kayedacus's review against another edition
3.0
Summary of this book:
Plain Young Woman in 1850s New York is a severe disappointment to her wealthy, Narcissistic Physician Father. Plain Young Woman meets handsome, worldly older (she's 18, he's around 30) man in need of money. Plain Young Woman has the potential of a large dowry/inheritance. Scheming Young Man schemes to get Plain Young Woman to marry him by convincing her he loves her and isn't a Scheming Young Man. Narcissistic Physician Father sees through Scheming Young Man's scheme. Tells his daughter. She doesn't believe her father. Plain Young Woman agrees to marry Scheming Young Man. Scheming Young Man draws out the scheme (won't set a wedding date) until Narcissistic Physician Father relents from withholding Plain Young Woman's inheritance if she marries Scheming Young Man. Narcissistic Physician Father tells everyone (including Scheming Aunt) how stupid Plain Young Woman is and that she will eventually come around and realize Scheming Young Man is scheming. Narcissistic Physician Father takes Plain Young Woman to Europe to force her to get over Scheming Young Man. Narcissistic Physician Father insults Plain Young Woman one too many times and she is more determined than ever to marry Scheming Young Man when they return to New York. However, Scheming Young Man decides he doesn't want to marry Plain Young Woman for a livable income (which is what she will have without her father's fortune) and tells her he can't live with himself if he causes Plain Young Woman injury by keeping her from her father's inheritance. Plain Young Woman becomes Suspicious Not-So-Young Woman. Narcissistic Physician Father dies and Suspicious Not-So-Young Woman inherits part of his fortune. Scheming Now-Balding-and-Even Older Man returns and tries once again to convince Suspicious Not-So-Young Woman to marry him (obviously having discovered that a livable income is better than no income at all). But Suspicious Not-So-Young Woman has pretty much had-it-up-to-here with all men and sends Scheming Now-Balding-and-Even Older Man away for good.
The End.
2.5 stars
And thus continues my hate-hate relationship with most American "literature" from the late 19th/early 20th century for its focus on unhappy endings. (Looking at you, too, Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Sinclair Lewis.)
Plain Young Woman in 1850s New York is a severe disappointment to her wealthy, Narcissistic Physician Father. Plain Young Woman meets handsome, worldly older (she's 18, he's around 30) man in need of money. Plain Young Woman has the potential of a large dowry/inheritance. Scheming Young Man schemes to get Plain Young Woman to marry him by convincing her he loves her and isn't a Scheming Young Man. Narcissistic Physician Father sees through Scheming Young Man's scheme. Tells his daughter. She doesn't believe her father. Plain Young Woman agrees to marry Scheming Young Man. Scheming Young Man draws out the scheme (won't set a wedding date) until Narcissistic Physician Father relents from withholding Plain Young Woman's inheritance if she marries Scheming Young Man. Narcissistic Physician Father tells everyone (including Scheming Aunt) how stupid Plain Young Woman is and that she will eventually come around and realize Scheming Young Man is scheming. Narcissistic Physician Father takes Plain Young Woman to Europe to force her to get over Scheming Young Man. Narcissistic Physician Father insults Plain Young Woman one too many times and she is more determined than ever to marry Scheming Young Man when they return to New York. However, Scheming Young Man decides he doesn't want to marry Plain Young Woman for a livable income (which is what she will have without her father's fortune) and tells her he can't live with himself if he causes Plain Young Woman injury by keeping her from her father's inheritance. Plain Young Woman becomes Suspicious Not-So-Young Woman. Narcissistic Physician Father dies and Suspicious Not-So-Young Woman inherits part of his fortune. Scheming Now-Balding-and-Even Older Man returns and tries once again to convince Suspicious Not-So-Young Woman to marry him (obviously having discovered that a livable income is better than no income at all). But Suspicious Not-So-Young Woman has pretty much had-it-up-to-here with all men and sends Scheming Now-Balding-and-Even Older Man away for good.
The End.
