Scan barcode
A review by kyokroon
Roderick Hudson by Henry James
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!