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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.
Get acquainted with the work of one of the most accomplished practitioners of literary realism, Henry James, in this collection of tales. In "Flickerbridge," an American recuperating in the home of an English relative falls in love with the unfamiliar cultural setting; In "Mrs. Medwin," a social mover and shaker uses what some might see as a liability to her advantage.
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?
...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.
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.
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.
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