tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post2187316820246183373..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: He had sat down with an aesthetic headache - Henry James begins The AmericanAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-80387426449908681822015-08-28T08:23:13.227-05:002015-08-28T08:23:13.227-05:00Roderick Hudson! Oh no, I skipped that one. Just...<i>Roderick Hudson</i>! Oh no, I skipped that one. Just as I was feeling passably well-read in James (through 1880, I mean). <br /><br />I have been quite impressed by <i>The American</i>, but you may notice that I am dodging its substance for matters of construction and style. Those are what impressed me.<br /><br />I hope - I believe - I will find the energy to tackle one of those late novels fairly soon. I still haven't even read <i>Portrait of a Lady</i>, though. Or <i>The Bostonians</i>. Or <i>What Maisie Knew</i>. Help.<br /><br />James and Dickens were alike in one big way - maybe only this one way. They were both writers who learned what they were writing by the act of writing. They were not conceptual artists. They had to put their hands in the clay to know what kind of pot they were making.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-26450417668443238082015-08-28T02:26:31.101-05:002015-08-28T02:26:31.101-05:00I have read eight or ten of James's novels and...I have read eight or ten of James's novels and twice as many of his short stories, and I find The American and the weakest end. More interesting is Roderick Hudson from the early years, and The Spoils of Pointon, The Bostonians, and What Maisie Knew from the middle years. The three great novels of his late period are all stunningly complex and brilliant, but not for the faint of heart. I think The Ambassadors to be one of the great American novels, and I always tell people that The Golden Bowl may have been the most difficult novel I have ever finished (although I said that before I tried Gravity's Rainbow and Infinite Jest, novels that don't even deserve to be mentioned in any posting about the greatness of James). To call James even slightly Dickensian would have constricted his poor bowels even more than the chronic constipation from which he suffered ironically, since he certainly had no trouble excreting words.<br /><br />Love your blog even when you write about people and books I have never heard of.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00014242874264804584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-72255101809032390962015-08-26T10:45:32.790-05:002015-08-26T10:45:32.790-05:00James, had a long, long career and he changed a lo...James, had a long, long career and he changed a lot. You might never guess that <i>The American</i> or "Daisy Miller" are by the same author as "The Turn of the Screw."<br /><br /><i>The American</i> could have a "Henry James without Fear" sticker on it.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-33932573494761395792015-08-26T10:40:49.557-05:002015-08-26T10:40:49.557-05:00I have had a fear of Henry James ever since I read...I have had a fear of Henry James ever since I read The Turn of the Screw, but this is pretty intriguing. I may not give up on James yet. I look forward to reading more of your posts. Karen K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-44413296360294564602015-08-26T09:58:17.693-05:002015-08-26T09:58:17.693-05:00Whatever use Henry James's fiction might have,...Whatever use Henry James's fiction might have, it is not much good for that.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-54786471313698368942015-08-26T09:34:44.112-05:002015-08-26T09:34:44.112-05:00I really need to read James, and perhaps you have ...I really need to read James, and perhaps you have given me the necessary push; however, I am preoccupied at the moment with other matters:<br />http://beyondeastrod.blogspot.com/2015/08/gods-grace-i-am-listening-and.htmlR.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-52595797087559991732015-08-25T22:46:43.799-05:002015-08-25T22:46:43.799-05:00The American is just about as relaxed as I have ev...<i>The American</i> is just about as relaxed as I have ever seen James, and it all works just as you say.<br /><br />I will return to the types, maybe more than once.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-90657920740427166132015-08-25T17:10:50.419-05:002015-08-25T17:10:50.419-05:00Lambert Strether in The Ambassadors is in his 50s,...Lambert Strether in <i>The Ambassadors</i> is in his 50s, I think, when he arrives in Europe and discovers a new kind of arithmetic. Maybe James' characters got older as the writer aged. That happens sometimes.<br /><br />It's also true enough that, if you read enough James, you begin to see how he divided people into types, and there are a limited number of types in his books. That's also probably common enough. But James was a good comic writer. One could wish he'd relaxed more often, written more funny ironical bits.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-84458129580757941052015-08-25T17:01:59.969-05:002015-08-25T17:01:59.969-05:00My not too diligent research suggests that James h...My not too diligent research suggests that James had the novel planned out more than the opening chapters would suggest, but that it was by no means complete when serialization began, so he had some room to improvise, have surprising insights, regrets, etc. Closer to Dickens than to Flaubert, yes.<br /><br />Newman is old for one of these characters - 36 - so his undeveloped state is stark. I will write more about him tomorrow. He is not exactly what I would call a great character, but James does a lot of smart things with him.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-91980824282385981832015-08-25T16:47:43.692-05:002015-08-25T16:47:43.692-05:00This is exciting, a James I haven't read! I wo...This is exciting, a James I haven't read! I wonder how much James had planned this one in advance. If he was still finding his feet and writing it as it was being published, I mean, rather than having got the whole thing more or less down before it started appearing in <i>The Atlantic</i>. Henry James as Dickens. "What am I doing?" he asks himself over dessert.<br /><br />I would bet that "American men do not do their developing until they come to Europe" is never a joke in James. I think that was one of his most firm beliefs, and that American men who do not develop in Europe are failures.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.com