The Lottery by Shirley Jackson captures the imagination of everyone who reads it. For me I think I was first exposed in the 8th grade, but returned to it anew later as an adult after I read many titles and watched many films that were clearly inspired by it in some way. I was reminded of this when I read The New York Times (library card holders can get access!) article on the 75th anniversary of the publication that featured a ton of commentary and recollections by those very same authors and filmakers.
I discovered a few things in reading that article, not the least of which was that the official graphic adaptation was done by none other than Shirley Jackson's grandchild! Additionally, some titles that I didn't first connect in my head to The Lottery like Paul Tremblay's the Cabin at the End of the World and The Purge film series (which to be fair I haven't seen) immediately locked in as being seriously influenced by the 1948 New Yorker Short Story. Other authors like Stephen King mentioned in the NYT story had always struck me as returning to some of the themes in titles such as the Long Walk and The Running Man (originally published under the Bachman pseudonym).
Titles not mentioned in that NYT story such as the film (and manga) Battle Royale and the Modern Classic The Hunger Games immediately locked in as a thematically similar, as they deal with somewhat inexplicable violence. One of David Lynch's films Blue Velvet has that aspect of uncovering unsavory elements of seemingly polite society. Regardless, the scope of influence of Shirley Jackson remains unparalleled 75 years into the publication of The Lottery.
Any titles that I missed? Comment below and tell us what reminds you about The Lottery. I asked my colleague and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (twist ending), also by Shirley Jackson and All Summer in a Day by Bradbury (People can be terrible) came to mind!
Titles mentioned in this blog:
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"
The Cabin at the End of the World
Add a comment to: Recollections on the Lottery and those books and films it inspired