Henry James

[Conchis]

Probably the finest writer of English prose who ever lived.

He died 100 years ago this year.

But no anniversary celebrations....no memorials...nothing.

Why are second-rate populists like Dickens celebrated while genuine geniuses like the above go unremarked? Why?

Oh, yes, I know why....this is Britain: the country whose only passion is for the average and the hum-drum. -

[burning dog]

Novelists variously rated.....

[Nick Armstrong]

Probably the finest writer of English prose who ever lived.

...

Why are second-rate populists like Dickens celebrated while genuine geniuses like the above go unremarked? Why?

Oh, yes, I know why....this is Britain: the country whose only passion is for the average and the hum-drum. -

Long time since there's been a post on the R3 Forum so directly contrary to my opinions on a subject!

Let's leave it like that.

[antongould]

Long time since there's been a post on the R3 Forum so directly contrary to my opinions on a subject!

Let's leave it like that.

....and mine ... but happy to leave it ...

[Richard Tarleton]

I found the OP baffling, I have to say.... My most recent foray into James country, in an attempt to get to the bottom of my dissatisfaction, was David Lodge's Author Author - I'm normally a great fan of Lodge but this is not his finest hour. I gather Col Toibin's The Master is better, Adam Mars-Jones's review explains quite a lot to me........sorry....

[vinteuil]

Probably the finest writer of English prose who ever lived.

He died 100 years ago this year.

But no anniversary celebrations....no memorials...nothing.

-

... yes, it is odd that there have not been any centenary celebrations.

For me he is indeed one of our very greatest novelists and storytellers : I wdn't want to be without half a dozen of his novels and a score of his short stories - but I don't think he is 'the finest writer of English prose' by a long chalk. In terms of fine prose writing he doesn't approach Thomas Browne, Gibbon, Ruskin, Hazlitt, de Quincey, Max Beerbohm, Logan Pearsall Smith...

But he should certainly be celebrated : I might try some of the middle-period works I haven't looked at in years.

[Pabmusic]

Probably the finest writer of English prose who ever lived.

He died 100 years ago this year.

But no anniversary celebrations....no memorials...nothing.

Why are second-rate populists like Dickens celebrated while genuine geniuses like the above go unremarked? Why?

Oh, yes, I know why....this is Britain: the country whose only passion is for the average and the hum-drum. -

But oh so dull ...

Is it just me? Perhaps.

His brother William is surely more important, as he began our understanding of the complexities that are memory.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

But oh so dull ...

Is it just me?

No.

His brother William is surely more important, as he began our understanding of the complexities that are memory.

- Alice's diaries are fascinating reading, too.

[vinteuil]

But oh so dull ...

... 'dull' is not the word I wd have chosen : he can be irritating, frustrating, wearying ("O get on with it, Henry, for God's sake spit it out!') - but I wouldn't say dull. And when his great structures work - the world-changing pivots towards the end of The Golden Bowl and The Wings of the Dove - there is a Brucknerian sublimity I find nowhere else.

His brother William is surely more important, as he began our understanding of the complexities that are memory.

William a great writer in his own way - The Varieties of Religious Experience is marvellous : but you can't really compare them; they were attempting such different things.

[Pabmusic]

... 'dull' is not the word I wd have chosen : he can be irritating, frustrating, wearying ("O get on with it, Henry, for God's sake spit it out!') - but I wouldn't say dull. And when his great structures work - the world-changing pivots towards the end of The Golden Bowl and The Wings of the Dove - there is a Brucknerian sublimity I find nowhere else..:

Ah! This may be connected to my 'difficulties' with Bruckner. Profound.

[vinteuil]

.

... I have found this useful and stimulating :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0521094496

[Conchis]

But oh so dull ...

Is it just me? Perhaps.

His brother William is surely more important, as he began our understanding of the complexities that are memory.

I have only recently got to grips with him, having experienced what can only be called 'failure to launch' with his output previously.

