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2024-05-14 1:08 am

The Lottery and Other Stories

by Shirley Jackson

Paperback, 1982

Status

Checked out

Genres

General Fiction

Publication

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1982), Edition: Reissue, 320 pages

Description

A powerful collection of short stories by Shirley Jackson"The Lottery," one of the most terrifying stories of the twentieth century, created a sensation when it was first published in the New Yorker. "Powerful and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Jackson's lifetime, unites "The Lottery" with twenty-four equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate her remarkable range-from the hilarious to the truly horrible-and power as a storyteller.

User reviews

LibraryThing member GingerbreadMan

I fell in love with Jackson’s crisp, exact prose and dense ambience when I read We Have Always Lived in the Castle last year, and have been looking forward to reading more. I was not disappointed.

This is brilliance. Jackson’s sense of ever so slightly tilted everyday stories, beautifully

composed is a creepy joy to read, and I’ve been savoring this book. The title story is, apparently, very well known to American readers as a must-read in school, and it’s easy to see why. Without really stating anything, just casually describing a process, it’s a chilling look at conformism and people’s willingness to follow tradition. For pure shivers down the spine-value, it’s hard to match, and it’s probably a good move from the editor of this collection to put it last in this collection. But even though most of the stories here are much less explosive, there are many more eerie moments of everyday cruelty, of identity slipping or of lives falling apart in a less obvious way. Sometimes the animosity never even surfaces, like in the story of two war mothers discovering that the petty things keeping them apart are stronger than the ones bringing them together. All during polite, even warm, conversation.

Among my many favorites in this bouquet of poisonous flowers are: the story about the perfect host being driven out of his own dinner party, cuckoo style, the sickening everyday racism surrounding Ms. MacLane’s flower garden, the woman realizing the new neighbors are some very strange people indeed, and the surreal and scary trip to the New York dentist. The list could be much longer. One or two of the very short stories might be a simple pun, but most of them are here, in me, to stay. Already in mid-january, this is a strong contender for read of the year, I suspect.

LibraryThing member bragan

This is an odd little story collection. Most of the stories in it are, on the face of things, just tiny little captured pieces of ordinary life, usually featuring housewives in domestic settings. Often they start at seemingly random moments and end abruptly with nothing in particular having

happened. But running through them all, often very, very subtly, is this vague feeling of quiet desperation, of people -- usually women -- hemmed in by fences of social conformity that they can never quite perceive, reaching vaguely for some sense of personal identity that doesn't quite exist. Taken individually, many of them might seem incomplete or pointless, but as a whole, I think the collection adds up to something more than the sum of its parts. I will admit that, towards the end, I began to feel it had all gone on a bit too long, and my interest began to flag... But then, after putting the book down for some sleep, I picked it up again and read "The Tooth," which I thought encapsulated a lot of the themes of this collection beautifully, followed soon after by the quietly chilling title story, which I think is made much more effective by the context of everything that comes before it, and I was impressed with what Jackson's doing here all over again.

LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba

This is a volume of Shirley Jackson Short stories, someone who defined American Gothic style of writing. Its not something I understood until reading this book, but now I get - its the uneasiness/wrongness of living a very normal life. Its the friction of being who you are vs conforming to society

expectation, and its a difficult thing to define as a style.

As for the stories, as in any short story collection, some will be better than others. The stand out story is, of course, "The Lottery", which is the last story in the collection. I read it in high school for class, but didn't get the emotional undertones, or the hypocritical, I'll go along with the system and until it focuses on me...

Of course, there are other stories in the volume. I think my second favorite is the "Flower Garden", this is a story of a woman who married into a large family, pillars of the town. When she makes a friend with a widow who hired a black man to help in the garden, she finds herself getting ostracized by the town folk. So, she needs to decide - stay with society, or stay with her new friend....

There are 26 stories in this volume, and all of them have a feeling of being off somehow.... Anyway, its a volume of stories I will be revisiting.

LibraryThing member Feleciak

The Lottery

Subtle/Eerie mix

4.5 stars

Positioned in the center of town an annual (June 27th) lottery is held. Everyone has to attend. Each person takes a slip of paper from a black box. The person with a marked paper is the recipient of a rather unorthodox prize. The cheeriness and tone of the book

doesn't prepare the reader for its epic ending.

