It seems appropriate on this Tax Deadline day, that the Wall Street Journal Book Club is discussing this month’s book: Henry James’s The Golden Bowl. For a 100 years, The Golden Bowl has been taxing the patience of readers. Henry James wrote the book as part of his experiment to explore the “consciousness” of his characters. So readers have to grapple with interior monologues and pages stream-of-consciousness writing. The actual story, surprisingly, is fairly simple. Prince Amerigo, a poor but charismatic Italian nobleman, marries Maggie Verver, the only child of fabulously wealthy Adam Verver. Adam Verver, marries Prince Amerigo’s former lover, Charlotte Stant. And, as you might have figured out, The Prince and Charlotte resume their relationship. Many readers find Henry James’s “Late Style” tough to get through. I struggled with this book each time I read it. I’m convinced part of the problem is James’s dictation of his work at this period of time. James found he could no longer hold a pen (carpel tunnel?) so he hired a secretary to take dictation as he continued to produce novels and essays. This dictation method may have led to the convoluted sentences and ornate style. Adultery was never more subdued or anesthetized.
Ray once said that H.J. never used one word when five would do as well. I was introduced to James with the atypical TURN OF THE SCREW and the neatly ironisc “The Beast in the Jungle.” These and THE ASPERN PAPERS lulled me into a false sense of readability .
Dan, Henry James was a prolific writer whose “style” changed over time. I’m not a fan of the “Late Style” where five words took the place of one word. But I’m convinced that style emerged from James’s switch from writing to dictation.
I have to disagree–I love The Golden Bowl (that and The Wings of the Dove are my favorite James books). I think it’s best to go into TGB knowing that it’s really not about adultery but about who knows what and how they act on that knowledge. Also good to keep in mind: like many of James’s works, this one has layers of narrative. Bob Assingham is narrating what his wife, Fanny, is telling him about what she’s observed going on in the lives of the Ververs. Great stuff!
Btw, ever since I learned that James dictated his final novels, I’ve wondered if any of those wax cylinders still exist. Wouldn’t it be great to hear Henry James’s voice? Jeez– I’m such a geeky fan girl!
Deb, I would love to hear Henry James dictating his novels, too! And, I’m a fan of WINGS OF THE DOVE, too. But I find THE GOLDEN BOWL a frosty book. You’re right about THE GOLDEN BOWL having layers within layers and plots within plots. The architecture of this novel is astonishing. You can see what the WSJ says about THE GOLDEN BOWL here: http://www.wsj.com/articles/colm-toibin-chooses-the-golden-bowl-for-the-wsj-book-club-1427903917
I have only read James light-and his short stories. You and Deb are my heroes.
Patti, Henry James was a master of the short story. “The Aspern Papers” is terrific. If you haven’t read THE SPOILS OF POYNTON, you’r in for a treat (and it’s short).
I wanted to like GOLDEN BOWL ever since seeing – and really enjoying – the early Masterpiece Theatre version with Barry Morse and Jill Townsend as the Ververs and Daniel Massey and Gayle Hunnicutt as The Prince and Charlotte. But I’ve found it impenetrable. I salute you, Deb!
I didn’t see the 2000 Merchant Ivory film version.
Jeff, I have the same problems with THE GOLDEN BOWL that you have. I have the Merchant/Ivory version but haven’t watched it yet. Maybe this Summer.
I, myself, personally have thought on occasion — though not often — that Henry James, whose work I have sometimes, perhaps more often than not, thought a bit tedious, in the sense that it seemed to read slowly, if not glacially, was, perhaps, not quite as difficult to deal with in the earlier, and often somewhat shorter, works, although I realize that this impression might apply to me only and not to others who, with some justification, might argue that the later novels, those that James dictated, are not at all slowed down by prose that is, in some ways, a bit more dense and littered with sentences that to some, like me, seem to wander on interminably but which, eventually, weighed down and encumbered by commas, if not by semicolons, do come to an end.
Bill, very clever! I handed out a Henry James sentence to my students in a handout. The sentence was about 200 words long. One student complained: “Hey, Dr. Kelley, that’s a hell of a run-on sentence!”