2.5 stars
And thus continues my hate-hate relationship with most American "literature" from the late 19th/early 20th century for its focus on unhappy endings. (Looking at you, too, Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Sinclair Lewis.)
mvatza57's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
the_dave_harmon's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bana_bader2008's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
b0toxdenkirk's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This one is severely underrated, in my opinion. It's up there with Austen and the Brontë sisters to me. TO ME!
James has a very "love him or hate him" reputation for his writing style, which is ornate yet highly intimate. As others have mentioned, this story in particular has a theatrical quality to it, and much like live theatre, you're privy to a character's actions and encounters while leaving just enough room to speculate on their motives; though James employs a narrator, his penchant for irony is a tack that leaves enough plausible deniability to refrain from saying "X character unequivocally represents Y."
Truly, what is most heart-breaking to me is the relationship Catherine has with her father; or rather, his patronizing attitude towards her. You start off seeing that his intentions are largely magnanimous, but throughout the novel, he descends into baseless cruelty, even on his deathbed. I can personally relate to that confusing admixture of animosity and amity that he employs, and I see how Catherine came to the conclusion he resolutely disliked her. (Lowkey get big Chuck McGill vibes from Pops as well)
Though it's piercingly evident Morris was primarily interested in Catherine for her fortune, I also see enough ambiguity in the narrative to suggest that there could have been some tacit affection there as well, and I'm not so sure Catherine would have been "miserable" if she wed him. Though the ending is quite dour, Catherine triumphs in the end through her own obdurate will, refusing to relinquish it though it was the trait her father so despised...the conclusion makes us distrust the characters' rhetoric that Catherine is so aggressively plain and dull, but perhaps she is simply an average woman who is timid and awkward, yet steadfast, kind, and sincere; not a dullard, just perhaps not quite intellectually curious.
Simple yet highly effective, this is a great entry for James and his early period that I think pretty much anyone could find moving and accessible.
James has a very "love him or hate him" reputation for his writing style, which is ornate yet highly intimate. As others have mentioned, this story in particular has a theatrical quality to it, and much like live theatre, you're privy to a character's actions and encounters while leaving just enough room to speculate on their motives; though James employs a narrator, his penchant for irony is a tack that leaves enough plausible deniability to refrain from saying "X character unequivocally represents Y."
Truly, what is most heart-breaking to me is the relationship Catherine has with her father; or rather, his patronizing attitude towards her. You start off seeing that his intentions are largely magnanimous, but throughout the novel, he descends into baseless cruelty, even on his deathbed. I can personally relate to that confusing admixture of animosity and amity that he employs, and I see how Catherine came to the conclusion he resolutely disliked her. (Lowkey get big Chuck McGill vibes from Pops as well)
Though it's piercingly evident Morris was primarily interested in Catherine for her fortune, I also see enough ambiguity in the narrative to suggest that there could have been some tacit affection there as well, and I'm not so sure Catherine would have been "miserable" if she wed him. Though the ending is quite dour, Catherine triumphs in the end through her own obdurate will, refusing to relinquish it though it was the trait her father so despised...the conclusion makes us distrust the characters' rhetoric that Catherine is so aggressively plain and dull, but perhaps she is simply an average woman who is timid and awkward, yet steadfast, kind, and sincere; not a dullard, just perhaps not quite intellectually curious.
Simple yet highly effective, this is a great entry for James and his early period that I think pretty much anyone could find moving and accessible.
nahlabooks's review against another edition
3.0
We love a self respected and developed women of the 19th century, Catherine! Also I aspire to be as dramatic as Lavinia Penniman! The writing style in this book was insane! I absolutely loved it. I'm studying this novel this semester and I can't wait to analyse it bits by bits. This whole book is like a stage, with Henry James as director.
kaylamolander's review against another edition
2.0
Henry James himself once said the only thing he liked about this book was the girl. I can't agree more. The plot was silly, the characters poorly developed, and the majority of the words were horrific, flat male characters speaking ill of the female characters, one of whom was the only full character. Then it ends once the horrible men have thoroughly and completely ruined her life, which she spends alone. I really didn't understand the point.
rosebottorf's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
read for wealth in American lit, kind of interesting to read through that lens but likely wouldn’t have read otherwise.