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The Portable Henry James (Viking Portable Library)

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It has been suggested that Henry James did not "realize" Life -- that he hid from it and missed so much of that which makes life vital. I would rather have lived his life than most others of which I have read or observed. My own life has been one of wildness, bohemian behavior and eccentric passion -- but I have very little to show for having "lived" life to the fullest. Now that I am two years away from sixty, I look at all of my madcap ways and see how lifeless they truly are. We may compare the biography of Henry James to that of another favorite writer, Oscar Wilde. Who, I ask, "lived" the greater life, had the finest experience of existence?

Henry James is said to be merely an observer and interpreter of life and society. I find him so much more. He is one of the few writers whose works take on new life as age advances and maturity allows me to appreciate in more adult fashion the genius of Art. The creation of art is, for me, one of the finest expressions of the human soul -- and no one wrote with more intense interest, curiosity and intelligence than Henry James.

This newer edition of THE PORTABLE HENRY JAMES, superbly edited and introduced by John Auchard, gives us some of James's finest accomplishments as an artist. The book is divided into different categories: I. FICTION; II. REVISIONS; III. TRAVEL; IV. CRITICISM; V. AUTOBIOGRAPHY; VI. CORRESPONDENCE; VII. DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION; VIII. NAMES; IX. PARODY; X. LEGACY. The final section is a fascinating record of approaches to Henry James from his admirers, and includes

"At the Grave of Henry James," a substantial poem by W. H. Auden,

a selection from HENRY JAMES: AN APPRECIATION by Joseph Conrad,

from IN MEMORY by T. S. Eliot,

from HENRY JAMES: THE PRIVATE UNIVERSE by Graham Greene,

from HENRY JAMES by Ezra Pound,

from A BACKWARD GLANCE by Edith Wharton,

and from REVIEW OF THE LETTERS OF HENRY JAMES by Virginia Woolf.

As an introduction to James, this omnibus cannot be beat. One would have wished, perhaps, for a few more short stories, but all in all it is a fine representation.

This collection gives an excellent overview of James' work and offers the reader a chance to engage a notoriously daunting author at many levels. There are the stories, the essays, the letters, and of course select novels. This is the best place to start.

I have never enjoyed a writer so much as Henry James. But I could not have enjoyed him without first Shakespeare, Homer, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Hemingway, the Brontes, George Eliot and so many more. I put off reading Henry James because I had heard he was so long-winder, so boring.

Without a doubt, I am convinced that "The Beast in the Jungle" is his best, it is his most autobiographical, it is so sad, and perhaps the best romance (as in "romance") writing I have ever come across.

Life experiences help immensely in one's reading, and this is particularly true for "The Beast in the Jungle."

The "Turn of the Screw" is a great ghost story, but at the end of the day, it is simply a ghost story.

Carrying the "Portable Henry James" on your flights will guarantee you will mind less the missed flights, the delayed flights and the canceled flights.

The indisputable greatness of James relates to his having created a style for presenting experience and human relationships , distinct and deep, yet with real narrative power. The limitations of that greatness are the limitations of James own life and experience. And they relate to his having missed central elements in human experience. Compare for instance the love relationships in Tolstoy to those in James, vital realized relationships from those always on the verge of realization .

The great exemplary story for this element in James' life is one of his greatest works, "The Beast in the Jungle" .In this story included in this anthology the hero Marcher waits all his life for the great transformative revelatory - event. In the end that happening turns out to be that nothing is going to happen.

This collection contains some of James' finest stories, plus valuable autobiographical writings.