mvm_630's review against another edition
5.0
[b:The Portrait of a Lady|269|The Portrait of a Lady|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388643065s/269.jpg|1434368] is a nearly perfect novel, and I loved everything in this story. [b:The Portrait of a Lady|269|The Portrait of a Lady|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388643065s/269.jpg|1434368] tells the story of Isabel Archer, who makes choices, and she learns to live with them, even when going in another direction may be easier or would make more sense.
[a:Henry James|159|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468309415p2/159.jpg]'s exposition is the best I've ever read, and it was the element of the novel that jumped out the most to me. One exposition passage that I really enjoyed was on page 573 when Isabel comes to a major realization of her situation: She saw, in the crude light of that revelation which had already become a part of experience and to which the very frailty of the vessel in which it had been offered her only gave an intrinsic price, the dry staring fact she had been an applied handled hung-up tool, as senseless and convenient as mere shaped wood and iron. All the bitterness of this knowledge surged into her soul again; it was as if she felt on her lips the taste of dishonor. [a:Henry James|159|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468309415p2/159.jpg] combined exposition, imagery, and wonderful characterizations nearly to perfection, and I can see why this is called his greatest masterpiece. The plot is rather slow-paced, but the characters and settings are so interesting that I didn't want the story to end.
Life and the choices that come with it are the central theme to this novel, and [a:Henry James|159|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468309415p2/159.jpg] makes the point through his wonderful character, Isabel that: "Whatever life you lead you must put your soul in it - to make any sort of success of it; and from the moment you do that it ceases to be romance, I assure you: it becomes grim reality!" These are definitely words to live by!
[b:The Portrait of a Lady|269|The Portrait of a Lady|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388643065s/269.jpg|1434368] is a book that will stay with me for a very long time, and I highly recommend it!
[a:Henry James|159|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468309415p2/159.jpg]'s exposition is the best I've ever read, and it was the element of the novel that jumped out the most to me. One exposition passage that I really enjoyed was on page 573 when Isabel comes to a major realization of her situation: She saw, in the crude light of that revelation which had already become a part of experience and to which the very frailty of the vessel in which it had been offered her only gave an intrinsic price, the dry staring fact she had been an applied handled hung-up tool, as senseless and convenient as mere shaped wood and iron. All the bitterness of this knowledge surged into her soul again; it was as if she felt on her lips the taste of dishonor. [a:Henry James|159|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468309415p2/159.jpg] combined exposition, imagery, and wonderful characterizations nearly to perfection, and I can see why this is called his greatest masterpiece. The plot is rather slow-paced, but the characters and settings are so interesting that I didn't want the story to end.
Life and the choices that come with it are the central theme to this novel, and [a:Henry James|159|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468309415p2/159.jpg] makes the point through his wonderful character, Isabel that: "Whatever life you lead you must put your soul in it - to make any sort of success of it; and from the moment you do that it ceases to be romance, I assure you: it becomes grim reality!" These are definitely words to live by!
[b:The Portrait of a Lady|269|The Portrait of a Lady|Henry James|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388643065s/269.jpg|1434368] is a book that will stay with me for a very long time, and I highly recommend it!
angharadmiller's review against another edition
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
seaswift14's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jerrica's review against another edition
5.0
Read this in petite fragments for around a month or so and then yesterday read about 250 pages. Probably not the best reading method for this book, but what are you going to do.
Despite the fact that it's in English, I'm really glad that I read this book as an American abroad, as that is one of the dominant themes of the book. It was fascinating to see the way in which James depicts Americans interacting with the European landscape. Some see Europe as an escape from America or as a place to hide their true selves, others as a means for criticism and to hold America up as the embodiment of modernism, and still others (as with the heroine of the novel) as a romantic, physical manifestation of the novels of yore. I still think this is the way in which Europe is seen today in the eyes of Americans, although as I am quickly learning in my time here, 130 years is not that long ago.
If you're into American literature, James is one of the greats, although he verges into a very British-style of writing and of course was not an American citizen at the time of his death. The style of writing can be a bit much at times; paragraphs take up whole pages until suddenly you get to the quick quips of dialogue. I read this in my English class in which I am the only Anglophone and so was made to read it aloud on multiple occasions and it was actually quite difficult with all of the long, complex sentences. Not sure how I could've done it in my second language, and I hope to never come across the Henry James of French literature, whoever that may be...
Despite the fact that it's in English, I'm really glad that I read this book as an American abroad, as that is one of the dominant themes of the book. It was fascinating to see the way in which James depicts Americans interacting with the European landscape. Some see Europe as an escape from America or as a place to hide their true selves, others as a means for criticism and to hold America up as the embodiment of modernism, and still others (as with the heroine of the novel) as a romantic, physical manifestation of the novels of yore. I still think this is the way in which Europe is seen today in the eyes of Americans, although as I am quickly learning in my time here, 130 years is not that long ago.
If you're into American literature, James is one of the greats, although he verges into a very British-style of writing and of course was not an American citizen at the time of his death. The style of writing can be a bit much at times; paragraphs take up whole pages until suddenly you get to the quick quips of dialogue. I read this in my English class in which I am the only Anglophone and so was made to read it aloud on multiple occasions and it was actually quite difficult with all of the long, complex sentences. Not sure how I could've done it in my second language, and I hope to never come across the Henry James of French literature, whoever that may be...
ladyeremite's review against another edition
5.0
That most unusual of books that caused me to laugh (multiple times), shiver (quite a few), cry (once), and above all to truly believe in the reality of the characters. James possessed a true genius for clever and poignant turns of phrase that somehow fail to rupture the flow of the narrative with their memorability or seem out of place in their speakers mouths. ("the Countess seemed to her to have no soul; she was like a bright rare shell, with a polished surface and a remarkably pink lip, in which something would rattle when you shook it"; "her mind was to be his-- attached to his own like a small garden-plot to a deer-park"; "I haven't many convictions; but I have three or four that I hold strongly. One is that people, on the whole, had better not marry their cousins. Another is that people in an advanced stage of pulmonary disorder had better not marry at all") The way the reader is brought in to Isabel's darkening (or maybe her enlightenment) of the world, is likewise extremely effective, emulating the character's own experiences.. firs the sense of strange unease, then the growing revelation of the causes, finally the mocking affront to all that she felt she had freely chosen.
A tremendous, breath-taking, very real book.
A tremendous, breath-taking, very real book.
potophannah's review against another edition
4.0
Once in a while, a novel comes along that's meant to be in your life. This is one of mine.
adam0k's review against another edition
5.0
Great book about grief and choice. I’ve decided to walk back my bias against Henry James that I developed in High School, and now want to read his other novels. I love how he interjects as a narrator in his books. I’d recommend this book to anyone!