Scan barcode
janey's review against another edition
4.0
I wish James had just settled on an illness and given Millie symptoms. Discussions around her condition were incomprehensible, almost like he wanted his characters to sound like nincompoop. It's a great premise and lots of good writing but frustrating.
mms19's review
2.0
I think there is much artistry in the complicated love triangle and in the characters whose deepest motives were mired in opacity. James sets a high bar for close and deeply drawn characters. But, I found large portions of this very long book very tedious. Shy of 2.5 stars, so rounded down.
cellardoor10's review
2.0
I really struggled to get into this one. I suppose I was not in a Victorian prose kind of mood. Saw the movie and enjoyed it, but the book was hard for me to understand.
edamamebean's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-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
4.5
I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy this book, I honestly did think it was an exceptional novel. But it had no business being as long as it was. Henry James was in desperate need of an editor, in my opinion. The book could have been 150-200 pages shorter with nothing lost. I am realizing also that the writing style of the gilded era is just not for me. I encountered the same problems while reading Edith Wharton in college. I was totally invested in the dialogue and other interactions between characters, but the second the author began describing a character’s abstract emotional world, I was lost and confused. A lot of the main events of the story aren’t even explicitly stated and it’s up to the reader to pick up on the subtext, which was frustrating at moments and gives the impression that nothing is actually happening. I understand that’s how society functioned at the time, but my neurodivergent ass sometimes needs things spelled out for me.
I also have a hard time accepting Merton Densher as the hero of the story (he is literally just some guy). He is so convinced of his own goodness, especially in relation to Lord Mark. And yet, he is guilty of doing the same thing Lord Mark is attempting to do (and worse, because he is almost successful!). I was more interested in the women of this novel—“widows and orphans,” as Milly says—and the complicated ways in which they interact with one another. Within their emotional and social dynamics, Merton Densher could be a placeholder for any other man. I would believe that the author did this on purpose, except for that Densher takes up so much space in the novel and ultimately gets the moral high ground in the end.
I’m a bit disappointed as I was really expecting to love this book and was looking forward to reading it for months. The ending did pack a punch and I found the last hundred pages to be the most compelling, which is why I ended up rating it so high. Still tempted to read The Bostonians, but I’ll need a good long break before I even think about attempting another Henry James novel.
sidharthvardhan's review
3.0
I like the themes Henry James chooses for his books, his portrayal of them not so much. Lots of readers advise writers to 'show but not tell' but best of literature to me is about that which can not be seen. And after all, we have arts enough (painting, theatre etc) which capture life better in so far as it can be seen. Ishiguro said something similar in his Noble speech so now I have his authority to state my preferences. James' books are just full of scenes that show what could be more briefly told and this takes away from intensity of ceneral subject for me. Moreover his prose has very little of that energy in prose which makes Wharton click for me in similar books.
thefullbronte's review against another edition
2.0
Review haiku:
The Parentheses,
Why, Henry James? Why so cruel?
You make my eyes bleed
The Parentheses,
Why, Henry James? Why so cruel?
You make my eyes bleed