The Haunting of Hill House 邪屋（英文版）

Dear Eleanor, where is home to you? At your first glance of Hill House, you almost got in the car and ran away. But then, why did you want to stay in this place so desperately in the end? Was it because you realized that you had “never been wanted anywhere” — except at Hill House? The sounds only you can hear, the blood-written words bearing your name, the hints from Hill House… To others, these are clearly terrifying and strange. But to you, they somehow felt like a recognition of your uniqueness — something that had never been affirmed anywhere other than Hill House. That’s why you believed you were wanted there, right? But dear Eleanor, that is not home. And Theo’s home isn’t yours either. You said, “I’ve never been wanted anywhere.” Does this “anywhere” include your own heart? Perhaps it does. Deep down, you don’t truly want yourself, do you？ Otherwise, you wouldn’t have lied to Theo about your life or constantly compared yourself to her from the beginning. God, I feel so sorry for you… I don’t know if you survived that crash. But if you did, I hope — I truly hope — that you left Hill House and started a new life. Maybe you changed your name and flew far, far away… Just keep going, and going. Learn to make yourself wanted in your own heart, okay? You deserve a loving home with two stone lions and a peaceful life with your cup of stars.

看到推薦這位作者的好評來讀的這本書，先前讀了短篇lottery還是頗有意思，對這本長篇寄予厚望，但不知道是不是年代的問題，感覺我的閱讀閾值還是太高了，整本書在情節上並沒有特別驚喜，作者的文筆我很愛，生動細膩，Eleanor豐富的心理活動也讓人物非常有層次，但是劇情和我的預期還是有較大差距，第一是感覺主角團壓根沒有做啥，DR非常信誓旦旦地召集一隊人來調查，結果除了熟悉房子構造，每天就喫飯休閒，每次出現靈異現象，比如敲門聲、野餐幻境，都好像沒發生一樣就接着過日子了，也沒調查或者做實驗，難怪你最後論文遇冷好吧，科研專業素養很一般好伐，而且最開始感覺DR好像很有信心，太太來的時候很篤定太太不懂，自己最懂，結果不也啥都沒搞明白。第二是以主角團的形式開展故事，最後只有Eleanor一個人有完整的體驗，其他人就是重在參與，那這些角色的重要性在哪裏呢？我以爲前面很多描寫是伏筆，比如Theodore會死於鹿頭，比如Luke作爲繼承人會和前屋主產生聯結，比如DR偶爾展露出的不耐煩會是黑化線索，比如太太和Arthur會因爲莽撞而惹火上身，結果啥都沒有發生。其次太太的人設也讓人很迷惑，她就是單純來反襯DR的嗎？可DR也壓根沒真材實料啊，把一個很有主見有passion的女性刻畫成這種很平面單薄的丑角，襯托她的善良睿智老公，和作者在描寫E和T時候細膩的女性視角完全不匹配啊。感覺這兩人加進來對情節毫無幫助。第三是主角團尤其是Eleanor的情感太突兀，能理解Eleanor是一個很敏感的人，但是她好像一時特別依戀Theodore，一時就突然覺得Theodore要害她，那如果到這裏就開始刻畫大家受到房子的影響離心離德也很合理，但下一章突然就又要跟Theodore回家了，然後一直很熱情的Theo突然就冷漠了，接下來一整章又反覆寫一直很友善關心她的Theo和Luke居然會拋下她，不跟她互動啥的，導致我都覺得那部分是Eleanor的鬼魂在臆想，其實別人視角根本沒有她這個人，如果想鋪墊說Eleanor真心錯付，那應該在Eleanor最最依戀Theo的時候寫拒絕，而不是前面已經反覆寫過Eleanor的怨恨。後面幾章總給人非常詭敘的感覺，而種種鋪墊最後的高潮居然僅僅是大家很理智地把Eleanor送走然後她瘋了，有一種高高抬起輕輕放下的失重感

雖然標題寫着鬧鬼，但書中並未感覺如何恐怖。女主角的心理活動太多了，整本書讀下來感覺乏味且注水（進度超過1/3處，主角們纔剛住進房子，前頭都寫了什麼？完全記不住。