This is the second book in the past couple of months that I have read by Henry James. The last one was The Bostonians. I have to admit that I really was leery of reading another one of this author’s books because I found The Bostonians to be somewhat boring with a ton of narration. Mr. James seems to have a hard time letting his characters do the explaining.
I was pleasantly
surprised at how much I enjoyed the book! It is based in Europe, which I love,
and has a somewhat Jane Austin feel; although Henry James seems to be somewhat
anti Jane Austin by the way he depicts his heroines at the same time. I find
Henry James to be somewhat of a sexist, but I guess that was pretty common in
1881!
The only thing that
bothers me is the main character in the story, Isabel. How can one woman have
so many men dying to marry her?! I mean, seriously, I wonder what it’s like to
meet a man and have him fall all over you the first time you meet? A little
unrealistic…
Other than
that and it being over 600 pages, it’s a really great read! It was so good that
613 pages didn’t really feel that overwhelming. Good job Mr. James!!
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