admirable protagonists.

In Death Comes for the Archbishop, Cather depicts the vastness of the Southwest and its mix of different people, cultures, religions, and traditions. Cather’s writing allows you to feel as though you are in New Mexico, whether you have ever visited the region or not. There is deep symbolism in the novel. For example, characters depict the seven deadly sins in story form. Cather also inserts some historical characters in her narrative. For instance, she includes Kit Carson as a character.

Early on, Father Latour feels disconnected from the land in the southwest. He plants an orchard to feel at home. In his later years, he appreciates the wilderness itself, choosing to remain in New Mexico instead of returning to France to die. His crisis in faith is moving, as is his longing for his dear friend after Vaillant leaves Santa Fe. Through it all, Latour remains committed to his goal of building a cathedral as a mark upon the wilderness.

The novel is a beautiful story of friendship, devotion, goodness, and commitment to a higher purpose.

Favorite Quotes:
"'To fulfil the dreams of one's youth; that is the best that can happen to a man. No worldly success can take the place of that.'"

"A wave of feeling passed over his bronze features as he said slowly:
'My friend has come.'
That was all, but it was everything; welcome, confidence, appreciation."

"One might almost say that an apparition is human vision corrected by divine love. I do not see you as you really are, Joseph; I see you through my affection for you. The Miracles of the Church seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near to us from afar off, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment our eyes can see and our ears can hear what is there about us always."

"These raindrops, Father Latour kept thinking, were the shape of tadpoles, and they broke against his nose and cheeks, exploding with a splash, as if they were hollow and full of air."

"...it was the Indian's way to pass through a country without disturbing anything; to pass and leave no trace, like fish through the water, or birds through the air."

"But Jean, who was at ease in society and always the flower of courtesy, could not form new ties. It had always been so. He was like that even as a boy; gracious to everyone, but known to a very few."

"'Once that kinship is there, time will only make it stronger.'"

"That air would disappear from the whole earth in time, perhaps; but long after his day. He did not know just when it had become so necessary to him, but he had come back to die in exile for the sake of it. Something soft and wild and free, something that whispered to the ear on the pillow, lightened the heart, softly, softly picked the lock, slid the bolts, and released the prisoned spirit of man into the wind, into the blue and gold, into the morning, into the morning!"

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A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

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In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway in 1923. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Published in 1924, In Our Time is a collection of Ernest Hemingway’s early short stories. Hemingway has a sharpness to his prose that is unlike that of any other writer. I enjoyed reading this collection of stories, but I am fonder of Hemingway’s novels.

Each chapter of the collection begins with a short, tumultuous sketch or vignette. Then a longer short story follows. Hemingway explained to Ezra Pound that the vignettes and stories were meant to be read together and that the full set was interconnected.


First edition cover of In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway, published in New York in 1925, Public domain, via Wikipedia.

This collection introduces the reader to Nick Adams, a character that Hemingway follows through life and returns to in his later stories. Many of the stories and one sketch feature Nick Adams as the main character. It’s also worth noting that "A Very Short Story" contains the seed that germinated into Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms. My favorite of the stories in this collection was "The End of Something." It’s one of the Nick Adams stories, and it rang true to life.

The joy of reading Hemingway is the simplicity of his presentation and the fact that he doesn’t tell you what he means. The meaning is there, but only if you put the pieces together yourself.

Related Review:
The Dangerous Summer by Ernest Hemingway

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O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

O Pioneers! (1913) tells the story of the Bergson family in Nebraska. The novel mainly focuses on Alexandra, the eldest child, and Emil, the youngest sibling. At the beginning of the story, Alexandra's father John Bergson is dying. John leaves his land in Alexandra's capable hands, and he wants his family to preserve what he worked for since leaving Sweden to immigrate to America. John considers his eldest sons, Oscar and Lou, to be less capable of managing the property than Alexandra. John has foresight. Over the course of the story, Alexandra repeatedly makes decisions that go against the norm that allow her family's farmland to prosper.

