Certain readers and critics have faulted Henry James for two
contradictory reasons. He has been thought a writer limited in
scope and depth in his treatment of a particular class of people.
On the other hand, he has been thought to be too complex, too
extreme in putting into difficult language his view of
relationships between his chosen characters.
Elizabeth Stevenson depicts Henry James as a stout and strong
presence in the literature of the English language. From the
relatively youthful, straightforward, and simple writing of his
early years, to the involved complexities of his later stories, his
significance cannot be denied. The barrier seems to have been a
misunderstanding on the part of some. It is true nearly all of his
characters are well clothed, well fed, and roofed comfortably. They
are usually fairly well educated and talk literately and wittily.
James rarely treats raw or wild nature, but he is sensitive to
landscape as a background. He also does children well, and they are
often outside the norms of society. Who is not touched by the
uncanny in the tainted children of The Turn of the Screw, whether
the taint is actually in the children or in the mind of the
governess?
In James, one may not travel physically a great deal, except to
the resorts of those well-off financially and socially. One does
travel extensively through the minds and hearts of his characters.
The journey rewards the traveler. The delicacy of James'
"melodramatic" insights causes tremor or appreciation from a
reader. He describes the way life is, both horrible and wonderful.
No one else has expressed this understanding in quite his way.
Henry James: The Crooked Corridor will be of interest to students
of American literature and general readers interested in
biographies.
General
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