Product Description

With a mind that took in every nuance of speech, manner, thought and half-thought, Henry James set out to define the restless--and sometimes innocent--American imagination in conflict with the great European tradition. Along the way he discovered the countless hesitancies, betrayals and self-betrayals that make up the true substance of human relationships. This entirely new Portable Henry James provides seven major tales--among them "Daisy Miller," "The Turn of the Screw," "The Beast in the Jungle," and "The Jolly Corner"--as well as travel writing, correspondence, literary criticism, autobiography, passages from longer novels, and a sampling of authorial revisions. Also included are parodies by contemporaries, and tributes by W. H. Auden, Joseph Conrad, T. S. Eliot, Graham Greene, Ezra Pound, Edith Wharton, and Virginia Woolf.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #528757 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-30
• Released on: 2003-12-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780142437674
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Henry James (1843-1916) was born in New York City and entered the law school at Harvard in 1862. He moved to London in 1875 and became a British citizen in 1915. He wrote some twenty novels, many short stories, and a staggering number of letters. John Auchard is professor of English at the University of Maryland, and he edited the Penguin Classics edition of James's Italian Hours.

Customer Reviews

The Master at His Finest
It has been suggested that Henry James did not "realize" Life -- that he hid from it and missed so much of that which makes life vital. I would rather have lived his life than most others of which I have read or observed. My own life has been one of wildness, bohemian behavior and eccentric passion -- but I have very little to show for having "lived" life to the fullest. Now that I am two years away from sixty, I look at all of my madcap ways and see how lifeless they truly are. We may compare the biography of Henry James to that of another favorite writer, Oscar Wilde. Who, I asked, "lived" the greater life, had the finest experience of existence?

Henry James is said to be merely an observer and interpreter of life and society. I find him so much more. He is one of the few writers whose works take on new life as age advances and maturity allows me to appreciate in more adult fashion the genius of Art. The creation of art is, for me, one of the finest expressions of the human soul -- and no one wrote with more intense interest, curiosity and intelligence than Henry James.

This newer edition of THE PORTABLE HENRY JAMES, superbly edited and introduced by John Auchard, gives us some of James's finest accomplishments as an artist. The book is divided into different categories: I. FICTION; II. REVISIONS; III. TRAVEL; IV. CRITICISM; V. AUTOBIOGRAPHY; VI. CORRESPONDENCE; VII. DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION; VIII. NAMES; IX. PARODY; X. LEGACY. The final section is a fascinating record of approaches to Henry James from his admirers, and includes
"At the Grave of Henry James," a substantial poem by W. H. Auden,
a selected from HENRY JAMES: AN APPRECIATION by Joseph Conrad,
from IN MEMORY by T. S. Eliot,
from HENRY JAMES: THE PRIVATE UNIVERSE by Graham Greene,
from HENRY JAMES by Ezra Pound,
from A BACKWARD GLANCE by Edith Wharton,
and from REVIEW OF THE LETTERS OF HENRY JAMES by Virginia Woolf.

As an introduction to James, this omnibus cannot be beat. One would have wished, perhaps, for a few more short stories, but all in all it is a fine representation.

Best introduction yet to Henry James
This collection gives an excellent overview of James' work and offers the reader a chance to engage a notoriously daunting author at many levels. There are the stories, the essays, the letters, and of course select novels. This is the best place to start.

A solid James

You'll find that the Portable format is clear and the selections are well chosen. A must for a smart library, or at least an educated head. No disappointments here.