Customer Reviews

Henry James : Novels 1881-1886: Washington Square, The Portrait of a Lady, The Bostonians (Library of America)

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The LOA editions of James are generally excellent and recommended, but their scholarly principle of choosing texts that represent James's first intentions presents a problem with "Portrait Of A Lady." As stated in the notes on the texts (p.1239), James "extensively revised" the novel for the New York Edition of 1908, "making this final version a very different book from the one that first appeared in 1881." It is the 1881 version that appears here, and it is inferior, if for no other reason than the abrupt ending (with the single line "On which he looked up at her."). The 1908 edition adds just a few more lines--brief, but breathtaking. If you're reading "Portrait Of A Lady" for the first time, definitely go for the revised version.

You want a way to get into a formidable writer, one whose collective work fills up a goodly portion of the Library of America bookshelf -- here's your passport. The three novels in this LOA volume are James' earliest and in some ways his most accessible. The chronological biography in the back is very helpful, as are the notes. The presentation is typical Library of America -- crisp 10-point Linotron Galliard against the characteristic LOA white paper makes for easy reading. At roughly 400 words per page, movement through the work seems swift, a considerable boost to tackling a 600-page novel novel like "Portrait of a Lady."
James requires a developed taste. He writes of a time and about places and people who may seem remote to contemporary readers. Don't be put off by a failure to penetrate him. This is handsome and ultimately useful volume to have of your shelf in the event that someday you'll try James once again and discover that those people, those places and that time are closer than you thought.

Henry James, packaged in a beautiful book, with dark print on white pages, is the king of the nuance. To read him, you slow down, you enter his world, a scene of dusk and mood and marrow and sorrow. A novel as sweet as the vision of a cool bath in a marble tub, in a darkened chamber, in a hot land. Characters who sometimes do not get exactly what they want even though they want it. One far removed from current events and politics and global warming and death-defying high wire acts of short-sighted greed which are all net and no tightrope. Far removed and yet existing at the core where the personal is burnt into the societal and where a man sitting on an ottoman while a woman stands next to a fireplace predicts the ruin of the state.

This 2nd volume of the Library of America edition of Henry James' novels contains 3 novels from the 1880s. Two of them are among the best that James wrote. The other one is also much praised, but it is too long and mean, though deep enough to stay with you.

Washington Square: a short novel about stubborn people. Two men fight about a woman: her father wants her not to marry that windbag. That windbag wants to challenge the father about his plan to disinherit his daughter in the case of marriage. We can easily see that the girl might end up as collateral damage. It does not continue in such a clear cut way though.
I have been asked where to start with James. I am just a beginner myself, but I feel confident in saying that this one is just fine for the purpose of getting familiar. It is reasonably short at 200 pages. It is entertaining and accessible. There is nothing of the complicated ponderous language of some later works. The narrative is based on an all-knowing voice from the off, which reports and comments. Not exactly modern writing, but alive and sharp and observant.

The Portrait of a Lady: much too long. Much too misogynic: plenty of evil women. This novel is sometimes called HJ's best, but I don't see it that way. It starts like a mean comedy, where the author doesn't like any of his creatures. It meanders along and becomes in phases rather tedious. We find it hard to keep interest in a woman that is so despised by its creator. On the other hand, Isabel Archer has found her admirers, certainly in the novel, but also among readers and reviewers.
The strength of the novel lies in its `character development'. That is a criterion that I don't normally take all that serious, but here it is quite important. We stay with Isabel over longer periods and watch her grow up to some extent. She does have strength of character, but much of that is offset by lack of common sense. Typically for James, we begin to like her, or rather James likes her, only after she has lost her war. Victorious women can't be put in a positive light.
One of HJ's weaknesses is that he tells us a lot about his people, rather than letting us find out for ourselves. That forces us then to diagnose the people in the story plus the inventor of the story. An obvious gap in Isabel (and probably in HJ) is her sex life. She doesn't have any.

Finally, The Bostonians, one of James' most political and one of his funniest novels.
Also one of his most American ones. It is a triangle tale. A wealthy Bostonian feminist competes with her impoverished Southern cousin for the favors of an attractive young woman from the humanitarian Bohemia. The target of affection is a talented inspirational speaker with a pedigree: her mother is from an abolitionist family, and her father made a career as a spiritist and a mesmeric healer. Both competitors want to pull the girl out of this abominable world of quackery. She is a sympathetic soul who is keen to be useful to the movement. Liberating the girl from her squalid world looks like the right thing to do. He, on the other hand, is just a handsome joker who recognizes a pretty girl when he sees her. But the winner takes it all.
James at his best.

Washington Square was a fine work, accessible and affecting. The main character is worthy of both sympathy and admiration as she deals with her feckless would-be lover. Portrait of a Lady contains florid prose makes this an engaging read. James does a great job of showing you different views of a given issue without tipping his hand too far. Ultimately a depressing ending, it nevertheless is well worth enjoying.

I enjoyed "Washington Square" thoroughly. I believe any highschool student should read this if they are looking for a "book" report. I found it captivating and I couldn't put the book down. However I was a little disappointed in how the ending turned out, but what can I do?