LibraryThing member lauriebrown54

This is a collection of short stories, all rather grim. The Daemon Lover is James Harris in the story of that name, but he reappears in most of the later stories as different people of the same name. While Jackson is sometimes thought of as a horror writer because of ‘The Lottery’ and the novel

‘The Haunting of Hill House’, these stories do not have any supernatural elements to them – ‘The Lottery’, while rather horrific, is about human weirdness. Some of them *do* venture into the odd, however. These stories are about the quiet nastiness that humans inflict on each other every day- racism, snobbery, classism, alienation, sexism (especially sexism) and everyday cruelty fill this book. The characters are the kind of people we meet every day; there are no heroes or outright villains- but even the stories where nothing is overtly happening are filled with tension.

These stories were written in the 1940s, so it may be hard for readers to feel the stories are realistic depictions of everyday life. Thankfully, some of the assumptions made back then have fallen by the wayside, at least in most of the US. But despite the 40s settings, many of the stories remain pertinent. This is literary fiction, but literary fiction that may make the reader feel uncomfortable.

LibraryThing member ScoLgo

Jackson's writing makes me queasy. In these stories, she repeatedly presents seemingly ordinary people in seemingly ordinary environments. She then introduces some otherness, some thing that is just not quite right. It might be a slight shift of perspective or a wave of dread that approaches

inexorably, like a tsunamu might. As each story progresses, this feeling of tense wrongness builds until you feel like screaming. Or throwing up, maybe.

For me, there were several standouts in this collection. The Daemon Lover, Trial by Combat, The Renegade, The Dummy, and Men With Their Big Shoes'. One other standout really reminded me of another classic short story; Pillar of Salt, brought to mind The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins. That same whiff of something being off. That same subtle shift from apparent normalcy to a squicky feeling of wrongness - and then that same scrabbling slide into full-blown lunacy. Chilling.

This is a very good collection. I really want to read The Haunting of Hill House now - but I think I'll save it for next October.

LibraryThing member clfisha

Shirley Jackson is a master at taking everyday life and twisting into ominous shapes, and whilst these very short tales are a mixed bag there are more than enough good ones to make this a must read. Morality and social life are viewed through odd perspectives. The loneliness and alienation we all

feel at times is pinned and displayed in delicious biteszied vignettes and you ride happily along with polite society until you feel the creeping horror as things go awry, when it's rules create racism or death. You share the horror at the strangers that kids can become and then sit inside someone's else head with growing murderous rage at their husbands unthinking actions and what's more you can understand it. This empathy is what makes the horror all the more real.. I mean what if she is talking about our own lives?

It is in an intense, wonderful read and though I didn't always like every story (and I missed the growing evocative atmosphere of her novels) I would highly recommend to anyone.

LibraryThing member Schmerguls

5546. The Lottery and Other Stories, by Shirley Jackson (read 25 Mar 2018) When I read the biography of Shirley Jackson by Ruth Franklin I decided I should read The :Lottery again--I read it years ago--since it was such an important factor in the author's life. This book has 24 other short stories

included so I read them all, even though I do not like to read lots of short stories in a book since one keeps starting over so many times in the course of reading the book. This book has The Lottery as the last story in the book. I found the stories of uneven merit. Probably the best ones I guess were "The Daemon Lover" , "Trial by Combat", and "Charles", but of course the most sensational story is "The Lottery". I had sort of thought it was laid colonial,like the witch trials, but the story talks of tractors and is laid in present time--which makes it highly unlikely,of course. The matter-of-factness of the town people is striking and chilling. It is less than 12 pages long and if you have not read it, you should as it is a good illustration of Shirley Jackson and her unusual mind and ability..

LibraryThing member plenilune

While I picked this up to see if "The Lottery" has held up since I read it in high school (and it has), this collection is far more than just its title story. Whether she's writing about social issues such as race ("After You, My Dear Alphonse", "Flower Garden") or class ("Men with Their Big

Shoes"), Jackson is a master of the short story. She succinctly captures a child's point-of-view ("Afternoon in Linen", "The Witch") as well as that of an outsider in the city ("Pillar of Salt", "The Tooth"). While Jackson wields a skillful pen (see such finely crafted stories as "The Daemon Lover", "Like Mother Used to Make" and "The Villager") I feel that she's at her best on shorter stories, such as the affecting and sharp "Got A Letter from Jimmy", rather than longer ones.

LibraryThing member srboone

These stories fit nicely together. Effectiveness is inconsistent, but the overall feeling of dread is quite delicious.

LibraryThing member DanaJean

As many of you probably have, I read The Lottery while still in high school. I found it to be a chilling story then; and I found it to be as chilling today. The other short stories leading up to this were a genuinely nice surprise, as I wasn't familiar with any of Shirley Jackson's other short

pieces. Little snippets of life, written with such plain language. I found them to be fascinating in their simplicity. The beginning writer could learn a great deal from Shirley Jackson.

