The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

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Title: The Portrait of a Lady

Author: Henry James

Genre: Classic Literature

Length: 624 pages

Published: 1991

Publisher: Everyman's Library

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Isabel Archer's main aim in life is to protect her independence. She is not interested in settling down and compromising her freedom for the sake of marriage. However, on a trip around Europe with her aunt, she finds herself captivated by the charming Gilbert Osmond, who is very interested in the idea of adding Isabel to his collection of beautiful artworks...

My Review:

I give this book a 2 out of 5. 

The synopsis above is short, sweet, and to the point. Unlike this book. I like most books I read, I mean I gave Lolita three stars and that had an absolutely disgusting plot. So for me to give this two stars? Yeah, it's that dull, and the complete opposite of The Portrait of a Lady. 

First off, paragraphs that are longer than a page...well, let's just say YAWN. I will admit, I skimmed a lot of these paragraphs. I found that reading mostly the dialogue and a few sentences of the paragraphs allowed me to completely grasp the story. I definitely enjoy Henry James in much shorter format. 600+ pages of "Will Isabel ever marry?" is just too much. Yes, the time when James was writing was a much different time, so the writing style of that time is a lot different from now, but it made for a long, dull book.

Seriously, if you ever have trouble sleeping, read this book. I read it in about a month's time, but only because I really buckled down and had to force myself to. 

The storyline itself was good, it was more the writing style that I hated. True to every James story I've read, he leaves the ending sort of wide open and leaves the reader with questions. The beginning is filled with the usual "meet the cast" chapters. The middle felt like a whole lot of nothing. There really wasn't anything to mark the passage of time, except maybe a random sentence in the middle of an opening paragraph (or in the middle of a chapter!) to say how much time has passed. I felt like the book could have been separated into a few different acts. Act I: Isabel's arrival to England and her meeting of Mr. Osmond in Rome; Act II: a year or two later where we meet Pansy Osmond, find out about Isabel's marriage, deal with the courting of Pansy Osmond; and Act III: Isabel's return to England and the events that occur there. At least if the novel had been separated like that, it would have clearly marked the passage of time.

The last few chapters are where all the action happens. Not action as in bombs blowing up or anything. But the discovery of Isabel that her marriage was basically a sham (sorry for the spoiler!). You see how absolutely unhappy Isabel is in her marriage and wish she could get out of it. She returns to England, against her husband's wishes, because her dear cousin, Ralph is on his death-bed. While there she gets one last visit from one of her prior suitors, Caspar Goodwood. He still loves her. They speak, they kiss, she flees. Two days later, he goes to find her at her friend's home in London. She's returned to Rome.

And the story ends there leaving the reader to wonder if Isabel returns to Rome to be with her horrible husband or to take the first steps in divorcing him. You also have to remember that Isabel had promised her dear stepdaughter, Pansy, that she would come back. Caspar is left to wait, once again, for his one true love. And the reader is left with questions that will never be answered.

Sometimes it's nice to have an open-ended conclusion to a story. I personally like to feel that Isabel went back to Rome to tell her husband off, divorce him and return to Caspar's waiting embrace. But somehow, I doubt that's what James wanted for his characters. He seems to have a penchant for ending his stories tragically.

Mostly, I'm rating this so low because it's really a very long book with a barely interesting plot, and it's very, very dull. 

You can purchase The Portrait of a Lady through Amazon in either hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read The Portrait of a Lady? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels by Henry James

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Title: The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels

Author: Henry James

Genre: Classic Literature

Length: 451 Pages

Published: 1962

Publisher: Signet Classics

Brief Synopsis: A collection of 6 short stories by Henry James. Stories include: The Altar of the Dead, The Aspern Papers, The Beast in the Jungle, Daisy Miller, An International Episode, and The Turn of the Screw.

My Review:

I give this book a 3 out of 5. 

The rating above is an overall rating based on my enjoyment of all six of the short stories in this collection. I have gone through each short story individually. There seems to be a trend towards the tragic ending with each of these stories.

