Giro di vite

Di Henry James

Introduzione di Marco Philopat
Traduzione di Gianni Pilo
Edizione integrale

I protagonisti del più famoso racconto nero di Henry James sono due bambini, Flora e Miles, perseguitati ma anche attratti dai fantasmi di due personaggi che in vita condividevano le loro giornate. Come in tutti i racconti di James, però, vero protagonista è anche la cupa, minacciosa atmosfera, piena di oscuri presagi, che incombe su paesaggi e persone. Una storia nella più stretta tradizione gotica, tra sovrannaturale e realtà, scritta da un grande narratore dell’Ottocento.

«Sono assolutamente certa che, quando si mosse, non distolse in alcun modo lo sguardo da me, e ancora adesso mi sembra di vederlo mentre posa la mano su un merlo e poi su un altro. Una volta arrivato nell’angolo opposto, si fermò, anche se vi rimase meno a lungo, ma continuò a fissarmi intensamente. Poi si voltò… e io non vidi nient’altro.»

Henry James

(New York 1843-Rye 1916), uno dei più importanti e originali scrittori contemporanei, trascorse l’infanzia e l’adolescenza tra Europa e Stati Uniti, per stabilirsi poi a Londra (prima di morire prese la cittadinanza britannica). Ottenuta la fama con i suoi romanzi e racconti, volle cimentarsi con il teatro, ma l’insuccesso del suo esordio fu quasi traumatico. Ebbe allora inizio la fase “sperimentale” della sua attività letteraria, con opere intense ma di difficile comprensione. Di James la Newton Compton ha pubblicato nella collana GTE Ritratto di signora e Giro di vite.

• Lingua: Italiano
• Editore: Newton Compton Editori
• Data di uscita: 16 dic 2013
• ISBN: 9788854130883

Henry James

Henry James (1843-1916) was an American author of novels, short stories, plays, and non-fiction. He spent most of his life in Europe, and much of his work regards the interactions and complexities between American and European characters. Among his works in this vein are The Portrait of a Lady (1881), The Bostonians (1886), and The Ambassadors (1903). Through his influence, James ushered in the era of American realism in literature. In his lifetime he wrote 12 plays, 112 short stories, 20 novels, and many travel and critical works. He was nominated three times for the Noble Prize in Literature.

Anteprima del libro

Recensioni su Giro di vite

[charrlygirl · Valutazione: 4 su 5 stelle]

Narrated by Emma Thompson, I enjoyed re-reading this classic, gothic novella for the third time.

I know many readers are not impressed by this book, but I enjoyed it, (again). I know it's rather verbose, especially considering the length of the book, but I found more than a few of the sentences to be outright chilling.

I've always loved psychological horror and ambiguous stories, so this one hits most of the marks for me. My original rating of the book, at 4 stars, stands.

[zumbanista · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

Disappointed after hearing all the praise of this novella, possibly was more shocking in its day and I’ve now become jaded by ghost stories. Lots of gothic atmosphere, tension and uncertainty. While the language wasn’t all that difficult, the style and manner of writing made it a bit difficult to get through. Long sentences with many clauses served to confuse me and lose the gist at times. Not really an enjoyable read so it felt longer and I was glad when it ended. Can’t recommend, but glad I filled in the gap of my reading of classic literature.

[tess_w · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is billed as a psychological thriller. It is the story of an unnamed governess who agrees to care for two children at their uncle's estate, Bly. Her story is told through her journal entries. Her charges are "darlings" until one day while walking she meets menacing apparitions. I wanted to love this book as I do the classics. However, the writing was convoluted and this reader was very much distanced from the characters and felt like a passive bystander. It's saving grace was that is was only 131 pages. 2 1/2 stars

[maryanntherese · Valutazione: 2 su 5 stelle]

A tale of a ghost in Victorian England.

[bookomaniac-1 · Valutazione: 2 su 5 stelle]

Nogal moeilijk verhaal over verschijningen; de lezer wordt op het verkeerde been gezet. Thema's: onschuld kinderen, overbescherming door volwassenen.

[killerx-2 · Valutazione: 2 su 5 stelle]

Intense? No. Boring.

[seriousgrace · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

Written in 1898 and republished numerous times Turn of the Screw has also been adapted for the stage, television and the big screen. Someone told me it was even mentioned in an episode of "Lost" (I wouldn't know). James's technique is to tell the story within a frame - one story within another. We are first introduced to a man at a Christmas party telling a tale of a governess. From there we are in the story, told from the point of view of the governess. She has been hired to look after two small children after their parents are killed and they are sent to live on an uncle's estate. Soon after the governess's arrival she starts to notice strange occurances, shadowy figures stalking the grounds. She learns they are former lovers and hired hands, back to supposedly recreate their relationship through the children.While James uses words like "hideous", "sinister", "detestable", and "dangerous", there is great debate as to exactly what he is describing as so terrible. He refers to evil again and again, but his ghosts are not the usual spectors. They only hint at danger rather than taking action and "attacking". The other great debate is whether the governess is insane (or goes insane while at Bly). Because no one else really backs up her ghost sightings you have to wonder.

[jjaylynny · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

I've never read Henry James, but I love ghost stories, and this is one of the classic ghost stories. I loved the ambiguity-- but the dense language lost me from time to time. You can certainly see its influence on modern horror literature, film and pop culture.

[breadhat · Valutazione: 4 su 5 stelle]

A horror classic. The story is conducive to so many readings; the most obvious question, that of the narrator's sanity, gives rise to two completely different but equally compelling narratives. There is a lot of complexity packed into this short novel, and it is clear why it continues to be of interest to literary critics and readers alike. Of course, it hails from the Victorian era, so you have to be willing to wade through the overly verbose inner monologue and the ludicrously heightened displays of emotion. These can make it a bit of a chore to read, but the bones of this story are rock-solid. And to be fair, it's hard to imagine the crucial atmosphere, full of traumatic secrets and implied confessions, remaining intact without the sense of aristocratic Victorian propriety.

I will say that this was not an emotionally satisfying read. Whether supernatural or not, there is a very real terror that permeates this story: the theme of children helpless and voiceless in the face of abuse from their caretakers. For a new parent especially, it's deeply upsetting, and it is delivered without any final catharsis. I was left with just a sense of hopelessness and loss at the end, and I was happy to have my son in my arms to hold.

[jlsmither · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

I've hesitated for a while now on writing this review. For one thing, I had to re-read the book. I "read" it first as a recording in my car. While that often works quite well (I highly recommend Frank Muller's reading of Moby Dick), it didn't seem to work here. I had a little trouble following the characters' motivations and felt like I was missing something. When I got to one very dramatic, tension-filled moment during a "driveway moment," I turned off my car, excited about what would happen next. When I got back into the car later, all I heard was "The End." I backed the CD up, listened to the final scene again, but that was it. Really?

So I decided to give it another try. I'd heard that some work by Henry James is important to find in its first edition, because he made changes later in life that aren't really improvements. I checked online and looked through the 4 or 5 editions in my local library, but all the versions I found ended with the same line (I don't want to repeat the line here because it gives a major plot twist away, but I will say that the story never returns to the frame story it opens with).

I re-read the book on my kindle, and I enjoyed it much more than the recorded version. The tension between whether the ghosts are really haunting the estate or whether the governess is making it all up (and what her motivations might be for doing so) comes through much stronger, and that's such a fascinating thread throughout the story. But I still felt let down by the ending. There's not really any foreshadowing of the event, which seems to jump out of nowhere in only the last SIX WORDS of the book. There's no explanation of what happens afterward, no denouement of any kind. It just... ends.

So, while I liked the book as a whole, I might "Jane Eyre" this one, meaning that I'll likely invent a new ending for it in my head to feel a little more satisfied.

[virago77 · Valutazione: 2 su 5 stelle]

I just didn't get it? It didn't get me? It literally did not pull me into the story or hold my true interest. Perhaps a second reading/listening in the future.

[kirmuriel-1 · Valutazione: 4 su 5 stelle]

Is the absence of explanations that makes this book interesting. Too many unknowns and just some answers

[williemeikle-1 · Valutazione: 4 su 5 stelle]

Another genre classic that I hadn't read for a long time-and this time with good reason. James' way with a convoluted sentence often makes me want to scream, and having to backtrack to work out his intended focus does not make for a smooth flow in reading experience.

