October: Reading Henry James

I've ordered The Golden Bowl from Amazon about a week ago and am awaiting its arrival any day now!

Project Gutenberg has a lot to choose from if you want ebooks. Also, LibriVox has many Henry James audio books for selection.

Who else is joining in this read?

I'm hoping to join in - I've got copies of The Aspern Papers, The Ambassadors and Washington Square that had been squirrelled all over the house that haven't been read yet. (I really must organise my classics more carefully!)

I'll probably start with The Ambassadors and then hopefully squeeze in The Aspern Papers. Once I've finished my book group reads!

I'll probably have to pass on James since I'm reading a couple of doorstops this month. I don't want to strain my brain too much!

The Master by Colm Toibin is a fictional account of James - pretty interesting read if anyone is interested in that.

I have The Europeans and The Portrait of a Lady to read.

I'm going to read The Aspern Papers.

I'm listening to The Wings of the Dove courtesy of Librivox and it's hard work. I'm tempted to give up on Mr James.

I ordered Portrait of a Lady last night. My only James so far has been Washington Square.

If anyone's interested in Toibin's The Master, mentioned by Teelgee above, it's available in paperback at Bookcloseouts.com. for $4.99.

#4. I also have Daisy Miller.

I'm going to try to shoehorn The Bostonians between Demons and The Octopus. A few months ago I read Portrait of a Lady and Washington Square so I'm loaded for James.

It will be a hectic month for me, but I'm going to try to fit in The Europeans (if I can find my copy).

>8 englishrose60:: I have the "cutest" little Heritage Press edition of Daisy Miller that I am going to read for my first date with Henry. I second teelgee's recommendation for The Master. H.J. may turn out to be one of those authors that it is easier to read about than to read. At least my first choice is short!

I'd love to participate but I'm not sure I'll have time. Maybe I can find a copy of Daisy Miller--it's short. For those of you trying to decide which James to read, I've found that some of his books are easier than others. I think his later stuff can be impenetrable. I loved, loved, loved Portrait of a Lady, and Washington Square was good too. I also liked Turn of the Screw, but it's a bit more difficult. However, there are lots of online resources on that one to help you along. Also, it makes a good creepy Halloween read.

SocialPages--I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with Wings of a Dove. I was looking forward to that one because I really love the movie (it's beautiful even if just to watch the costumes and sets).

Hmm, maybe I'll give Turn of the Screw a run. Sounds like a good October read.

I'm going to see an operatice version of The Turn of the Screw soon. It will be interesting to see how the story is interpreted.

I'm going to join in this time - I'm excited about James! I think I might go with The Ambassadors, which is one of his later works, but one that he himself considered his most "perfect" work. I also have Washington Square, which I've never read.

If anyone finds it, I always enjoyed The Princess Cassamassima, which I found quite readable (even in college), and concerns a leftist plot and terrorism. And The American is quite good, too - a naive American experiencing Europe for the first time. (Somewhat similar to Portrait of a Lady, but a bit more of a comedy of manners).

My Henry James plan is (and I am very excited to be reading him this month because I have never read him) to read: The Bostonians, The Great Short Novels of Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady, Washington Square and the only one I own: The Beast in the Jungle and Other Stories. I am hoping to read all, but some will do if not.
All but the latter are on hold at the library and The Bostonians, which I will begin with is in transit at this moment. Whoo Hoo!~!
belva

Portrait of a Lady is languishing on my TBR list...

The only HJ novels I've read are Daisy Miller and Washington Square. I enjoyed both, and they are not overly long :) I've also listened to Washington Square as an audiobook (LibriVox) and thought it pretty good.

#12 Nickelini, I've decided to persevere with The Wings of the Dove after checking out the entry in 1001 Books to Read Before You Die as it has such an interesting plot. I didn't know it was made into a movie so I will check that out too.

Time allowing, I'll read The Europeans too as I just found an old, yellowing Penguin edition in my bookcase that I'd forgotten I had.