LibraryThing member deslivres5

I picked up this collection of short stories by Shirley Jackson solely to read "The Lottery" because someone had mentioned the premise behind "The Hunger Games" was similar. While I thoroughly enjoyed "The Hunger Games", I found the short story "The Lottery" to be just plain creepy, like an episode

out of the Twilight Zone TV show. I'm glad I wasn't required to read this one in school!

I also sampled a few more of the shorter, short stories in this collection. I laughed at "The Dummy" (I couldn't get the restaurant scene from "Hello Dolly" out of my mind when reading it). "The Intoxicated" hinted at something sinister happening to the world and I wanted to know more. "The Witch" was a bit disturbing. "Got a Letter from Jimmy" also left me wanting to know more back story (but I guess that might be the hallmark of good short story).

LibraryThing member susanbevans

The title story is simply incredible! Haunting and powerful, this collection is truly unusual, but in a good way. Jackson deals with some pretty grave subjects in her stories, such as racism and social morality, with a refreshing and vivid poignancy that leaves the reader gasping fro breath. This

collection is a "can't miss" literary opportunity.

LibraryThing member Sean191

Well, back on the side of not liking Shirley Jackson. Thankfully, the collection ends with The Lottery, so I had the opportunity to get reacquainted with that excellent short story. If I had never heard of The Lottery and managed to slog through the rest of the stories to get to it, it would have

been worth it, but I wish I just skipped to it and enjoyed myself for the few minutes it takes to read it, cutting out all the other stories that weren't very good. If not for The Lottery, no one would have known "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" (another enjoyable, but maybe lesser work from Jackson). Without either of those stories, I can't imagine there being any interest in these shorts or some of her other work. Maybe the Haunting of Hill House is worthwhile...I'm not sure if I have the confidence to find out.

LibraryThing member eleanor_eader

This collection of Shirley Jackson’s short stories is a subtle store of tension and under-played drama, absolutely enjoyable in small doses, and rather overwhelming when read straight through. I thought Jackson was a gifted storyteller in the gothic tradition after reading both The Haunting of

Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, but to create such atmosphere in small, often seemingly trivial pieces of writing lifts her above ‘gifted’ and into the realm of ‘genius’. The Renegade and Pillar of Wisdom stand out as strikingly fraught, while The Tooth and The Lottery - which was the only story I’d read before – are actually shudder-inducing. Others are far more subtle, allowing the reader to bring their own interpretations of the source of the tension, and there are a few that might be considered ordinary stories in ordinary settings, ranging from ‘amusing’ (Got a Letter from Jimmy) to ‘unpleasant’ (Flower Garden) in tone, but told from that slightly acute angle that makes them uniquely Jackson’s.

LibraryThing member calmclam

Picked this up after finishing We Have Always Lived in the Castle, but I didn't enjoy it as much. The stories are interesting and well-crafted, though not always satisfying, and the overall effect is rather depressing. Themes include: loneliness, disenchantment, disenfranchisement, mob rule, and

general sadness.

LibraryThing member susiesharp

This is a series of short stories mostly dealing with the way we human beings treat each other sometimes in very despicable ways.

A lot of these stories ended so abruptly that it is a bit jarring but each of these stories leaves you with something to think about.

I didn't enjoy this as much as We

Have Always Lived in the Castle but it still showed she is a good writer.

I listened to this on audio narrated by, Carol Stewart I enjoyed her narration very much.

LibraryThing member Yona

I don't think I'll ever stop being amazed at what literature has to offer. And I know I've only just scratched the surface. This is the second collection of short stories I've read and they each had a similar affect and gave me a similar impression. I sit there at the end of each story just stunned

at the affect and wondering exactly why. It's a new experience to read stories where the story doesn't seem to be as important as something else that's not immediately identifiable - the impression. At the end of so many of them it feels like I'm experiencing a painting. Like what takes place in the story are the brush strokes. Each stroke by itself doesn't seem to have much meaning until you see the end result and sit there in awe and wondering how it happened. Some seem like an intense form of character exposition where you see into the character's soul and that insight is an end in and of itself - is the whole point of the work. I'm sure other short stories will take other forms but this particular form has been very interesting and enjoyable - and strange. I like it.

LibraryThing member madam_razz

It can be so hard, sometimes, to really give a proper review for an anthology, since there are so many different stories them to talk about. But, once again, Shirley Jackson doesn't disappoint. Every story here, including the very short ones, tend to all leave you thinking by the end, and I'm not a

bit sorry that I spent a little over nine hours listening to them in all. Great stories and definitely worth a look for anyone who has liked other works by Shirley Jackson or just tends to like thought-provoking stories that don't always end happily.

