"The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James

The interesting matter about books considering in the category of 'classics', which I am not even sure this book can be placed into (Henry James is an author who holds more of a place in that classification than, perhaps, this story does itself), is the often difficult task it can be to understand just what the story is meant to convey.  Trying to discern an author's thought process in penning a story, when so much seems to revolve around their own era of time, can make enjoying it virtually impossible.  Consider complaints high school kids voice about Shakespeare.  Though written in the English language, much of it is language about a life we no longer employ today.  The same can be said, in my opinion, of Henry James and this turn-of-the-century novella.

Such is the problem I encountered here.

Listening to it via audiobook, the two readers were exceptional in their rendering of the characters and the flow of the plot; but there never seemed to be a destination the story was heading.  There is a woman (I doubt if her name is ever given) who is employed by a wealthy man as a governess to tend to the needs of two children, Miles and Flora, the man's nephew and niece.  Miles is away at school when she arrives; however, he soon returns, having been ostensibly kicked out of school.  For what, is never known until the story's end; and still, even then, the reasoning is unclear - something I attribute to the different cultures of now and then.

The unnamed governess then experiences the presence of not one, but two, apparitions whom she learns are Peter Quint and Miss Jessel.  She learns from the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, Quint was a groundskeeper of sorts (my interpretation of his role) while Miss Jessell was the children's former governess.  Both were dead.

The governess believes both children are aware of the ghosts, though neither will confess as much.  Thereby, the story develops into a relentless pursuit by both the governess and Mrs. Grose into exposing the children as being consciously aware of the presence of the ghosts.  This would, in the governess' mind, prove they are under the ghosts influence - and evil influence.

In essence, this is what I culled from the plot.  I saw no threat from the apparitions.  I was never entirely certain whether they were actual ghosts, or if they were delusions out of the governess' mind.  It seemed things could go either way and it really would make little difference to the outcome.  My personal questions that were never answered (again, I attribute this to the hundred years of culture separating me from it) could probably be resolved with a bit of investigation from other commentaries on the story.  Others who know the era in which James wrote, and the style with which he did so, could undoubtedly open some of the doors to which my own understanding held no keys.  Yet for now, I will rest the matter where it currently lies, content the exercise in challenging myself with something different and beyond my own environment of reading material was worth it.