He takes a sometimes unconscionably long time setting up his plots/establishing his scenery - BUT, once he has the reader engaged, the momentum is unstoppable, I find.

His exploration of 'the unconscious life of the mind' anticipates Knut Hamsun's more famous work in that area.

As for the people vinteuil prefers...well, yes, maybe but they are (mainly) essayists. James's prose is the equivalent of a fine landscape painting.

[Dermot]

I have been reading Henry James with pleasure for fifty years. He is my favourite bedtime reading, to be savoured slowly, at most a chapter a night. I enjoy particularly the comedy and the ambiguous, open-ended conclusions to the novels. There is no ''and they lived happily ever after'' in James.

As for the comedy, I find the novels to be, in the words of Chesterton describing ditchwater, ''teeming with quiet fun''. There has been some research done on the influence of James on Wodehouse. Is it fanciful to see George Dane and Brown, in The Great Good Place, as precursors, doubtless among many others, of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves?

To conclude, I will quote, for the joy I find in the language, a description of a minor character, Lady Castledean, from The Golden Bowl. The language is ornate and polished, but the judgment on her ladyship is damning.

''Lady Castledean whom she knew she, so oddly, didn't like, in spite of reasons upon reasons, the biggest diamonds on the yellowest hair, the longest lashes on the prettiest, falsest eyes, the oldest lace on the most violent velvet, the rightest manner on the wrongest assumption. Her ladyship's assumption was that she kept, at every moment of her life, every advantage – it made her beautifully soft, very nearly generous; so she didn't distinguish the little protuberant eyes of smaller social insects, often endowed with such a range, from the other decorative spots on their bodies and wings.''

[Conchis]

I have been reading Henry James with pleasure for fifty years. He is my favourite bedtime reading, to be savoured slowly, at most a chapter a night. I enjoy particularly the comedy and the ambiguous, open-ended conclusions to the novels. There is no ''and they lived happily ever after'' in James.

As for the comedy, I find the novels to be, in the words of Chesterton describing ditchwater, ''teeming with quiet fun''. There has been some research done on the influence of James on Wodehouse. Is it fanciful to see George Dane and Brown, in The Great Good Place, as precursors, doubtless among many others, of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves?

To conclude, I will quote, for the joy I find in the language, a description of a minor character, Lady Castledean, from The Golden Bowl. The language is ornate and polished, but the judgment on her ladyship is damning.

''Lady Castledean whom she knew she, so oddly, didn't like, in spite of reasons upon reasons, the biggest diamonds on the yellowest hair, the longest lashes on the prettiest, falsest eyes, the oldest lace on the most violent velvet, the rightest manner on the wrongest assumption. Her ladyship's assumption was that she kept, at every moment of her life, every advantage – it made her beautifully soft, very nearly generous; so she didn't distinguish the little protuberant eyes of smaller social insects, often endowed with such a range, from the other decorative spots on their bodies and wings.''

Thanks for that, Dermot. If he could read what you've written, I'm sure H.J. would feel that his life's work had been justified! :)

I'm currently reading The Golden Bowl, which is widely considered his most difficult (and, by many - including James himself - his finest) work. It's anything but an 'easy' read, but probably all the better for that.

[vinteuil]

I'm currently reading The Golden Bowl, which is widely considered his most difficult (and, by many - including James himself - his finest) work. It's anything but an 'easy' read, but probably all the better for that.

... I was in my late thirties when I thought I ought to get in to reading Henry James. With the arrogance of youth I thought -" here's me, brainy type, well-eddicated - why not plunge straight in to The Golden Bowl. Everyone says it's unreadable, far too difficult. I'm up for it... "

Bad move. After a dozen pages I was completely floored. "What on earth is going on? Can't make head or tail... "

But I didn't give up on James. I abandoned The Golden Bowl and went back to the beginning and read (most of) the novels and (nearly all of) the stories in chronological order, progressively easing myself in to his style, - so that when I came to the last three masterpieces they were a joy to read - not 'easy', perhaps, but delicious...

Bon courage!