I've read a few Henry James novels before What Maisie Knew is great and The Turn of the Screw is ideal for anyone wanting a seasonal read. I'm downloading The Wings of the Dove from itunes as I type, only 95p! Not sure I'll manage to listen to it all as its 20hrs in length!

I'm going to be rereading The Turn of the Screw, which I first read for a college class a few years ago. I have the Norton Critical Edition, and like a good former English major I'm looking forward to reading some of the essays about it too. If I have enough time this month, I'll try a second book, but I don't know what yet. I'll be looking at everyone's recommendations! :-)

Washington Square is a fairly quick, easy read. Daisy Miller is even shorter, but I think less accomplished. Rather than re-reading The Turn of the Screw might I recommend Portrait of a Lady?

>21 geneg: thanks for the recommendations. Actually, I've planned to read a few classic horror stories for the month of October, and Turn of the Screw will be one of those as well. But as Portrait of a Lady seems to be so highly recommended, I'm making a note to pick it up when I go to the library on Monday.

While awaiting The Bostonians from the library I read, The Beast in the Jungle and Other Stories by Henry James this afternoon. I must say that at this point, he is not a favorite of mine. Hopefully that will change with The Bostonians. And we can't like them all anyway, but we can expose ourselves to most of them. These were fairly strange stories. What was evident to me was not to the author and vice versa. But I did make it through them and I am glad I did because now I can get rid of it and won't have to read this one ever again because it was quite "beastly".

I am going to start with Daisy Miller.

Daisy Miller by Henry James. A short read. Daisy is not ruled by the conventions of American Society. Winterbourne, another American is attracted to her, not just because she is beautiful, but because of her independence of spirit which leads to tragedy.

Just finished The Europeans which is a good, short, straightforward read compared to some of his later work.

Eugenia and her brother Felix leave their sophisticated life in Europe to visit their Bostonian cousins, the Wentworths, who are rich but live a quiet, frugal life.
They visit America with a view to making a wealthy marriage. A lovely comedy of manners.

My next Henry James novel will be Portrait of a Lady which also fits into my 'P' category for the Alphabet Challenges Group.

>24 englishrose60: - 27 Wow! That is a lot of Henry James, er60 :)

Yes! and the month's not over yet. Might get a couple more in.

>28 digifish_books: This is the woman who's reading War and Peace and Life and Fate simultaneously. I think she's bionic. ;o)

>30 teelgee: Wow. Does make sense when you think about it, though.

>29 englishrose60: You're moving through them so quickly, er60! I'm still struggling with The Golden Bowl, finding it a bit dense.

#30. Bionic? I wish! I could do with a new set of legs:-)
#30. Sense! Me! No! It just happened that Life and Fate came up for the Group Read. Fate is a mysterious thing!
#31. I have The Golden Bowl to read next. This is a reread for me - don't remember much about it. If your struggling Christina, maybe I will too!

An interesting blog by a serious James fan: http://www.readinghenryjames.com/

#34 Thanks for the link - that really is one seriously obsessed James fan.

I have started The Europeans and can say it is much easier going. It's very short and I am enjoying it. I think I will have to tackle James chronologically as the early works seem to be more accessible than the later ones.

>35 socialpages:: I agree. Daisy Miller was a quick, easy, and delightful read. Maybe I missed something? Here is my review.

>36 Donna828: I just bought Daisy Miller for 25 cents in a charity shop and I am looking forward to reading it after reading your review. It had the most ridiculous cover that I almost missed it amongst all the other books.

Socialpages, folks must giving away a lot of Daisy Miller! I just bought a lovely copy from a local library sale for $3 (in a slipcase with art by Whistler), which I'm going to settle in with it tonight. I'll take up Portrait of a Lady later.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Portrait of a Lady.

Next The Golden Bowl. Is it still dense Christina?

Not as much, Valerie. I think I was just slow to warm up to his characters. I'm enjoying it now! :)

That's great Christina! I shall now look forward more to reading it.

