Thirteen Chairs

Title: Thirteen Chairs by Dave Shelton

Image:

Genre: Horror  

Justification:

          Thirteen Chairs is a collection of scary stories embedded into one larger story. This horror book has a series of ghost stories. When choosing a horror book, I began by looking at the interest level. The logic was that the younger the book the less scary it was likely to be. It received 3.38 stars on goodreads and has 1,474 ratings (goodreads, 2019). The cover of the book states that is was “The New York Times Bestseller” (Shelton, 2015).

Evaluation of the book:

The mood of the story sets the tone. Jack is standing outside a door debating is he should go in. As he debates you can feel his insecurity. When he enters the room, he sees the chairs and the candles. As each person blows out their candle it becomes darker and darker. The stories themselves become darker and darker. The mood becomes tenser. Jack’s worry can be felt, and each story becomes scarier. There is she in the story. In this story the mood shifts from dark and scary to somber. This shift allows the reader to come back and listen to a more lighthearted tale to finish the story. The mood helps to progress the story and allows the reader to relate to all the characters.

Through most of the story Jack is thinking about what ghost story to tell. When he gets to the last person, he realizes he is not supposed to tell a ghost story. The author uses unexpected insights to shift the mood and the plot of the story.  “I am Frederick William Osterley and in death, as in life, I am among the dead. And I help them to their rest” (Shelton, 2015, p. 231) These two simple sentences change the entire story. The readers then realize that everyone, but Jack has moved on but not fully. It also explains why they all refer to Osterley as the leader in the entire book. It was simply done but had a lot of meaning.

The book is told from multiple points of view.  Fifteen different stories are told within the same book. There is a story for each of the thirteen chairs and one story for Megan the next year. Each of the points of view is a different story. As everyone in the book shares their story you can hear their voice change and style change depending on their personality. This helps the reader understand each character and life. The characters each give a brief introduction to themselves from Jack’s point of view then it shifts into their own perspective for their story.

Response:

          (g) Horror is not a genre of books that I would naturally look for. This book was well written and thought out. The book still gives me nightmares. One of the stories about the cook and his brother still stays with me. I did like how Shelton ended his book. He changed the narrative to that of ghost stories to the power of living. (a) That is important to understand the power of living and how we can not move on until we live. It shows the importance of observing the world different ways and changing your views so that others can move on. Sometimes it is easy to get stuck in one mindset where it becomes impossible to move on. This year I have worked hard to see the other actions from a different perspective so that I can understand their actions. This book does a great job of modeling that. ( e ) This book was well written. It goes thought multiple ghost stories and uses two characters to tie the whole book together. As the book is being read the stories become scarier and scarier and the book is somber. The story from Mr. Osterley shows how we need to see the world in a different light. He talks about how we must support and help others. This is a positive message in a ghost story.

Conclusion:

          While horror is not a genre I would normally read, it was a good experience to read it.  This will help give me some ideas for recommendations for students. This book will be donated to someone who enjoys horror. As a reader is not a good fit genre for me, but it has literary merit. This book taught me how not every book is meant for every reader. The author uses mood, unexpected insights, and multiple points of view to share twelve ghost stories. This was written and thought out. Students will enjoy the book.

Citation:

Goodreads. (2019, October 22). Thirteen Chairs. Retrieved from goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23436913-thirteen-chairs

Shelton, D. (2015). Thirteen Chairs. Oxford: Scholastic.

The University of Texas at El Paso. (n.d.). How to Write a Reaction Paper or Reader Response. Retrieved from Reader Response: http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl0310link/readerresponse.htm