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haazex's review against another edition
5.0
Henry James's first (well second really) novel is luminous and has reawakened a great interest in his works. This novel paints the journey of a budding artist and his "protector" as he is brought to to the creative forces of art residing in the museums and cities of Italy as well as its glorious landscapes. Of course, the hero also encounters society, new perspectives and transformations. In a sense it is a bildungsroman partially shaped by James's own journeys and impressions of this region. I was initially not thrilled by James's long complex sentences and intricate vocabulary, but my appreciation for his web of words and situational descriptions steadily grew on me. I understand that this is a very early work of his, but it is extremely well written and utterly engaging as long as one allows oneself to transcend into the society (or at least a rendition thereof) and artistic circles of late 19th century Italy. A wonderful novel!
xceltictea's review against another edition
1.0
So how do I start this review?? Well the fact that it took me almost TWO MONTHS to finish this book tells you a lot
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
nightwater32's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
duffypratt's review against another edition
4.0
It's embarrassing how long its taking me to read some of these books. I blame the internet. It has made it way too easy to become distracted. Also, as the pursuit of entertainment has made it more difficult for me to navigate and enjoy "difficult" books, so now the availability of the web has escalated the process and I can see it killing my attention span.
I started this book on vacation last summer, and was quite enjoying it. I put it down briefly to read something else, and then simply never got back to it until sometime a week or two ago. There isn't much reason for this, but there it is.
Its not like this is a particularly hard book. It's about as easy going as James gets. In some ways, it seems to me to be similar to Daisy Miller. These early James' books, before he got totally infatuated with the idea of ambiguity and vagueness for its own sake, are very straightforward. This one was a little bit thin, but quite moving in its own way.
The basic idea is that a rich dilettante "discovers" a brilliant sculptor in a New England backwater. He agrees to finance the sculptor's education by moving with him to Rome, and financing his early work. At the same time, the dilettante falls in love with a woman who just happens also to get engaged to the sculptor, but who remains in New England.
The sculptor, for whom the book is names, is a narcissistic asshole. His sole redeeming quality seems to be that he is capable, sometimes, of great work. While in Europe, he falls into bad habits, and falls for the incomparable beautiful Christina Light (who becomes the Princess Cassamassima, and gets her own book in a sort of sequel.) From these circumstances, there grow a variety of circumstances that range from the poignant to the tragic, depending on your point of view. James tells the whole thing very well. The dilettante may be too good a person to be believable and Hudson's mother is pretty much a caricature. But even they are fairly well drawn. Christina's character is amazingly well done, and even as a narcissistic asshole, Hudson is fairly interesting.
On top of that, its fairly nice, in a book by James, to have people talking about the topics that they are talking about, instead of talking around them. Or insisting on not saying anything while protesting that they have said too much. Also, there is none of the late style's penchant for throwing in slang in the middle of otherwise ponderous prose. I don't think the words "hang fire," for example, appear once in the book.
I haven't quite decided on a serious project for the rest of the year. I'm torn between one of three things: finishing James (I think I have 5-6 books unread); reading some of the books that I have been unable to finish over the years (Gravity's Rainbow, The Recognitions, you know, the light stuff); or actually finishing Finnegan's Wake. I wonder if the internet would let me do that?
I started this book on vacation last summer, and was quite enjoying it. I put it down briefly to read something else, and then simply never got back to it until sometime a week or two ago. There isn't much reason for this, but there it is.
Its not like this is a particularly hard book. It's about as easy going as James gets. In some ways, it seems to me to be similar to Daisy Miller. These early James' books, before he got totally infatuated with the idea of ambiguity and vagueness for its own sake, are very straightforward. This one was a little bit thin, but quite moving in its own way.
The basic idea is that a rich dilettante "discovers" a brilliant sculptor in a New England backwater. He agrees to finance the sculptor's education by moving with him to Rome, and financing his early work. At the same time, the dilettante falls in love with a woman who just happens also to get engaged to the sculptor, but who remains in New England.
The sculptor, for whom the book is names, is a narcissistic asshole. His sole redeeming quality seems to be that he is capable, sometimes, of great work. While in Europe, he falls into bad habits, and falls for the incomparable beautiful Christina Light (who becomes the Princess Cassamassima, and gets her own book in a sort of sequel.) From these circumstances, there grow a variety of circumstances that range from the poignant to the tragic, depending on your point of view. James tells the whole thing very well. The dilettante may be too good a person to be believable and Hudson's mother is pretty much a caricature. But even they are fairly well drawn. Christina's character is amazingly well done, and even as a narcissistic asshole, Hudson is fairly interesting.
On top of that, its fairly nice, in a book by James, to have people talking about the topics that they are talking about, instead of talking around them. Or insisting on not saying anything while protesting that they have said too much. Also, there is none of the late style's penchant for throwing in slang in the middle of otherwise ponderous prose. I don't think the words "hang fire," for example, appear once in the book.
I haven't quite decided on a serious project for the rest of the year. I'm torn between one of three things: finishing James (I think I have 5-6 books unread); reading some of the books that I have been unable to finish over the years (Gravity's Rainbow, The Recognitions, you know, the light stuff); or actually finishing Finnegan's Wake. I wonder if the internet would let me do that?
doctortdm's review against another edition
2.0
This novel gets rather long in the tooth. I note sooner readers think it reveals character development, I think not, it is an attempt to reveal consciousness. It doesn't work well when the story is told from a central narriator and the characters pondering is limited to their romances.
About 250 pages cut would have improved the novel.
About 250 pages cut would have improved the novel.
kyokroon's review against another edition
4.0
This is my first Henry James’s novel and I must say it was really good and I loved it! For me, especially the first 150-200 pages were really good! That might have something to do with the fact that for the most part the novel is situated in Rome and those pages reflect on its beauty, which is something I as a Classics student of course absolutely adore.
I did like the characters, even though I think they might have suffered a little by the fact that James was more invested in creating characters befitting his arch than creating completely believable characters. At the same time, the novel heavily relies on the characters and the story is invested in the interpersonal relations that arise between all characters. While this may seem contradictory, my point is mostly that the characters at times become somewhat archetypical for the general arch of the story.
One of the things that struck me about the book is how it makes you think about artists and the relation between art and money. I always like books that interact with aesthetic movements or that interact with art and culture themselves and I really thought this was a great example and the focus on artists and their relation with money really added something extra!
I’d definitely recommend this book especially to those who are interested in books about/around the aesthetic movement or if you want to read some Henry James of course!
Happy reading!
I did like the characters, even though I think they might have suffered a little by the fact that James was more invested in creating characters befitting his arch than creating completely believable characters. At the same time, the novel heavily relies on the characters and the story is invested in the interpersonal relations that arise between all characters. While this may seem contradictory, my point is mostly that the characters at times become somewhat archetypical for the general arch of the story.
One of the things that struck me about the book is how it makes you think about artists and the relation between art and money. I always like books that interact with aesthetic movements or that interact with art and culture themselves and I really thought this was a great example and the focus on artists and their relation with money really added something extra!
I’d definitely recommend this book especially to those who are interested in books about/around the aesthetic movement or if you want to read some Henry James of course!
Happy reading!
wmhenrymorris's review against another edition
Fascinating with some amazing passages of beauty and insight, but some of the characters are just a little too flat.
gh7's review against another edition
4.0
At a certain point I couldn’t help wondering if Henry James hadn’t used the two main characters in this novel to have a detailed and protracted argument with himself. Rowland might be seen as HJ in his social guise and Roderick a mischievous projection of his precocious genius. You could describe both characters as half baked. Roderick, somewhat of a romantic cliché, has the talent but no money; Rowland has the money but no talent. An alliance is formed. Rowland offers to become the young provincial sculptor’s patron and take him to Rome. Before leaving Rowland meets Roderick’s fiancé and falls in love with her. Roderick has the girl but doesn’t really want her; Rowland doesn’t have the girl but wants her. This isn’t going to end up well!
