Monday, February 29, 2016

Henry James: the old master from the new world

Woman in love: Uma Thurman in the 2000 film adaptation of The Golden Bowl by Henry James
The Telegraph - 28 February 2016 •

One hundred years after his death, the life of Henry James remains a study in contradiction, says Bernard Richards

Faced with a towering genius of literature, there may be a tug of war between America and England as to who should claim Henry James for their pantheon. Yes, he had American roots and many of his habits of mind had an American tincture but he lived in England for a long time, and dealt with English society in much of his fiction.

James, who died 100 years ago this week, would have hated the fascination his devotees have for his life. He regarded the work of a writer as more important than the life, and a number of his short stories about writers emphasise this point, including the classic case of The Aspern Papers, where the quest for relics of an early American writer who lived in Venice threatens to obscure the writings themselves    MORE

No comments: