Product Description

For the first time in 30 years, the Master's complete stories are again available--in a handsome, authoritative collector's edition

With this fifth and final volume of The Library of America's historic new edition, Henry James's world-famous stories are again available in their entirety.

Complete Stories 1864-1874 brings together his first 24 published stories, 13 never collected by James. Here are the first explorations of some of James's most significant themes: the force of social convention and the compromises it demands; the complex and often ambiguous encounter between Europe and America; the energies of human passion measured against the rigors of artistic discipline. Encompassing a wide range of subjects, settings, and formal techniques, these stories show the young James exploring contemporary events, as in three stories that treat the effects of the Civil War on civilians, and exhibiting his famous psychological acuity, as in "Guest's Confession," where the ferociously comic portrayal of an arrogant businessman hints at the narcissism and sadism that motivate him. Early examples of James's lifelong fascination with art and artists include "A Landscape Painter," which explores a young painter's distorted attraction to a family living in a desolate coastal town, and "The Madonna of the Future," where an aging artist avoids the inevitable unveiling of his "masterpiece." Adumbrating later triumphs, and compelling in their own right, the stories in this volume reveal an accomplished young talent mastering the art of the short story.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #337377 in Books
• Published on: 1999-08-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 975 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781883011703
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Library Journal
The Library of America adds two more winners to its ever-growing product line. The Faulkner volume includes The Town (1957), The Mansion (1959), and his last novel, The Reivers: A Reminiscence (1962). The James volume is LOA's fifth and final collection of that author's writings, marking the first time in three decades that his complete canon is in print. This volume gathers 24 of his stories, including "Poor Richard," "A Landscape Painter," and "A Passionate Pilgrim." Both volumes contain notes on the text, a chronology of the author's life, and the other signature extras of the series.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Jean Strouse is the author of Alice James: A Biography (1980) and J. Pierpont Morgan: A Biography (1999).

Customer Reviews

Each story is unique
Most of us discover Henry James in an English or American Literature class. I don’t think that I appreciated Henry James’ stories a student. He required too much attention from me as a reader. Now I continuously marvel at the two things that make him such a joy to read… 1. He writes so well. He has to be read slowly; every word counts; every sentence leads inevitability to the next; every paragraph is complete, and 2. He has so much to say. Each story is unique. Unlike many lesser writers, Henry James never repeats himself. He never wastes his talent.

A previous reviewer states that some of these stories are amateurish. I fail to see that. It was such a pleasure to read even his first story, A Tragedy of Error, which was published unsigned. Its main characters are a woman and her lover. The woman’s long absent husband is about to return, and they are about to be discovered. In just 22 pages, we can feel their fear of discovery and their evil as the lovers plot the husband’s murder.

In comparison, The Madonna of the Future, is a serene story set in Florence, Italy. It is told in the first person singular, with the narrator presented as an observer until close to the end. He encounters a painter whose masterpiece is much talked about but not seen. He quietly befriends Theobald, the painter, and through him meets the model for the Madonna, Serafina. Unintentionally, the narrator is a catalyst for the final actions of Theobald. The ending is compassionate, but as much of a surprise as that in A Tragedy of Error.

Other stories include sweet characters that turn out to be manipulative gold diggers, spoiled children who control loving parents, and polite fiends. Many of these characters have secrets that need to be disclosed to the reader; some are just romantic. Some characters behave well; many do not. James writes mostly of the upper classes, excessively polite, judgmental, repressed, and full of secrets.

This volume contains his earliest stories. I’ve never read a review that holds any of these stories to be a masterpiece. But James is such a brilliant writer that any of his work is worth the time to read. I highly recommend this volume as a start.

A good place to begin
This book, which collects the first ten years of Henry James' short stories is, I think, a good place to begin with James--after all, it's where he himself started. The stories vary in quality, and some of the earliest are rather amateurish compared to later James, but each has its rewards, and in reading them you can experience the development of a truly remarkable writer. Story by story it's a pleasure to read his almost liquid descriptions of people and places. Once in a while he almost seems surreal, as in this sentence from a story about the Civil War that he wrote in his early 20s: "The blood that has been shed gathers itself into a vast globule and drops into the ocean." Some of the stories are ghost tales rather in the line of Edgar Allen Poe, while others are romances or character studies. James rarely gives us a perfectly happy ending, but once in a while, as in the story "Travelling Companions," he lets himself write a charmingly Austinesque love story ending in marriage.

The price of this book is a bit high, but (...) it's actually a bargain. As with all Library of America books, it's really the equivalent of at least 3 or 4 regular length books rolled into one. By using top quality thin acid free paper, they've somehow fit 960 pages of Henry James stories into a fine quality hardback book not much larger than a thick paperback. It's the kind of book you can take with you on the plane, and without the dustjacket it looks and feels as 19th century as the work inside. I find reading Henry James immensely relaxing and thought-provoking, and I can strongly recommend this book to any James fan, or anyone who is ready to make the plunge.

A good place to begin
This book, which collects the first ten years of Henry James'short stories is, I think, a good place to begin with James--afterall, it's where he himself started. The stories vary in quality, and some of the earliest are rather amateurish compared to later James, but each has its rewards, and in reading them you can experience the development of a truly remarkable writer. Story by story it's a pleasure to read his almost liquid descriptions of people and places. Once in a while he almost seems surreal, as in this sentence from a story about the Civil War that he wrote in his early 20s: "The blood that has been shed gathers itself into a vast globule and drops into the ocean." Some of the stories are ghost tales rather in the line of Edgar Allen Poe, while others are romances or character studies. James rarely gives us a perfectly happy ending, but once in a while, as in the story "Travelling Companions," he lets himself write a charmingly Austinesque love story ending in marriage.

The price of this book is a bit high, but with your Amazon discount it's actually a bargain. As with all Library of America books, it's really the equivalent of at least 3 or 4 regular length books rolled into one. By using top quality thin acid free paper, they've somehow fit 960 pages of Henry James stories into a fine quality hardback book not much larger than a thick paperback. It's the kind of book you can take with you on the plane, and without the dustjacket it looks and feels as 19th century as the work inside. I find reading Henry James immensely relaxing and thought-provoking, and I can strongly recommend this book to any James fan, or anyone who is ready to make the plunge. END