What do You think about Hangsaman (1976)?
My favorite Shirley Jackson book because of its mysterious nature and character development. For me, Natalie Waite was very easy to relate to in many ways, until the appearance of Toni and the downward spiral. Definitely not as creepy or scary as The Haunting of Hill House, but a great read for the amount of detail and psychological suspense. While I started my senior thesis reading The Haunting of Hill House, I eventually would up reading almost all of Shirley Jackson and settled on writing about just this one novel. My thesis investigating the women's roles of the time and the hero cycle. It makes me sad that I can't remember most of what I wrote, but it was about 8 years ago! I do remember though that almost none of the critical writing on the book discussing the rape. My cover does not look like this at all! This cover is the perfect cover for this book, whereas my cover sucks. It has a picture of a blond frightened looking girl with a noose. When discussing girl names, it was no accident that Natalie Wait's name made it on the list. Of course, Natalie Portman helped it become our final choice.
—jacky
All the time while I was reading Hangsaman I was waiting to find out what kind of novel it is. Having read We Have Always Lived in the Castle and knowing a little of Shirley Jackson's reputation, I was expecting it turn to into a Gothic melodrama or a supernatural chiller, but even four fifths of the way through, it refused to take a shape I recognised.The first part sees Natalie Waite suffering her family at home, the second sees her suffering the poisonous student/teacher relationships at her college, then the third part... well, the third part makes some unexpected jumps. Natalie makes a new friend. Heavy hints are dropped concerning the direction in which we are headed, none of which are followed through. Incidental characters may or may not exist.This is, I think, a story about identity, about a damaged person trying to understand where they fit into the world in relation to the constricting expectations of others. A key scene may be on a bus ride, when Natalie feels suffocatingly confined by her fellow passengers on all sides: "she was helpless among people who hated her and showed it by holding her motionless until they should choose to release her."Perhaps now is not the time for me to be writing this review. I finished reading the book a few hours ago and already it is growing in my mind, its echoes gathering in volume. It may be some time before I figure out how I feel about it.One more thing: in the unlikely event that anyone is reading this, does anybody know what the title means?
—Stephen Curran
Hangsaman makes the case that it is an oversight of enormous proportions that the literary reputation of Shirley Jackson rests upon a handful of (albeit, perfectly constructed) short stories. One might hope that the 2013 Penguin reprints of her novels would correct this and help begin a critical re-evaluation of her work; certainly, one can see the roots of the critically acclaimed work of Russell, Van Den Berg, Bender and others in the mystery, humor and terror of Hangsaman. This novel, not Plath's The Bell Jar, may be the ur-text of late 20th century and early 21st century psychological realism and the fantastical realism that portrays the marginalization and alienation of young females disenfranchised with contemporary social norms and experience.Here, in Hangsaman, deeply imaginative Natalie Waite tries to shrug off an indifferent alcoholic mother, a domineering and arrogant father, and a completely indifferent brother, as well as a horrifying sexual assault, by rewriting herself in college. As a first-year student, she discovers and distances herself from the catty coteries in her dorm, and struggles to find real friends to stave off her deep loneliness. Unable to master or understand the social expectations of her dormmates, she spirals into a fierce depression until she meets her soul mate-- a girl named Tony, who may or may not turn out to be real. While I'll leave the diagnosis of Natalie to the experts, I can say that Jackson's deeply sympathetic writing, even when she seems to disagree with Natalie's choices, creates a potent and ironic metaphor for the compromise of self that many women felt and feel as they grow into adulthood. An amazing novel.
—John Pappas
