The Yellow Wallpaper

The story is about a woman in the 1800s who has to spend a lot of time alone in a house, with an ugly yellow wallpaper. The circumstances/events or a lack thereof, results in a relationship forming between the woman and the wallpaper.

The slow transition into insanity appears to me as a means of escape.

“I really have discovered something at last. Through watching so much at night, when it changes so, I have finally found out. The front pattern does move - and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over. Then in the very ‘ bright spots she keeps still, and in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard. And she is all the time trying to climb through.”

I was hopeful about the situation first, then came the hopelessness and later the bliss of insanity at the end. I was surprised, that so much could happen in a short story. It was never rushed. The gradual blending of the psyche of the wallpaper and the woman is quite believably portayed; which is horrifying.
Appeals to my morbid interests.

“If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do? . . .So I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to “work” until I am well again.”

Starting the year of strong with this absolutely infuriating short masterpiece of a book.

Recensie van audioboek (via Storytel)
Verhaal over hoe de beste bedoelingen, de slechtst mogelijke gevolgen kunnen hebben.

Huiveringwekkend portret over het afdwalen in waanzin, als protest tegen de toentertijd heersende onderdrukking van vrouwen.
Haar man, vader, broer of mannelijke voogd wisten het altijd beter, want vrouwen werden gezien als geestelijk zwak en kwetsbaar. Uitingen van instabiliteit en depressie moesten behandeld worden met rust, een zo huiselijk mogelijk leven en zo weinig mogelijk mentale stimulatie.
De schrijfster protesteert hiertegen, mede op basis van haar persoonlijke ervaringen. Net de isolatie en het gebrek aan geestelijke prikkelingen, doen het hoofdpersonage afdwalen in krankzinnigheid. Later kreeg de schrijfster ook op wetenschappelijk niveau gelijk toen bleek dat een alternatief regime van geestelijke en fysieke activiteiten een veel beter resultaat gaven dan de traditioneel voorgeschreven rustkuur.

This was suggested to me by Mark Holloway, author of The Soul's Aspect, which is tremendous, so how could I ignore him...I ordered it immediately. 
Known for being a very early feminist work, the short story focuses on the way women's physical and mental health was viewed in the 19th century. While written well, it's written quite plainly in a way that could still be picked up and read today as a more modern piece if you were unawares, and that tracks well for me, especially when people still throw around the work “hysterical” about people as if it holds weight. 
For me this was surprisingly atmospheric, claustrophobic, and paranoiac. I feel like I may have had to read this during schooling, but it definitely was beyond me at the time. The writer feels that she needs the exact opposite of what her husband (and doctor) believes is best for her, going so far as to even say what he wanted was making her worse. There's something to be said for the first person perspective and their self awareness that perhaps mentally they are losing it, or perhaps the others are. It lends credence to both sides of the argument while still being firm that she's misdiagnosed. 
And all this through that godforsaken yellow, orange, green patterned wallpaper. Personally a 4/5* for me. A great short story 

CW: themes of depression

I picked up this book because i kept hearing about it in different youtube videos. All I knew about it was that it was about a yellow wallpaper and commentary on depression. But wow it's so much more than that. It succeeds on explaining the feeling that comes with depression. And the dread of having people ignore it and say to just sleep it off. We see the narrator slowly descend into madness due to not getting the help she needs.

I honestly don't know what to rate it lol.

Rating: 5 / 5 starsShort review: unconventionally and irrevocably, a horror story.

Quiet an easy and fast read; just a few minutes and you're done with this story. But it's been a few hours, and I'm still really sad.

A terrifying tale in its own way, with no apparent monsters or ghosts, but rather ourselves. Ourselves, and our capability to do wrong to others, even with our best intentions, and our mind's capability to do us harm.

I'll leave with you with a couple of highlights, that really just broke my heart.

John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.

-

I tried to have a real earnest, reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how I wished he would let me go and make a visit to cousin Henry and Julia. But he said I wasn't able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there; and I did not make out a very good case for myself, for I was crying before I had finished.

Rating: 3.48 leaves out of 5Characters: 3/5 Cover: 5/5Story: 3.4/5Writing: 4/5Horror: 2/5Genre: Gothic/Horror/ClassicType: AudiobookWorth?: EhHated Disliked It Was Okay Liked LovedI will be honest, I don't understand the hype around this short story. It was okay at best. The main gal clearly has mental issues, but I do think it had to do with being stuck in a room a good chunk of time so that is understandable. I think people with lower mental levels will succumb easier to histeria than some. John can kiss my arse. I have no nice words for him and that ending with him? WHY? Why did he do that? That confused me so much.

I really enjoyed this short story. I think the progression of the story was really well done, and the psychological breakdown happened so smoothly despite how quickly it progressed. Especially as someone working in a healthcare profession, I really quite enjoyed the exchanges between the main character and her husband and comparing modern practices to the historical context. The only thing that is nagging at me is that the story is written as journal entries from the main character, and during the last entry, I really struggled to imagine her in this highly psychotic state where she is stuck pushing around the room and then shortly turn around and write about what happened. All in all, though, I thought this was a very memorable story and would recommend it to anyone.