This topic is currently marked as "dormant"—the last message is more than 90 days old. You can revive it by posting a reply.
1edwinbcn
The Road Through the Wall is a 1948 novel by author Shirley Jackson. It draws upon Jackson's own experiences growing up in Burlingame, California.
2rebeccanyc
This was Shirley Jackson's first book, and it doesn't hold up to the standards she set in her later novels and short stories. But it is an interesting work for a reader who has read other books by her, as it's possible to catch a glimpse of the themes she would explore so brilliantly later.
The story takes place on Pepper Street, a suburban California community of people for whom a house there is the best they can achieve, at least for the time being. School is out for the summer, and the children of various ages play, trouble and torment each other, and clash or make peace with their families. Jackson introduces the reader to each of the families, and none of them, with the possible exception of the shunned Jewish family, is one anyone would want to be part of. There is the mother who opens her daughter's locked desk to read her private poems and other writings, and the mother who continues to refer to her 16-year-old son as her adopted son, and the girl who loves to needle the others, and the younger boy who is avoided by everyone because he is a little strange (or is he a little strange because everyone avoids him?), and many more. Every now and then some of the braver teenagers venture a few blocks away to some of the stores that serve the broader community and even meet people who don't live on Pepper Street.
What this book really portrays is the claustrophobia of conformity and an obsession with class. None of the adults wants to rock the boat; they all want to behave in the "right" way. But some changes inevitably occur, and there are outsiders. Along with the Jewish family, who are basically ignored, there is a rental house, and about two-thirds of the way through the book a very strange family with an almost nonexistent mother and two girls, the older of whom manages the family and takes care of the younger one who is apparently mentally challenged in some undefined way; the family also seems to have an inexplicable source of cash. The younger girl behaves completely freely, which is very transgressive for Pepper Street. Towards the very end of the book, a completely horrifying and shocking event takes place.
The wall is at the end of the street, and towards the end it is being knocked down so the undeveloped land beyond it can be built on. Needless to say, this disturbs the residents of Pepper Street (who might move in?), but I have been thinking about it and the title, since the breaking down of the wall only takes place when the book is almost over. So, obviously, the wall is metaphoric and creative people need to break through it.
Jackson is an excellent writer, so these points aren't as obvious as I've made them sound, but the book is almost as claustrophobic as the the street and this was an interesting but not really an enjoyable read.
The story takes place on Pepper Street, a suburban California community of people for whom a house there is the best they can achieve, at least for the time being. School is out for the summer, and the children of various ages play, trouble and torment each other, and clash or make peace with their families. Jackson introduces the reader to each of the families, and none of them, with the possible exception of the shunned Jewish family, is one anyone would want to be part of. There is the mother who opens her daughter's locked desk to read her private poems and other writings, and the mother who continues to refer to her 16-year-old son as her adopted son, and the girl who loves to needle the others, and the younger boy who is avoided by everyone because he is a little strange (or is he a little strange because everyone avoids him?), and many more. Every now and then some of the braver teenagers venture a few blocks away to some of the stores that serve the broader community and even meet people who don't live on Pepper Street.
What this book really portrays is the claustrophobia of conformity and an obsession with class. None of the adults wants to rock the boat; they all want to behave in the "right" way. But some changes inevitably occur, and there are outsiders. Along with the Jewish family, who are basically ignored, there is a rental house, and about two-thirds of the way through the book a very strange family with an almost nonexistent mother and two girls, the older of whom manages the family and takes care of the younger one who is apparently mentally challenged in some undefined way; the family also seems to have an inexplicable source of cash. The younger girl behaves completely freely, which is very transgressive for Pepper Street. Towards the very end of the book, a completely horrifying and shocking event takes place.
The wall is at the end of the street, and towards the end it is being knocked down so the undeveloped land beyond it can be built on. Needless to say, this disturbs the residents of Pepper Street (who might move in?), but I have been thinking about it and the title, since the breaking down of the wall only takes place when the book is almost over. So, obviously, the wall is metaphoric and creative people need to break through it.
Jackson is an excellent writer, so these points aren't as obvious as I've made them sound, but the book is almost as claustrophobic as the the street and this was an interesting but not really an enjoyable read.
3Bookmarque
I barely finished this. Skimmed pretty much the whole of the final third. Lord, it was dull. And from what I gathered, no upshot at all.
4pamelad
The Road Through the Wall by Shirley Jackson
This is Jackson's first book, and it is as unsettling as her last.
The middle-class residents of Pepper Street know who is acceptable. They are polite to Jews and poor people, but do not include them in the social activities of the street and have no problems coming up with reasons why this is the right thing to do. The smug, selfish, hypocritical adults have taught their children well. The kids are vicious and manipulative, or they are victims. Something terrible is going to happen.
Recommended. I am planning to read more of Jackson's early books.
This is Jackson's first book, and it is as unsettling as her last.
The middle-class residents of Pepper Street know who is acceptable. They are polite to Jews and poor people, but do not include them in the social activities of the street and have no problems coming up with reasons why this is the right thing to do. The smug, selfish, hypocritical adults have taught their children well. The kids are vicious and manipulative, or they are victims. Something terrible is going to happen.
Recommended. I am planning to read more of Jackson's early books.
Join to post
