I have never read any Henry James before. This spooky novella was a marvelous introduction. I relished his prose, which must sometimes be followed like a twisted string leading the reader gently on to - oh my god what's that outside the window! It is unutterably creepy, stark and yet ambiguous. At a Christmas party, an 'I' narrator tells of his friend, who reads out the written account of an unnamed woman. This makes the work at once immediate, and ungraspable. And there's no creepy like two creepy kids. (shudder). What shall I read next of Mr James?
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The Turn of The Screw
I have never read any Henry James before. This spooky novella was a marvelous introduction. I relished his prose, which must sometimes be followed like a twisted string leading the reader gently on to - oh my god what's that outside the window! It is unutterably creepy, stark and yet ambiguous. At a Christmas party, an 'I' narrator tells of his friend, who reads out the written account of an unnamed woman. This makes the work at once immediate, and ungraspable. And there's no creepy like two creepy kids. (shudder). What shall I read next of Mr James?
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6 comments:
I agree that Turn of the Screw is an outstandin story; an I agree that th intro is especialy well-executed. But DANG if James dont peppr that werk wit some sentences that are absolute groanrs!
Here are a few examples:
"It took little time to see that I could sound without forms of inquiry and without exciting remark any domestic complication."
"This was not so good a thing, I admit, as not to leave me to judge that what, essentially, made nothing else much signify was simply my charming work."
"My charming work was just my life with Miles and Flora, and with nothing could I so like it as through feeling that I could throw myself into it in trouble."
Hey, Henry! I think I hear yer Maugham callin ya!
P.S. Only othr H James I read is "Daisy Miller": not as good a story, but fewr groanr-sentences.
thanks Professor Joey. I did say 'twisted string'.
I never went to University (except good old Polanski U) being more of an autodidact, so I let my eyes slide over sentences that are too convoluted (or 'groaners' as I think is the accepted academic locution).
A strange story of James' that I remember reading many years ago is "The Pupil". I can't remember if I liked it, but it certainly made a home in one of my little grey cells. Hmmm, must go and look for it on the shelf.....
wiki sez: Another fine example of James's career in short narrative is "The Pupil" (1891), the story of a precocious young boy growing up in a mendacious and dishonorable family. He befriends his tutor, who is the only adult in his life that he can trust. James presents their relationship with sympathy and insight, and the story reaches what some have considered the status of classical tragedy.
I am so there. thanks, Pil.
I remember having something of a love/hate relationship with Henry James. I liked the stories, but every once in a while, I longed to take a machete to the 100-word sentences.
Reading can be a very violent activity.
oh, I think "Turn of the Screw" is a perfect horror story because of its ambiguous ending. Was she just screwed up in the head or did the bad things really happen? The reader is never sure...I'd love to write a story like that.
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