The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House was a pioneer of the haunted house genre. It mainly follows Elanor Vance, a young woman looking for a new purpose in life after her mother's death, and her descent into madness. A paranormal researcher, Dr. John Montague,  invites Elanor and two others, Luke and Theodora, to come observe supernatural occurrences in Hill House. The book moves back and forth between the very methodical explanations by Montague, and Elanor's increasingly unsettled inner monologue. There are very few interactions between the house guests and any spirits. Instead, the house itself seems to do most of the work, whispering to Elanor, seducing her into fantasies of that new purpose she needs. These fantasies lead her into extending herself in unusual ways, trying to fulfill these fantasies. But after overstepping all of her personally held social boundaries (asking to move in with Theodora, and flirting with Luke) she ends feeling alienated by her comrades, as they become annoyed by her. What's so effective about this book's description Elanor's story is the way it carries us along her path to complete disillusionment. Somehow we are aware that she is crazy, yet we're fooled as well. Almost every mistake she makes feels honest, and every time she does something shocking, the other characters don't seem justified in being shocked. We see how unhappy she is before coming to the house, and so every hope the house feeds her is a false hope for us as well. We want her to be happy. Very good, easy, short read. Would benefit from a floor plan printed on a page, so the complex descriptions of the layout of the house could be a little more clear.

American Pastoral, by Phillip Roth

A book I have been working on for about 3 years. I finally got down to business and started over, finishing it via audio. The long history I've had with this book made me like it more than I would have if I had finished it on my first try instead of my third. Anyway, I thought it was great. The Swede is such an incredible character because he can be three totally different people depending on who's talking about him. In the beginning he's described as the hero of Weequahic, Newark, the shining symbol of American culture in a community made mostly of Jewish immigrants. Shortly after his death, his younger brother reveals him to be a weak, innocent man-child who never grew out of the American dream. Over the rest of the book, we see from his perspective that he's as strong as his town believed him to be, but completely unaware of what it's like to have life deny his dreams. Until his daughter, Merry, bombs a post office.