A review by cvall96
Henry James: The Untried Years: 1843-1870 by Leon Edel

5.0

My sad interest, love, obsession, sympathy, and morbid fascination for the abyss of Henry James is stoked by this magnificent biography, the first of five episodes. On top of having broken his back as a child and suffering from the injury his entire life, on top of a big sibling whose thumb he's perpetually stuck under, we learn that Mr. James had a smothering mother who keeps begging him to return home to her, but he's too busy soaking up Life in Europe. He hates U.S. provincialism, but you can't change your roots, so he makes this the great theme of his life. He's disgustingly shy, ill-spoken, and un-coarse when it comes to romance. The first love of his life dies a horrifyingly swift death consisting of coughing her lungs up at his age, 24, and he spends the rest of his life searching for her in the crevices of his imagination—never finding her, but always, always nearing. And on top of all that, he decides to become a critic for New York publications in the hopes that he'll someday practice what he'll preach in his fiction proper. Doesn't sound familiar at all!!!!

(H. James' "vampirism" theme greatly fascinates me. Also the "Ledward-Bedward-Dedward" thing is just pure brilliance — score one for the psychoanalysts.)