Alexandra has one friend who understands her named Carl Linstrum. When Carl’s family decides to leave Hanover after years of crop failures, Alexandra feels isolated. Later, Alexandra and her brothers divide the land evenly when her brothers marry. She continues to manage her own farm, which becomes the most prosperous on the Divide.

The narrative then skips ahead to sixteen years after Alexandra's father's death. Alexandra has the money to send Emil to college and she raised her younger brother without him ever having to toil on the land. Out of friendship, Alexandra has taken in Ivar, a Russian man that many consider crazy. Since the early days, Ivar advised Alexandra and helped her with the animals. Because of Ivar’s strong love of nature and life, he isolates himself from others and wishes to cause the least damage to the land. Ivar is one of the most interesting characters in the novel. Both he and Alexandra still recall the harsh realities of the land when they first arrived, while other characters seem ashamed of the memory and want to appear "civilized." Alexandra’s meddling brothers want her to send Ivar to an asylum, but she adamantly refuses.

Alexandra's neighbor is a pretty, Bohemian girl named Marie Shabata. Marie was introduced in the first chapter as a child who is Emil's age. She marries Frank, a difficult and brooding man, who is filled with jealousy. They live at the old Linstrum place. Marie tries to find brightness and happiness in what she sees, and Alexandra enjoys her company.

Carl Linstrum returns for a visit after many years away. Carl is mesmerized with Alexandra and is dissatisfied with his own life. As Carl and Alexandra grow closer, Oscar and Lou grow angry. They think that Carl wants Alexandra's land—land that they wrongfully consider theirs. Oscar and Lou believe that Alexandra should not marry at forty, and that she is a fool to let Carl hang around. Sadly, although Alexandra wants Carl to stay, he leaves for Alaska to win success there, and Alexandra is more alone than ever.

Still, Alexandra is more attached to the land than she is to any living person. She embodies the spirit of the pioneer and the land itself. These characteristics leave her ignorant to the emotions of those around her. She fails to see that Emil is deeply attracted to Marie and that Marie wants to reciprocate Emil’s feelings. Emil decides to leave for Mexico, in an attempt to escape his feelings, but while he is there, he writes letters to both Alexandra and Marie. Marie is struggling to hide herself from Emil's love for her. When Emil returns to Hanover a year later, he kisses Marie in the middle of a church crowd while everyone is in the dark. In stunning simplicity, no one notices anything has happened, though Marie and Emil’s worlds have shifted. Marie pleas with Emil to leave because she cannot live with him nearby. When Emil comes to say goodbye, he sees Marie under a white mulberry tree. Her husband Frank sees them together, and he shoots and kills them both in a terrifying and bloody scene.

Alexandra is shocked and lost. She dreams more often of a man of enormous strength who can pick her up and carry her over her fields. She resolves to try to help Frank who is now in prison, and surprisingly places more blame for the murder on her brother and Marie. She learns that Carl has returned upon hearing the news. At last, Carl and Alexandra decide to marry.

The novel entwines two stories into one. The underlying story is about Alexandra and the land and her determination. The second story is about Emil and Marie’s love for one another and its consequences. Cather has an understanding of how decisions have consequences. What is known and hidden in character’s hearts shines through in her portrayals. The story is harsh, true, and believable, and amid the land's richness, this book is a gem.

Favorite Quotes:

"It's by understanding me, and the boys, and mother, that you've helped me. I expect that is the only way one person ever really can help another."

"Then the Genius of the Divide, the great, free spirit which breathes across it, must have bent lower than it ever bent to a human will before. The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman."

"The grain is so heavy that it bends toward the blade and cuts like velvet."

" Isn’t it queer: there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years."

"The veil that had hung uncertainly between them for so long was dissolved. Before she knew what she was doing, she had committed herself to that kiss that was at once a boy's and a man's, as timid as it was tender; so like Emil and so unlike any one else in the world. Not until it was over did she realize what it meant. And Emil, who had so often imagined the shock of this first kiss, was surprised at its gentleness and naturalness. It was like a sigh which they had breathed together; almost sorrowful, as if each were afraid of wakening something in the other."

"How terrible it was to love people when you could not really share their lives!"

Related Reviews:
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather

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