The Turn of the Screw

By: Henry James

Narrated by: Walter Zimmerman, Cindy Hardin Killavey

Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

The Turn of the Screw has been described by many critics as the most sophisticated and terrifying ghost story in the English language. It is considered one of the great intellectual "spook tales" of all time. The story concerns a naive young governess who is hired to take care of two children in a large mansion in the English countryside. Everything is going fine, until she discovers that the children are not as innocent as they seem. The governess believes they have been communing with the ghosts of the former valet and governess. The problem is no one else on the staff can see the ghosts. She alone suspects that the ghosts are controlling the young boy and girl for some evil purpose. The children are evasive when questioned, and the governess begins to fear that the souls of the two children may be in danger. Henry James manages to generate spine-tingling suspense in this mesmerizing tale.

©1898 Public Domain (P)1979 Jimcin Recordings

Hard to slow down for this one

Just like most good literature of the past, this book probably scared the heck out of people! The book is well read and moves at a comfortable pace, but I wasnt able to thoroughly enjoy it after being jaded by all the modern horror out there these days. I felt like I was reading a child's horror book, trying to be frightened by a scary coat hanging in the closet (not really in the book!). Excellent for the older crowd who want to bring back memories of better years in writing.

Cueste lo que cueste en qualidad de la historia

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

You get the quality of which you pay for on these audiobooks. The story is a classic though. What is really going on at the manor of Bly? Is this just a ghost story or one of schizphrenic hallucination? Is Mrs. Grose a gross guidepost to the reality and actuality of the governess's real hallucinations? The best analytical readings come to the conclusion that the questions are more important than the answer, and we as readers should come to the appreciation of the beautiful art of the combination of two seemlingly mutually exclusive presumptions--one phantasmal and the other psychological.

What did you like best about this story?

Perverse Sexual Innuendos

Would you be willing to try another one of Walter Zimmerman and Cindy Hardin Killavey ’s performances?

Probably Not

Any additional comments?

Read on.

Excellent performance of the classic ghost story,

Brilliant reading, especially the male first reader, the dramatist in the reader Walter Zimmerman made me want to continue listening, rather than reading... Gave me real appreciation for the film The Innocents, which preceded my reading of the novel

Movie was better than the book. What a filp

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would get lost in all the words. Too wordy, I got the book because I saw the movie. Maybe I didn't enjoy it because the vocabulary, not sure. Good story, good performance, but really had a rough time finishing it. It seemed to go on and on and on.

I don’t care if it’s a classic, skip it

My husband the-English-major suggested this to me and honestly the 2.99 I spent on it was a waste but the hours I spent listening to it I will never get back. The narrators voice was lovely, she sounds like a classic Disney princess. However having to listen to the main character drone on for hours is the true horror of the tale. Go ahead and spark-note this one and call it a day. It could have been a nice short story but dragged on for too long with little to show for it.

Wondeful

Wonderful story and the reader was excellent. I had no problem with the sound as another reviewer did.
Perhaps Audible fixed it or it was just a bad download. That's happened to me on occasion so I just download it again - at the highest level.

A waste of time...

I listened to this book over the past couple of days and I have to say it wasn't scary, creepy, spooky or anything you would expect from a ghost story. I did like the lady's voice and it's probably the only reason I kept listening to the story. And, when I say story, there really isn't one. Sure questions are asked in this narrative but, nothing is answered and when you think you might finally get some answers, someone dies and the story ends and you're left thinking wtf!? That's it?!

This is the best

Highly recommended.

Reader problems

Cindy Killavey reading is entirely flat. Of the 1115 books I have this reader is the worst. After forcing myself to listen to half the book with Kllavey's reading, I purchased the Vanessa Benjamin reading. I am quite happy with the Banjamin reading.

Terrible Audio

The audio on this is so bad! It’s like the speaker’s mouth is covered half the time. The plot is convoluted with a ton of nonsense words that don’t even mean the same thing anymore. I don’t recommend listening to this but reading it may help when it comes to comprehension.