LibraryThing member stacy_chambers

It's too bad Shirley Jackson didn't publish more during her lifetime, since what she did publish is so taut and creepy. It took a second reading of these stories to see the character James Harris woven through them like a thread—and a frayed thread at that. A fave.

LibraryThing member sphawkins

Review: The Lottery
Shirley Jackson
222 Pages
Collection of Short Stories
Story Diversity: standard—there are long stories and two-stories; there are poems, and stories that deal with various issues. But there’s little character diversity or setting diversity; the only story that really stands out

is the Lottery, which is the single item this book is most praised for.

Vocabulary: standard; the word choice is great, but I rarely encountered one of those ‘out-there’ words. The writing, as I would describe it, is flavorful, but certainly nothing unique.

Twists: nearly all the stories feature twists, but these aren’t the type that make your jaw drop. With the exception of the Lottery’s they’re very subtle twists that sometimes go unexplained.

Strengths: the short story, The Lottery—without a doubt, brilliantly written; dialogue is well written (surprising, since I read the Haunting of Hill House before this); while the same set of characters might have been used throughout just a different names, they were still well written.

Weaknesses: lots of the short stories are underwhelming and don’t leave much of an impression

Bottom Line: you either like Shirley Jackson’s work or you don’t. I didn’t care for the Haunting on Hill House, but I thought I’d try the Lottery to see if there were any differences. The only stand-out difference was the vast improvement in dialogue.
Personally, I think she receives a lot of hype, but her work doesn’t deliver. With the exception of the Lottery (I can’t repeat it enough: read this story) I find her that her work isn’t scary or creepy or anything that her reviewers say. In fact, I find a lot of her work to be—while not exactly unimaginative—a bit dull. Simply put, it was an underwhelming experience to read this book.

LibraryThing member mrgan

Well I feel like a complete ass for not reading beyond The Lottery until now.

LibraryThing member bluepigeon

This is a great collection of short stories of Shirley Jackson. I had never read The Lottery, and I can see why it was a big deal when it was first published. Though, today, reading The Lottery and some of the other strange stories in this collection, one would not be as shocked, After all, this is

the post-Twilight-Zone, post-Hunger Games 21st century. In fact, right at the very beginning of the story, maybe even in the first paragraph, I knew exactly what was going to happen, just what this "lottery" would be about. Nevertheless, Jackson is a great story teller, and the anticipation she builds in this and many other stories is just perfect. Many of the stories are about new brides, new homes, city folk trying to fit among the "friendly" country folk in rural America, status-conscious Americans being neighborly to each other, and country folk visiting the big city.Thus, race, class, socio-economic standing are constantly in the forefront. And of course, tradition.

LibraryThing member bartt95

I bought this because I was looking for something different what I usually read, both in genre and in format. I was expecting horror short stories, and I was not sure what they were going to be like.

Instead of horror, what I found were fairly normal stories, with no supernatural aspects, about

people messed up in very subtle yet disturbing ways. Throughout almost every single story, a creeping sense of unease overcomes the reader when there is this feeling that something is wrong, yet it does not instantly present itself, but becomes clearer and clearer as the stories progress.

Children that are molded to become just as xenophobic, twisted and joyless as their parents. People that lose their mind without knowing it, or have already lost it in some time long before, now irretrievable. People stuck in the past, in places where time is not allowed to pass, where progress is looked at distrustingly, and where any outlier is necessarily an outcast as well. An accessible collection of mostly very short 5-15 page stories that are simple yet profound.

LibraryThing member marsap

This collection of short stories by author Shirley Jackson's, unites her well known story "The Lottery:" with twenty-four other stories. Though Jackson is probably best known for her horror novels, this set of stories are not really of the horror genre—though some of the characters are quite

horrifying. Though I really loved the Lottery, I found most of the stories less than engaging, odd or weird (The Tooth) or difficult to understand the point. Some almost felt like the start of an idea that faded into nothing. The other thing that seemed to run through many of the stories is how perfectly “normal” people and can be quite monstrous (The Lottery, The Witch, The Renegade). A few of them are comments on racism, sexism, elitism-without stating the words and without personal commentary (After you My Dear Alphonse, Flower Garden, Come Dance with me in Ireland). The material is well written, but if one is looking for something to read by Shirley Jackson, I would recommend We Have Always Lived in the Castle, rather than this collection of stories. 3 out of 5 stars.

Subjects

Horror tales, American

Awards

BPL Staff Picks: Best Reads of the Year (2022)

A Century of Reading by LitHub

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1949

Physical description

320 p.; 5.3 inches

ISBN

0374516812 / 9780374516819

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