The Ambassadors (Henry James, 1903)

(430 pages)

Henry James novels aren't the easiest reading.  Long, complex sentences, of course.  One technique is dialogue that is ambiguous to the reader but presented as completely understood by the participants in the conversation.  I rather like being left to guess.  And I like the writing, but would say it's also nice to finish and move back into "easier" writing.

Still - I definitely will continue with more of his stuff.

I like that the characters have a lot of depth, give the reader a lot to think about, James himself doesn't give clear conclusions about them.  Strether (lead character here) - we don't really know how much his judgment was clouded, or assisted (or some of both?), by his personal history (an older, fine, gentlemen but feeling that he had "missed out" along the way) or by his reaction to Madame de Vionnet (charmed to the point of perhaps being a bit in love with her?)

And on down the line - characters with multiple motivations and interests, not always clear what's going on - like in real life!  OK Mrs. Newsome probably unidimensional, though we only know her second-hand.

The descriptions of Paris seem a bit fawning, though author backs off that (just) a bit at the end.

Protagonist:  Lambert Strether (wife died young, son 10 years later)

Maria Gostrey - Strether meets her upon arrival in Europe; immediate affinity; challenges him

Strether's old friend Waymarsh who he meets in England, they go to Paris together for Strether's meeting with Chad Newsome

Mrs. Newsome - Chad's mother - Strether is her "Ambassador" - he's sent to convince Chad to return home after several years in Paris.

Her daughter marries a Pocock - they come to Paris (more "Ambassadors!") when Strether appears to be off track

Mrs. Newsome wants Chad to marry Pocock's sister (another "Ambassador"), she also comes to Paris

Little Bilham

Chad Newsome

Madame de Vionnet and daughter Jeanne

Miss Barrace

Portrait of a Lady (Henry James, 1881)

This is considered one of James' best novels. A young American lady (Isabel Archer) is brought to England after her parents die; she meets various upper crust types and receives a large inheritance from her uncle (at the request of her cousin, who was in love with her and thought the money would make her independent). She turns down marriage proposals from an American businessman and an English lord - supposedly wants to be free, explore Europe and beyond, etc. Ends up heavily influenced by an American expatriate (Madame Merle) that she meets in England, and marries another American expatriate (Gilbert Osmond) mostly through Merle's influence. She was used, in large part for the money that was supposed to help her remain free.

The book was pretty long, but very little action - lots of conversation, the heroine thinks about things etc. Lots of James' usual portrayals comparing and contrasting American and European ways (he lived on both sides of the Atlantic). In the end, I'm not a huge fan of his.

But this book was quite good. They made it into a movie in 1996, but it was criticized as too "talky." Small wonder, it's hard to see how this would transfer well to the screen.

Complete Stories 1874-1884 (Henry James)

Gave up after 600 of 800 pages. The stories were very similar after awhile, mostly about high society folks moving between America (i.e. NY, Boston and environs), Paris, London; pointing out differences, foibles.

I've since read a bunch more about James (and his brother William) so should go back to these.