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.

看到推荐这位作者的好评来读的这本书，先前读了短篇lottery还是颇有意思，对这本长篇寄予厚望，但不知道是不是年代的问题，感觉我的阅读阈值还是太高了，整本书在情节上并没有特别惊喜，作者的文笔我很爱，生动细腻，Eleanor丰富的心理活动也让人物非常有层次，但是剧情和我的预期还是有较大差距，第一是感觉主角团压根没有做啥，DR非常信誓旦旦地召集一队人来调查，结果除了熟悉房子构造，每天就吃饭休闲，每次出现灵异现象，比如敲门声、野餐幻境，都好像没发生一样就接着过日子了，也没调查或者做实验，难怪你最后论文遇冷好吧，科研专业素养很一般好伐，而且最开始感觉DR好像很有信心，太太来的时候很笃定太太不懂，自己最懂，结果不也啥都没搞明白。第二是以主角团的形式开展故事，最后只有Eleanor一个人有完整的体验，其他人就是重在参与，那这些角色的重要性在哪里呢？我以为前面很多描写是伏笔，比如Theodore会死于鹿头，比如Luke作为继承人会和前屋主产生联结，比如DR偶尔展露出的不耐烦会是黑化线索，比如太太和Arthur会因为莽撞而惹火上身，结果啥都没有发生。其次太太的人设也让人很迷惑，她就是单纯来反衬DR的吗？可DR也压根没真材实料啊，把一个很有主见有passion的女性刻画成这种很平面单薄的丑角，衬托她的善良睿智老公，和作者在描写E和T时候细腻的女性视角完全不匹配啊。感觉这两人加进来对情节毫无帮助。第三是主角团尤其是Eleanor的情感太突兀，能理解Eleanor是一个很敏感的人，但是她好像一时特别依恋Theodore，一时就突然觉得Theodore要害她，那如果到这里就开始刻画大家受到房子的影响离心离德也很合理，但下一章突然就又要跟Theodore回家了，然后一直很热情的Theo突然就冷漠了，接下来一整章又反复写一直很友善关心她的Theo和Luke居然会抛下她，不跟她互动啥的，导致我都觉得那部分是Eleanor的鬼魂在臆想，其实别人视角根本没有她这个人，如果想铺垫说Eleanor真心错付，那应该在Eleanor最最依恋Theo的时候写拒绝，而不是前面已经反复写过Eleanor的怨恨。后面几章总给人非常诡叙的感觉，而种种铺垫最后的高潮居然仅仅是大家很理智地把Eleanor送走然后她疯了，有一种高高抬起轻轻放下的失重感

虽然标题写着闹鬼，但书中并未感觉如何恐怖。女主角的心理活动太多了，整本书读下来感觉乏味且注水（进度超过1/3处，主角们才刚住进房子，前头都写了什么？完全记不住。