The Altar of the Dead:
A man (Stransom) meets a woman in a church, where he lights candles for his Dead. She lights but one candle. For years, they barely speak but always meet at the church. Eventually he discovers who she lights her candle for: an old friend of his whom he had a massive falling out with. Stransom and the woman have a falling out due to his not wishing to light a candle for her former love.

This was pretty short story, but I liked it. It ended sadly, as most of these stories seem to end, but it was probably the most fitting end to the tale. I give this one a 4 out of 5.

The Aspern Papers:
This one took a little while to get into. The beginning was confusing, but eventually the mystery started to unravel In this story, a young man is looking for papers from a long-dead poet, Aspern. He goes to live with an elderly woman and her niece in order to try to take hold of these papers. The elderly woman had been the poet's lover in her youth.

Once I did get into the story, I enjoyed the conversations between Tita (the niece) and the young man. The elderly woman was definitely suspicious of him and even hid the papers in her mattress. The ending wasn't exactly happy, which made it very realistic. I give this one a 3 out of 5. 

The Beast in the Jungle: 
The story of May Bartram and John Marcher, who had met ten years prior and become reacquainted. Marcher had confessed a secret to May that something was coming that he wouldn't be able to control - a beast in the jungle, so to speak. When they become reacquainted, they spend much time discussing said beast until May falls ill.

In the end, Marcher learns what the Beast in the Jungle truly is, and that May met that Beast, while he failed to grasp it. All in all, not a bad story. I give The Beast in the Jungle a 4 out of 5.
Daisy Miller: 
An American man named Winterbourne has spent a long time in Europe, so he's become accustomed to European ways. When he meets young Miss Daisy Miller, he is quite taken with her despite her shockingly candid speech and her flirtatious ways. The story starts out in Vevey, Switzerland, where they first come across each other. He takes her to see the castle there and, despite her protests, he then must leave to handle business. He promises that he'll meet up with her in Italy when he visits his aunt.

The second part of the story shows when Winterbourne and Daisy meet up again in Italy. He learns that she flirts with all sorts of men, most especially one man named Giovanelli. She spends her days flirting with and leading on both Giovanelli and Winterbourne, and becomes the talk of the town. Eventually Daisy and her mother are no longer invited to parties, much to Daisy's chagrin.

I enjoyed this story quite a bit, and although it ended rather sadly, it was probably the best way to end it. I give Daisy Miller a 4 out of 5. 

An International Episode: 
It took me a little bit to get into this one. It starts out with two English gentlemen arriving in New York City. One of these young men is a lord. Through a man they met on the ship, they meet Mr. Westgate, who sends them to Newport where his wife and her younger sister are. The second part of the story shows the two Englishmen back in London and Mrs. Westgate and her sister, Bessie, are visiting London. Their paths cross again. Lord Lambeth is taken with young Bessie, despite his companion's warnings to not get involved. 

I found the first part of this story rather dull, but the second part was much more interesting and somewhat amusing. I felt bad for Lord Lambeth when Bessie turned him down after he proposed to her. I found the banter between Bessie and Lambeth amusing. I'd probably rate this particular story a 3 out of 5. 

The Turn of the Screw: 
A young woman becomes governess to two orphaned children: visions of loveliness and perfection. However, she begins to see the ghost of their former governess as well as the ghost of the Master's manservant. She is under strict orders not to disrupt the Master for any reason, and so undertakes to determine what these ghosts desire of her charges alone. 

I found this tale chilling. The governess finds herself dealing with two ethereal children, and two sinister ghosts. Her only confidant is the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose; as the children's uncle wishes to not be bothered about his niece and nephew. I was saddened for the children who had lost their parents, and the fact that their only living relative wanted nothing to do with them. The ending was absolutely spine-tingling. 

The beginning of the story starts out with a group of people being read the manuscript written by the governess regarding her experiences with these children. Despite the fact that I was left with the desire to hear this group's reaction to the governess' tale, I still give The Turn of the Screw a 5 out of 5. 

You can purchase The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels through Amazon in either hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.