That said, there is a definite power in this tale, and it builds nicely in dread and atmosphere to a chilling conclusion. It is definitely a classic of the genre, but the movie THE INNOCENTS showed how it could have been done in a more straightforward, yet still distinctly superior, fashion, and Peter Straub's retelling in GHOST STORY is also a superior version.

Could easily have been a 5 star tale, and saying that, I've nudged it up from 3 to 4 this time around. It could be a long, long time before I want to read it again though.

[bettesbooks · Valutazione: 2 su 5 stelle]

A ghost story with a horrific overtone.Victorian obscurity in expression, so not to say anything that could be objectionable. Took me a while to figure out what was worrying the governess.220

[beckymmoe_1 · Valutazione: 2 su 5 stelle]

I have no freaking idea what I just read. It ended--if you can even call that an ending, which is up for debate--and I went back and re-read the last six chapters. It didn't really help.W.T.F????2 stars for a strong start and a cool story idea...he lost me after that.

[ssimon2000-1 · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

Not much to say about this one. It had great potential to be a really creepy Halloween tale, but just fell flat for me.

The writing was very good and typical of the writing in the late 1800s.

[tess_schoolmarm · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is billed as a psychological thriller. It is the story of an unnamed governess who agrees to care for two children at their uncle's estate, Bly. Her story is told through her journal entries. Her charges are "darlings" until one day while walking she meets menacing apparitions. I wanted to love this book as I do the classics. However, the writing was convoluted and this reader was very much distanced from the characters and felt like a passive bystander. It's saving grace was that is was only 131 pages. 2 1/2 stars

[msaucier818 · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

This was my first Henry James story and I really enjoyed it. It was a short novel that can be characterized as a classic psychological thriller or ghost story from the 19th century. The story itself was not particularly scary, but I really enjoyed James' writing style and how he got inside the head of the main character as she starts to lose it later in the story. I will certainly read more of Henry James.

[arkrayder · Valutazione: 2 su 5 stelle]

I found this a tedious read. Nothing really happens, except perhaps at the very end. The story seems to revolve around the governess trying to find out why Miles, one of her charges, has been expelled from school and the appearance of ghosts which might and might not be real. Best to have read a few of Henry James’s better writings before this.

[bookconcierge · Valutazione: 4 su 5 stelle]

Audiobook performed by Simon Vance and Vanessa BenjaminA ghost story and psychological thriller. A young woman is hired to be governess to two young children, Miles and Flora. They are the wards of “the master,” their uncle, who has taken on their guardianship after their parents died in India. He is unmarried and really not interested in the children or the running of the household. In fact, after hiring the governess he tells her to simply deal with whatever comes up and not to bother him at all. James begins the tale with a gathering of friends at Christmas. They begin telling ghost stories, and eventually one of them mentions the document he received from a young woman (she is never named). He then begins to read the tale. This opening puzzles me, because James never returns to this gathering of friends. The rest of the novel is devoted to the governess’s manuscript / notes on what happened. Having arrived at the mansion, she is charmed by the angelic Flora, enjoying their lessons and spending time with her. She also befriends the housekeeper, Mrs Grose, who answers some of her questions about the previous governess, Miss Jessel. Things begin to go badly quickly however. A strange figure is seen in one of the mansion’s towers. Miles returns from school, presumably for holiday, but in reality has been expelled without explanation. The governess is certain that some malevolent entity is intent on capturing the children in her care, and she is determined to prevent it from doing so. All the uncertainty and secrecy serve to increase the emotional tension in the story. It is dark, and puzzling, and disturbing. I am not a fan of the ending, which seems abrupt and unexplained. But then, a good ghost story SHOULD leave us wondering. The audiobook is performed by Simon Vance, who voices the introduction, and Vanessa Benjamin who narrates the governess’s manuscript. They are both accomplished voice actors and do a marvelous job with James’ work.

[goet0095 · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

I had a hard time with the language on this one...tough to follow. And I was continually frustrated with the governness in regards to Miles--if she wanted to know why he was kicked out of school, she should have asked him from the beginning, or written a letter to the headmaster!! It just seemed really odd that she decided not to mention it to him at all when he first came home. There was a lot of communication that was not happening. I did like the psychological element to it, and the possibly unreliable narrator. I was hoping it would be creepier than it turned out to be! I just didn't feel as much of an emotional connection to the characters.

