James is the acknowledged master of the psychological novel, which profoundly influenced the 20th-century literary world. The power of his prose and the skill with which he marshals seemingly insignificant details to accomplish his purpose sustains the listener's interest and compels continued contemplation.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fair reading of a sublime novel,
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This review is from: Washington Square (Audio CD)
Lloyd James has a good general tone for Henry James, objective and dispassionate with occasional small flurries of excitement and drama.
It's in the detail that he becomes stuck: he has little feel for the forensic delicacy and purpose of Henry James' authorial voice. In the opening two chapters - which are in the author's point of view - he is all at sea, with irrelevant pauses, consistent failure to bring out the point of the language (and Henry James' language is always charged with point), and a complete unawareness that it's actually meant to be (at least partially) funny. Henry James' humour may be subtle to the point of stuffiness but it's still humour and Lloyd James just doesn't get it. He is unfailingly serious all throughout this reading. You need to listen very carefully to get what the author is getting at: there are few, if any, writers who equal Henry James for scalpel-like precision of language and this reading is too desultory and unfocused to bring out this quality. Happily, much of the novel is made up of dialogue and Lloyd James is much more at home here. The sentences are far shorter, with much more obvious point, and the narrator reads most of them with a clarity and assuredness that eludes him elsewhere. And this dialogue is so crisp, pointed, and entertaining that it alone brings a recommendation. The writing is sublime throughout - sustained better, I think, than in any other novel by James - and so despite the flaws of this reading I'm glad I bought this audiobook.
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