At another point the character of Roderick appeared like an eerily prophetic portrait of Scott Fitzgerald, the man who has been gifted with genius but isn’t responsible or strong enough to marshal it and who falls in love with a somewhat self-centred beauty queen who will inevitably provide further obstacles to his artistic ambition.
At times I felt there were things in this novel James probably wasn’t conscious of putting in there. Emotionally Rowland lays down relentless laws for himself and strictly abides by them; James, as author, appears to sanction many of these laws. Rowland doesn’t allow himself to feel anything that isn’t self-effacingly chivalrous, that doesn’t conform with social propriety. I couldn’t help wondering to what extent James was aware of the darker illicit currents in Rowland’s nature. He could have been a fantastic villain. Perhaps he was a fantastic villain. HJ never alludes to any such currents; he clearly admires Rowland more than he does Roderick. Rowland is a type that barely any longer exists in our century. The sixties probably put an end to his ilk. Someone who limits himself to nothing but rationally judicious thoughts and feelings; who never raises his voice. Probably the notion that HJ was a kind of celibate gay finds a lot of ammunition in his portrait of Rowland. His admiration for Roderick is a lot more convincing than his admiration for Roderick’s girlfriend. His self-denial in relation to the girl perhaps more of a smokescreen than a noble rectitude of character.
At the same time it’s a huge shame authors of modern romance fiction don’t have an inner Rowland to curb the saccharine nonsense they write about romantic love.
For a first novel this is a hugely impressive achievement. It can be a bit long-winded with the sense of the same scene being played out several times but James’ facility with stunning sentence writing gets him off the hook time and time again. He can make even a rather banal observation or idea sound the height of wisdom and eloquence with the beautiful highly mannered craftsmanship of his prose. It’s been a treat to reacquaint myself with HJ and I’m looking forward to the next date.
The wonderful portrait of HJ by John Singer Sargent
At another point the character of Roderick appeared like an eerily prophetic portrait of Scott Fitzgerald, the man who has been gifted with genius but isn’t responsible or strong enough to marshal it and who falls in love with a somewhat self-centred beauty queen who will inevitably provide further obstacles to his artistic ambition.
At times I felt there were things in this novel James probably wasn’t conscious of putting in there. Emotionally Rowland lays down relentless laws for himself and strictly abides by them; James, as author, appears to sanction many of these laws. Rowland doesn’t allow himself to feel anything that isn’t self-effacingly chivalrous, that doesn’t conform with social propriety. I couldn’t help wondering to what extent James was aware of the darker illicit currents in Rowland’s nature. He could have been a fantastic villain. Perhaps he was a fantastic villain. HJ never alludes to any such currents; he clearly admires Rowland more than he does Roderick. Rowland is a type that barely any longer exists in our century. The sixties probably put an end to his ilk. Someone who limits himself to nothing but rationally judicious thoughts and feelings; who never raises his voice. Probably the notion that HJ was a kind of celibate gay finds a lot of ammunition in his portrait of Rowland. His admiration for Roderick is a lot more convincing than his admiration for Roderick’s girlfriend. His self-denial in relation to the girl perhaps more of a smokescreen than a noble rectitude of character.
At the same time it’s a huge shame authors of modern romance fiction don’t have an inner Rowland to curb the saccharine nonsense they write about romantic love.
For a first novel this is a hugely impressive achievement. It can be a bit long-winded with the sense of the same scene being played out several times but James’ facility with stunning sentence writing gets him off the hook time and time again. He can make even a rather banal observation or idea sound the height of wisdom and eloquence with the beautiful highly mannered craftsmanship of his prose. It’s been a treat to reacquaint myself with HJ and I’m looking forward to the next date.
The wonderful portrait of HJ by John Singer Sargent