this book is on almost every "best of gothic horror" list on the planet, so maybe my expectations were too high

it's certainly gothic, and jackson executes her narrator's disordered, childish mind with a lot of skill. the house and its surroundings are vividly sketched. reading it is like looking into one of those super detailed miniature dioramas you find at museums. when i was finally done, i asked myself why i enjoy gormenghast but not this. there are way more similarities than i would've guessed when i first started

my tentative conclusion is that gormenghast takes me into the minds of many weird little characters, but in castle, i was stuck in one POV i didn't enjoy at all. the narrator is ungodly annoying to read. the repetitiveness does convey her adherence to routine, but it draws out the pacing so much that it punctures rather than amplifies the horror tension. (for me. clearly it worked for other readers.)