The Other House [Hardcover]

Henry James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1976

Volume: 1 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1896 Original Publisher: Macmillan Co. Subjects: Family

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In The Other House (1896), James presents a man who is sought after by three women. He attempts to please them all but in so doing sacrifices his relationship with his young daughter. The Outcry (1911) is James's last novel and long unavailable. He pokes fun at the upper crust in the form of both a wealthy American scouring England for art and a down-on-his-luck British lord looking to separate the Yank from as much of his cash as possible.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"The Other House is the story of a brutal crime, and its violence is not duplicated in any of Henry James’s other works…[It] takes place in broad British daylight, and the passions which explode in it with such force are acted out on disciplined lawns between stately British houses, deriving their well—founded security from a banking fortune. The Other House is intensely British in its motives and emotions; and its intensity derives precisely from the fact that when the calm is broken, and the conflict…is engaged the contrast is as of a violent rush of air into a place of quiet…" —Leon Edel

"The Other House contains some of the most harrowing, compressed, and ambiguous scenes James ever wrote." —Threepenny Review

"Played out on the tidy lawns between two aristocratic houses, the staid Eastmead and the boisterous Bounds, a desperately tangled love-scrimmage spirals into a crime of unspeakable brutality, with a deeply unsettling climax. Readers left puzzled by the murky pychosexual terror of James’s The Turn of The Screw should give this passionate melodrama a try." —Library Journal --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (July 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891903178
• ISBN-13: 978-0891903178
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,640,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Henry James (1843-1916), the son of the religious philosopher Henry James Sr. and brother of the psychologist and philosopher William James, published many important novels including Daisy Miller, The Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl, and The Ambassadors.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A surprisingly quick read, June 5, 2003

By 

B. Kuhlman "badgradstudent" (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Other House (New York Review Books) (Paperback)

It's hard to believe that James's theatrical turn of the late 19th century ended with his audience "booing" him off the stage. This novelized play reads quickly and delightfully. I've read more than twenty of his novels, and this was the quickest of them all.

The plot is simple enough (at least for James): two houses, apparently back to back, in Wilverley, a small English village, set the scene. One contains a widow, the other a young married couple. The young wife widows the young husband, and he becomes Wilverley's "most eligible bachelor," except for the fact that he promised his dying wife that he would never marry again, at least not during the life of his child. So somebody has to kill the child, right?

Enter James's genius for character. There's Paul, the huge, infinitely imperturbable son of the wealthy Mrs. Beever; the diminutive and impetuous Dennis Vidal; Tony Bream himself, a remarkably good-natured but insensitive fool; and the powerful Mrs. Beever, whose awful determination cows every one else before her. Like James's best writing, his characters become interesting on their own; his fictions become an opportunity to satisfy curiosity. I think that's what makes this book a "page-turner"; the characters are interesting enough that I want to know what's going to happen.

In the end, I suppose, what makes this book succeed is what would have made the dramatic version fail: James's endless fascination with the workings of the human mind must have become either painfully boring or just incomprehensible to a theatrical audience. However it came about, I recommend it unequivocally.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars real, rounded characters, July 23, 2002

By 

Russael BK Johanys (Seoul, Korea) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Other House (New York Review Books) (Paperback)

This book is a novelization of the play by the same name. And you can see the stageplay - the characters are continually coming and going - and there's stage business - all of which I think shows some stiffness - yet about half way through the novel I was startled at how much the characters were real, rounded - I could just about see them - they ached with life - I was always aware of the stage during the novel - the story itself is rather shocking - it's a mystery novel! - it's all very well done - it's short - and it's very psychological

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected Page Turner--Timeless, September 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Other House (New York Review Books) (Paperback)

I am impressed with The New York Review's revival of this unexpectedly non-Jamesian title. A truly unique James choice to bring back to life--it's been done so with a cover so compelling (I'm not a tradional James fan) I opened the book which I found locally in a brick and mortar as they are now called, book shop. The internet cannot do justice to the thoughtful sophistication of this book's packaging. (But I can purchase another copy here more easily!) The publisher's comments about the work were also compelling and complimentary to the cover art. The Other House is a mystery, a detective story, a love triangle with more than three angles--a true page turner--with a timelessly human plot and "modern" characters. Anyone thriller fan would be enchanted with it. And turning every page, holding the book, is a sensory thrill. Paper, writing, art--all representative of what any literary rebirth deserves. If it's worth bringing back--do it with quality, I say! They did--along with a whole marvelous collection of equally intriguing books, with well written new introductions. Good choices--the pieces themselves, the introduction authors and the book artist designers. Truly timeless in all ways!