Comments | disturbingbooks: "The Lottery" (a short story) by Shirley Jackson

prettyh in disturbingbooks

"The Lottery" (a short story) by Shirley Jackson

Oct 21, 2007 07:14

'Tis I, your humble moderator, back once more with not a book, but a short story. I just finished watching The Wicker Man (the original with Christopher Lee, not the abominable remake), and there were elements that called to mind a story we were given to read in elementary school. That thought alone is a bit disturbing, in retrospect. No wonder ( Read more... )

fiction, bizarre/absurd, movie tie-ins, short stories, torture

Comments 18

drrreadly October 21 2007, 14:52:45 UTC

That is a pretty horrible, disturbing story. Thank you for sharing it :) It reminds me of something I've read before, but I can't remember what it is!

prettyh October 21 2007, 20:57:18 UTC

Yes, it really, really is. You're welcome! I love to share the doom.

I'll see if the Wiki page has any references on what it might have inspired - probably a great number of things, given that it's been around for 60 years now. I can't imagine being the first person to think that scenario through and write that! (Nor will I ever forgive my grade-school teachers for making us experience it at such a young age. THERAPY, MUCH??)

mossy_sloth October 21 2007, 22:31:07 UTC

Quite disturbing. It put me in mind of Ursula Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", which I would certainly suggest reading if you haven't already.

Thanks for posting this. I appreciate the effort and having something nice and short to read when I wake up!

prettyh October 22 2007, 19:49:17 UTC

I haven't read that, actually - hadn't heard of it before! Thanks for the rec; I'll look it up immediately.

And you're very welcome! I was glad to be able to find it online so I could bring it over here & give everyone a chance to read it. Nothing quite like a freaky little short story to wake you up in the morning. ;) We're a strange bunch in this community, and I like it that way.

By the way (I'm about to post this as a separate entry, but thought I'd mention it here anyway), the fellow who'd posted the truncated version of the film on YouTube was kind enough to send me a message this afternoon & tell me that he's now uploaded the whole video for us!

mossy_sloth October 22 2007, 22:47:26 UTC

Here is a link to an online copy of Le Guin's story:

http://harelbarzilai.org/words/omelas.txt

I hope you like it. It's not all that similar to the Lottery, but there were a few common elements that struck me.

_madam_mina_ October 21 2007, 23:14:26 UTC

I had to read this in High School - in a way it reminds me of The Giver by Lois Lowry

prettyh October 22 2007, 19:50:23 UTC

That's another one I haven't read. I'll have to look it up! Do you know if it's online (and therefore copy-able here)? Or is it part of an anthology?

_madam_mina_ October 22 2007, 21:20:19 UTC

I don't read books online so I'm not sure - it's a novel, not a short story so not something I'd recommend pasting in LJ, lol.

prettyh October 23 2007, 15:18:27 UTC

Ohhh, it's a whole novel! Ha ha - yes, I can see why the whole copy/paste thing wouldn't be the wisest idea, then. But I've found it on Amazon so I will definitely give it a look. Thanks!

Thread 5

morgi October 22 2007, 01:56:07 UTC

Coincidentally, I just found out that Shirley Jackson and I share a birthday.

prettyh October 22 2007, 19:51:07 UTC

More proof that you were, indeed, born to be warped. Part of your considerable charm.

0_mile_marker October 23 2007, 18:04:54 UTC

Whoa there. That was a freakin' awesome story.

prettyh October 25 2007, 13:32:35 UTC

Yeah, it really is - it's unbelievably powerful, and it has haunted me for many, many years. I was glad I could find it again to post it here, because for a long time I would bring it up in conversation about books/stories that had a profound effect on my friends or family, and nobody else had ever read or heard of it!