[Haunting of Hill House spoilers] NODS VIGOROUSLY

Things i like: Haunting Of hill House show

Haunting of hill house book

Things i dont like: Haunting of Hill house as an adaptation of the book

i honestly do not believe this show was meant to be an adaptation of the book

and the name was tacked on for a marketability

AND ITS COMPLICATED for me because i really deeply love the book and have such respect for Shirley Jackson as a writer and contributor to a genre where women are not often given their dues

and like....i really enjoy the show for what it is in a vacuum

but as it relates to book is kind of....like its not even just a adaptation that strays from the source which would be understandable

but like....it kind of actively ignores or even refutes the themes and content central to the book?

Themes that BY AND LARGE are very blatantly about women

About the oppression of women both literally and through figurative, internalised systems of oppression

what i'm taking away from this plurk is i gotta read it, like, yesterday

i know nothing about the book, but I have to ask, in what way is the house shown as good in the show??

Like....POV character through the whole book is a deeply lost and anxious woman who doesnt trust herself because she's never been allowed to be independent

[[BIG SHOT]] : Obviously there are slightly varying reads, but the show having the house be a sanctuary for wayward spirits, or at all trying to present it as some place good for even some of the ghosts. The idea of there being a logic to it's 'motives'

huh

guess I didn't read it that way, interesting to hear that's an interpretation

i just saw it as a selfish wild monster and people trying to appease it/negociate with it/ making use of it

its not what i would personally call a HAPPY ENDING but its very defanged compared to the novel where there were no ghosts in the first place, and the house was just....bad. If the haunting was realnat all (its far less clear in the book) its only manifestation was in driving people insane or to their deaths

interesting

i should pick up the book, i've read that it's wildly different, plus what you've said

It is...like i REALLY enjoy the show. the cast is amazing and the creator is one of my faves

but the book is s different beast entirely

And bears no resemblance beyond shared names

its also a pretty short read!

I kept waiting for the reveal that the whole safe haven idea was a lie the house made to trick them into staying but nope