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Inspired by a story Henry James heard at a dinner party, Washington Square tells how the rakish but idle Morris Townsend tries to win the heart of heiress Catherine Sloper against the objections of her father. Precise and understated, the book endures as a matchless...
The Turn of the Screw is s ghostly Gothic tale by Henry James. A masterpiece in ambivalence and the uncanny, The Turn of the Screw tells the story of a young woman who is hired as governess to two seemingly innocent children in an isolated country house. As the tale progresses she begins to see the ghost of her dead predecessor. Or does she? The story is so ambivalent and eerie, such a psychological thriller, that few can agree on
...Tortured artist and brilliant conversationalist Frank Saltram has made a splash among the fashionable set in Wimbledon, and all of the society matrons are vying for his favor and lining up to offer their guest rooms to him. But is this self-styled philosopher all that he pretends to be?
Though American literary master Henry James was an ardent proponent of realistic story elements that readers could relate to, many of his works also deal with the question of perception and how our senses and beliefs can influence the way we see the world. It's a running theme in the four short stories collected in James' Embarrassments.
Adolescence and the transition to adulthood are difficult periods for most people, but the stakes are even higher when you're a well-born young woman at the center of a complex and morally suspect social circle. That's the dilemma facing young Nanda Brookenham in Henry James' The Awkward Age, a dialogue-driven novel that some critics rank among the writer's most accomplished literary feats.
One of Henry James' greatest novels, The Ambassadors is a dark comedy from 1903. Lewis Lambert Strether travels to Europe to find his widowed fiancée's son, planning to bring him back to the family business, but once there Strether meets with unexpected complications. Taken by perceived contrasts between European and American culture, The Ambassadors plays out a theme of liberation, from a stifled emotional life to a more abundant
...This intriguing tale from American literary master Henry James delves into the age-old issue of whether beauty is a universal value or a matter of subjective perception. A well-born society woman makes sure that she always has a homely female companion by her side so that her own beauty will seem more striking in comparison. However, her plan is derailed when her latest companion is hailed as a beauty by everyone in her social circle.
In this masterful tale from Henry James, an American student living in Switzerland serves as the lens through which James explores one of his most frequently revisited themes: the various ways that Americans react to European culture. In this story, the student encounters two different American families and contrasts their diverging views of continental life.
Henry James believed that the short novel was the perfect literary form, and his achievements here brilliantly display his mastery of it. Noted literary critic Philip Rahv has collected ten of James's most important short novels to make one distinguished volume. Accompanied by Rahv's informative commentary and keen insights, this collection contains the following...
In the almost-novella-length short story The Death of the Lion, literary giant Henry James pokes sardonic fun at the vagaries of literary fame. The author at the center of the tale, one Neil Paraday, is gushingly praised by the newspapers and journals—but very few of his admirers seem to have actually read his work. It's a thought-provoking look at the celebrity culture of the turn of the twentieth century.
12) Eugene Pickering
One of Henry James' specialties is the longish short story that delves into philosophical questions via detailed character studies, and Eugene Pickering is a perfect example of this. In it, James compares and contrasts two archetypes: a bookish scholar who has remained largely sheltered for most of his life and a streetwise "doer" who is deeply engaged with the world around him. Which of these approaches represents the best way to live?
...13) The Real Thing
This perfectly wrought little tale of a painter struggling with his muse brings together a number of the most important themes that renowned American writer Henry James returned to again and again in his work—the difficulty of artistic expression, the meaning of truth, and conflict between socioeconomic classes.
14) The Finer Grain
Written during his convalescence as James recovered from an illness, the stories collected in The Finer Grain embody the strengths of the author's late period. Though not quite as hauntingly complex as novels such as The Portrait of a Lady or The Wings of the Dove, these shorter pieces stand as a testament to Henry James' significance as a major literary force in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.
15) The Outcry
Henry James' final novel, The Outcry is a light comedy that will come as a pleasant surprise to readers who associate the author's name with the dense, philosophically inclined fiction of his middle period. Originally written for the stage, the story focuses on one British family's attempt to get out of debt by selling a treasure trove of historically significant artworks to foreign collectors.
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