Bleak houses
Three houses, all alike in dignity, in fair EELSona, where we lay our email.
What I wanted to do was write about paperbacks, as I realized I am very quick to finish a paperback! I think I am more likely to physically pick it up than an impressive hardcover tome, even though those are what I gravitate towards buying.
But, I don’t know, are any of those impressive tomes more precious to me than my mom’s paperback edition of Jane Eyre from high school? Or the copy of Pale Fire (see EELS: Big book on campus, part 2) my brother gave me that I currently cannot locate and if I think about that too hard I get very upset?
Anyway, I recently read
’s recent Substack edition about printing paperbacks that made me think, yes! Paperbacks! Maybe we should just lean into them! And also those Persephone paperbacks I went crazy over! And also, they are much better to take on vacation!But “paperbacks I like” isn’t really a theme, per se, though “Paperback reader” would have been a great Beatles-themed subject line. Then my pal Kira hit upon this house theme, which fit perfectly with the paperback I am currently reading, and then I realized I’ve read all three of these recently in paperback. And, like the photo contained herein, it was a little bit of a creepy sign. I present to you… Books Featuring Somewhat Menacing or Otherwise Large-Looming Houses As a Central Theme—in Paperback!
🛟 Rebecca
Daphne DuMaurier, 1938
Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again.
Everyone’s always remembering first sentences of books, but I’m not very good at it. This one, though, always sticks with me, because Manderley—whew, what a place. And the place around the place, with all its oppressive azaleas and rhododendrons. Their heady smells and how they grow so thickly to tree height… the never-named narrator (god how I want to know her lovely and unusual name so badly) describes them in these impossible ways over and over. I live in the land of azaleas! I know they simply cannot be this intense! You scare me, Manderley and its adjoining grounds!
There’s a whole thrilling mystery to this book, which is really about communication, insecurity, and anxiety. But upon reread, I just can’t stop thinking about how the oppressiveness of this weighty house and nature always threatening to burst its way in even as they’re trying to burst their way out. Genius.
Recommended for: Those who want to rub their temples and go, “No, no nononononono” as they ignore their responsibilities around their own oppressive house. It is also recommended for my friends Gabby and Sudie who need to get the heck on with their reading assignment. Maybe they should have gone the paperback route.
Want to see what books I’ve recommended in the past? Guess what—I’ve created a handy spreadsheet with all sorts of helpful info to help you choose your next read, and if you’re an EELS subscriber, I’ll give you access to it. It’s free, it’s easy, maybe it’ll help!
👯 We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Shirley Jackson, 1962
This is not I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, which is another great book that has a somewhat similar ramshackle, though less bleak, vibe. In true Shirley fashion, the family—and the things people will do to each other when their prejudices have been activated—are under the microscope here.
But the house, the house! It’s a big mansion—not as big as Manderley, but like, what is, am I right?—and it’s surrounded by a lot of nature. Unlike Manderley, it’s fallen onto hard times of late, as this particular family suffered a tragedy several years prior that has sort of pinned them in time like slowly disintegrating but beautiful butterflies upon a dusty frame. But who performed this tragedy? And why? And will they be stuck in this house forever? Do they even want to leave? Trust in Shirley, she will show you the way.
Recommended to: Those who want a quick, magical, somewhat upsetting read that is better than any other content they will consume that week.
◼️ House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski, 2000
I was just walking by a bookshelf the other day, and happened to look up, and this was happening. Is it coming for me?? I am afraid to talk about this book. Pick it up. Push through. ◼️
Recommended to: Those who can handle a challenge and want to go on a real journey and also be afraid to ever measure your house’s walls.
Recommended format: This would be impossible to do in audio form, and possibly not even in an e-book. The book is the house of leaves, get it??
And now, a bonus recommendation
🏚️ The Haunting of Hill House — Shirley Jackson (again!), 1959
“Some haunted house books are concerned first and foremost with the house: Is it haunted? By what forces? To what end? Shirley Jackson’s classic is far more interested in the people drawn to a haunted house, and how each of them interacts with it. The effect is more unsettling (and sometimes even funny) than it is all-out scary, but honestly that’s a vibe. Recommended for fans of Rosemary’s Baby and The Shining, or the Netflix adaptation of the book, or the 1999 movie adaptation inexplicably starring Owen Wilson.”
Recommended by: Kira, who I worry will be literally found under a pile of books one day. Her last I Have Some Questions for You, Children of Time, and Number Go Up.
That was the twenty-eighth EELS! I would be just so grateful if you’d share widely with your networks! As always, send any and all questions, feedback, and shouted book recommendations by hitting reply.
📚 Susan
I enjoyed reading these three books ages ago, and should probably list them all for a re-read. Except House of Leaves, as I am pretty exclusively ebooks (ugh, I know, in your piece about paperback vs hardback) and you really can’t read HoL in any format but paper. But mostly I am commenting to recommend the album Haunted by Poe, who is the sister of.. is it Mark Z Danielewski? It is like a companion piece to the novel and I found it really powerful to experience them together when I was a precocious 20-something year old.
◼️