I think it’s best to go into Henry James’s work with the following in mind:
1. Reading will be slow going. You have to slow down and make yourself carefully consider what you are reading. Slow is the way to go.
2. There will be narrative layers. Someone is narrating what someone else tells them about something someone else observes. And each narrator will out their own gloss on what has happened.
3. Most of the action is interior. A person may walk across the room, but it takes five pages because we’re reading what’s going through the character’s mind as they navigate the room.
/Here endeth the lesson.
Deb, thanks for the GUIDE TO READING HENRY JAMES! I’m tempted to listen to THE GOLDEN BOWL with an unabridged audio book.
That would be a great idea, as long as the person doing the audiobook reading did a good job if differentiating the characters’ voices.
Bill nailed it.
I agree with you, George. When I read the five volume biography of James by Leon Edel it became clear what changes narrating his later books to a secretary made to the writing. I’ve been working my way through the Library of America collections of James’s shorter works (most of them are too long for an average “short story”) and they are not as impenetrable as the late novels.
His non fiction travel books and literary criticism are much more straightforward and very readable, and I’ve enjoyed his notebooks and collections of letters.
Jeff, Henry James could write elegant prose. There are plenty of examples of it in his travel books, letters, and notebooks as you pointed out. James’s “Late Style” can frustrate a lot of readers.
The only James books I’ve read are THE AMBASSADORS and THE SPOILS OF POYNTON. I did see most of the episodes of the Masterpiece Theater version of the Golden Bowl, and admit to not understanding what the devil was going on most of the time. I have a mammoth collection of his short stories but have not cracked it.
Rick, THE AMBASSADORS and THE SPOILS OF POYNTON are two of my favorite Henry James novels. I suspect you would enjoy THE WINGS OF THE DOVE.
By the way, both of those James novels were required for college courses.
My favorite story about James has to do with the paperback version of THE AMBASSADORS. For many years it was published with two chapters out of order, and no one noticed until finally someone, a graduate student, I believe, pointed it out.
Henry James stuff I’ve read: THE WINGS OF THE DOVE, THE AMBASSADORS, WASHINGTON SQUARE, DAISY MILLER, THE TURN OF THE SCREW, THE AMERICANS, THE BOSTONIANS, PORTRAIT OF A LADY, WHAT MAISIE KNEW, “The Jolly Corner,” “The Beast in the Jungle.” Maybe a few others I’m forgetting. I’ve never read THE GOLDEN BOWL and probably never will.
Bill, I did a presentation of THE BOSTONIANS for a doctoral course seminar. I knew my fellow students would grill me so I read the book three times and prepared a five-page handout. After that presentation, some of the students complained I was “over-prepared.” Suddenly, everyone was providing the class with handouts with their in-class presentations.
I’ve read half a dozen of his short story collections (which includes longer tales like “Daisy Miller”). Also non fiction including PARISIAN SKETCHES, FRENCH POETS AND NOVELISTS, NEW YORK REVISITED, the Notebooks, several volumes of Collected Letters.
Jeff, I have all the LIBRARY OF AMERICA volumes of Henry James’s work. And I probably own a dozen books about Henry James and his work. I do like the annotated editions of Henry James published by Norton for the college market. They’re available for a song online.
Henry James is one of my favorite authors. I especially like his longer short stories and I’ve reread many of them. I have his work not only in the Library of America but also in a reprint edition of the New York Edition. A difficult writer but worth the effort.
Walker, I totally agree with you on Henry James. The mind that could conceive those intricate sentences! There’s a lot of controversy over the “rewrites” James did in the New York Edition. But his Prefaces are astonishing!
My favorite line about Henry James is that he chews more than he bites off. I admit, I haven’t read much by him and likely never will. But hey, I saw the movie version of DAISY MILLER with Cybill Shepherd. Well, actually, I didn’t see it with Cybill Shepherd, although if she’d asked me, I wouldn’t have said no.
Great post by Bill back up the page, by the way.
James, Bill Crider is a clever guy. He really captured the style of Henry James! If you’re going to read any more Henry James, I highly recommend “The Aspern Papers” and THE SPOILS OF POYNTON.