Finished Daisy Miller yesterday and am now reading a comparison "mashup" of the 1879 and 1909 texts. I read the 1879 version. The comparison can be found here under the "longer works" heading http://www2.newpaltz.edu/~hathaway/

James also turned his novella into a play in 1883. It was never produced in his life time, which may be just as well since he apparently tacked on a "happy" ending for the stage. http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=atla;cc=atla;rgn=...

Finished The Europeans today. I enjoyed it as a change of pace from my recent reading. Felix is utterly delightful and charming.

Christina, you are so right. It is very dense. James appears to be in love with the English language. Took some close reading to understand what he was saying in the first part of the book. Now reading second part and his writing is much clearer and I can read a bit faster.

I have just finished The Europeans and Daisy Miller and discovered that I really enjoy the early works of Henry James. I like the way you think you understand James' characters and then just as you are finishing the book you have to reconsider all your opinions.

#42 I shudder at the thought of Daisy Miller with a happy ending.

The Golden Bowl by Henry James. I found this a dense and difficult read especially the first few chapters, but it got a bit easier after that. This was his last novel. I prefer his earlier works because they are so much easier to understand and enjoy.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I listened to Susannah York reading this very dramatic ghost story.

Shall read The American next.

The American. Another good story by James reflecting on the New World and the Old World.

The Ambassadors. Here's my Review.

I think, like englishrose60, I like earlier James better. The Ambassadors is part of James's later, more convoluted, work, and although he thought it was his best novel, I couldn't get into it.

First of all Talbin, may I say that I enjoyed your review of The Ambassadors and may read it in the future.

Just read What Maisie Knew. Divorce and adultery as seen through the eyes of a child. Fairly dense but fascinating.

I am finishing off this month's author with his non-fiction travel book A Little Tour in France which I am enjoying so far.

Well, thank you englishrose! I had fun writing it this morning.

Almost finished with Turn of the Screw, which I read many years ago, but which seemed appropriate for Halloween. I still have Portrait of a Lady sitting by my bedside, but may first read The Aspern Papers, which sounds intriguing.

Just finished A Little Tour of France. Quite illuminating but I would like to savour it more slowly at some future date, and look up some of the historical bits and maybe pictures of various buildings on the net.

I had good intentions, but failed miserably to read any James this month! Oh well.

Me too, wookie. I tried three of Henry James's books and "pearl ruled" all three of them. I just couldn't hack the ones I tried. Oh bother, anyway!~! One cannot enjoy all authors.
But now am loving Elizabeth von Arnim!~!
" Here's to diversity!~!~!
belva

The Turn of the Screw– Henry James
Audiobook performed by Simon Vance and Vanessa Benjamin
3.5***

A ghost story and psychological thriller. A young woman is hired to be governess to two young children, Miles and Flora. They are the wards of “the master,” their uncle, who has taken on their guardianship after their parents died in India. He is unmarried and really not interested in the children or the running of the household. In fact, after hiring the governess he tells her to simply deal with whatever comes up and not to bother him at all.

James begins the tale with a gathering of friends at Christmas. They begin telling ghost stories, and eventually one of them mentions the document he received from a young woman (she is never named). He then begins to read the tale. This opening puzzles me, because James never returns to this gathering of friends. The rest of the novel is devoted to the governess’s manuscript / notes on what happened.

Having arrived at the mansion, she is charmed by the angelic Flora, enjoying their lessons and spending time with her. She also befriends the housekeeper, Mrs Grose, who answers some of her questions about the previous governess, Miss Jessel. Things begin to go badly quickly however. A strange figure is seen in one of the mansion’s towers. Miles returns from school, presumably for holiday, but in reality has been expelled without explanation. The governess is certain that some malevolent entity is intent on capturing the children in her care, and she is determined to prevent it from doing so.

All the uncertainty and secrecy serve to increase the emotional tension in the story. It is dark, and puzzling, and disturbing. I am not a fan of the ending, which seems abrupt and unexplained. But then, a good ghost story SHOULD leave us wondering.

The audiobook is performed by Simon Vance, who voices the introduction, and Vanessa Benjamin who narrates the governess’s manuscript. They are both accomplished voice actors and do a marvelous job with James’ work.