BOOK REVIEW: THE LOTTERY AND OTHER STORIES by SHIRLEY JACKSON

I feel so proud to have finally read this widely talked about collection of Jackson's. I had been curious to know why fans of Shirley Jackson's work brought these stories up so often and when I spotted it on the shelves of my local library, I checked it out immediately.

Published in 1949, this was Jackson's only short story collection and has been considered a classic work of short fiction. The majority of the protagonists are middle aged women--some single, some married, some of them mothers-- making their way through their confusing, maddening, mundane lives where old traditions and problematic societal norms are hard to kill.

I can completely understand some readers struggling with branding this collection as pure horror due to it lacking the more gothic storytelling we are used to from Jackson (such as in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" and "The Haunting of Hill House"). So this will not be everyone’s favorite work of fiction from her. The evil in these short stories is very, very subtle in that it shows up as bigoted assumptions, social unpleasantries, jealousy, and dishonest intentions. In one of my favorite short stories--"Flower Garden"-- evil wears the face of passive aggressive racism. Probably the most terrifying and effective story in the collection was "The Lottery"--a brilliant dissection of humanity's brutality through something as simple as drawing a damning piece of paper out of a black box. Some of my other favorites in this collection were:

“The Intoxicated”
“Like Mother Used to Make”
“The Villager”
“The Renegade”
“After You, My Dear Alphonse”
“Charles”
“Pillar of Salt”

In each story, Shirley Jackson takes the domestic mundaneness of small town life and puts it under a critical microscope, creating an atmosphere of lingering unsettledness. In fact, my constantly trying to pin-point what felt off in each seemingly ordinary story was what made this collection a unique read for me.

For those who'd love to give this collection a try, I highly recommend reading one short story a day accompanied by some sort of analysis guide that breaks down Jackson's themes. It helped make clear what I might have missed as the reader and made the experience more intriguing and enjoyable.

(5/5⭐)