The strangeness and horror of 'Hangsaman" by Shirley Jackson.

Submitted by i-the-muso-1968 t3_z4vjb0 in books

I have read "The Haunting of Hill House", I have read "We Have Always Lived in a Castle" and now I have read another of Shirley Jackson's novels; "Hangsaman". As the San Francisco Chronicle would put it "This is as disturbing a story as the shorter "Lottery" was, and in exactly the same way." And I can certainly agree with that!

Centering around Natalie Waite, a seventeen year old college student. She and her mother had been kept on a tight leash by her father; a writer and a domineering and egostic individual. Soon she finally leaves home for college. But even college life doesn't bring the happiness she so desired.

Later she becomes infatuated with a married professor only to become lost and overwhelmed and soon she is no longer certain anymore, with reality and fantasy seeming to merge together.

This novel, published in 1951, is another good example of Jackson's work. Dark, strange and disturbing. And an interesting tid bit here: Jackson had based the story of novel loosely on a disappearance of a college sophomore in 1946.

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Ciggybear t1_ixsykc0 wrote

I love her, and I have never even heard of this novel. I’m going to look for it on the library site now. Thank you.

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Tayreads608 t1_ixszdjb wrote

Two Shirley Jackson posts on this sub in one day. I just love the recognition she’s been getting lately.

I will admit that Hangsaman isn’t my favorite of work. I think that’s mostly do to the structure and the fact that I just don’t totally get it. With that said, it’s still magnificent. It’s really very disorienting in a way that her other work isn’t or doesn’t push the boundaries on. It’s just another example of her skill with language and how important she was to literature.

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rollerskateginny t1_ixt1fcf wrote

Replying to Tayreads608 (#677,935)

I think I’m with you there. There were moments in this book that were really great and made me feel the creepiness and sadness in a way that only Shirley can, but at other moments I felt a bit lost

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jefrye t1_ixud0dj wrote

Replying to Ciggybear (#677,829)

This is my second favorite novel of hers, enjoy!

Edit: To expound on this a bit, it's very much a coming-of-age novel with Natalie trying to come to terms with reality (and leave behind the world of daydreams that she lives in), cope with a growing sense of disillusionment as she realizes that adults are also generally a mess and are often terrible people, decide who she is/wants to be, and find out how to relate to her family and the rest of the world now that she's "all grown up." It's very much a weirder version of The Bell Jar, but I liked and connected with it much more.

Of course, it's also about >!dealing with trauma following sexual assault!<, which I'm very grateful not to relate to.

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pagetwenty t1_ixviqh5 wrote

The true story that this novel is based on that you mentioned, is that of Paula Jean Welden of Bennington College (Jackson lived in Bennington, VT). Interestingly, Donna Tartt’s novel, “The Secret History” is also based on the Paula Jean Welden disappearance and she went to college at Bennington. Both Tarrt and Jackson’s novels based on this true story are fantastic. Although I found Jackson’s much more chilling.

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kouridge t1_iy28ih2 wrote

I like pairing Hangsaman with the (FICTIONAL!) movie "Shirley" on Hulu. The movie is set in Shirley's life while she's writing Hangsaman.

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