[kristelh_15 · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

This book by Henry James is a ghost story. The story is told by an unnamed governess who takes her first job as governess of two children. She is delighted with her charges but soon thinks they are scheming against her and then she gets them alone and accuses them. The author's style is ambiguous and I have more questions than answers after reading this novella.

[kronos999_1 · Valutazione: 4 su 5 stelle]

Very interesting gothic ghost (maybe?) story. Wonderful unreliable narrator who may be mad and imagining the whole thing. Or maybe the ghosts are real. Or perhaps she is mad, but isn't imagining it at all.

[girl_detective · Valutazione: 4 su 5 stelle]

I don't think it has to be interpreted as either/or imagination or ghosts. I think it can be both. I also think there's some interesting things implied about the relationship between the governess and the older boy.

[ishtahar · Valutazione: 1 su 5 stelle]

I've never read any Henry James before (a terrible admission for an English graduate) so I really wanted to love this book. I didn't.I thought the language was stilted and unnecessary, the story was something and nothing hugely padded out with superfluous narrative and the characters two dimensional. Plus it didn't scare me at all. Some ghost story!!

[notenoughbookshelves · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

I thought I would never make it through the first chapter, but I did and enjoyed finishing it. I made it through 2 books that were 400 pages + during the same time it took me to finish this 120 page book. Tedious, very difficult to read but enjoyable once I got into it. It has since made any semi-difficult read a breeze.

[zinkel101 · Valutazione: 5 su 5 stelle]

Turn of the Screw is the classic story of the unreliable narrator. A governess is given charge of two children on a rather isolated estate in England. She has taken the job because it was offered by a man she has romanticized, a man she wants to impress, a man who is conspicuously absent at the estate. The two precocious children are mysterious in their beauty, their behavior, and their background. They have a bond with each other, as well as with one staffmember that borders on collusion. They have secrets, revealed in bits about their previous governess and a licentious groundskeeper who had inappropriate relationships, implied in a Victorian manner. The two predecessors, though dead, figure prominently in the story as the heroine must protect the children from their ghosts. James's method of relating the story through a third generation narrator brings into question whether the ghosts are "real" or the illusion of the governess, who, throughout the story, is defending herself. The opening chapter may be overlooked for its importance as it only introduces the thrilling tale, but much has been speculated on James's intent in using a narrator who is the friend of a man who once loved the governess, who may edit the story to defend him who may have edited the story that came from the governess herself. Love may make you do crazy things, which is why the governess's great threat is questionable in the first place. The story may be my favorite of James's works because it is different from his longer novels. He uses the unreliable narrator, in a style like Poe's, and implied psychology, leaving ambiguity for the reader to interpret.

[librarylou · Valutazione: 5 su 5 stelle]

Another one of the scariest books I have ever read. Really creepy, perfect for reading around the fire by candlelight.

[veevoxvoom · Valutazione: 4 su 5 stelle]

Any writer can make a cemetery or haunted house scary, but a good writer can make terrifying the absolutely ordinary. Henry James does this in Turn of the Screw, which is a ghost story about a governess who finds herself stuck with loving but haunted charges.This mini-novel is densely written, so if you're fresh off Stephen King and want blood, gore, and one-liners, you're not going to find it here. Turn of the Screw is an old-fashioned gothic story, full of expensive manors and apparitions in the study. But if you can get through the dense language, you'll find a terrific atmosphere. At first everything will seem normal, but a sense of unease will creep up on you. You'll realize that there's something not quite right with the children or the governess. You'll feel the macabre before you can even put a name to it, and you'll start to question what is real and what is psychological. This is horror the way it used to be, and the way it should be again.

[timsreadinglist · Valutazione: 1 su 5 stelle]

Against my better judgment, I read this, my second Henry James story. So tedious! The exquisite sensitivities of his protagonist are absurd and prevent her from achieving a simple solution on every page. The protagonist and James' prose were exasperating enough to overwhelm the psychological tension and creepiness that this story is supposed to exhibit so well. William remains my favorite of the James brothers, for sure. I'll do my best to avoid Henry in the future.