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quintusmarcus's review
5.0
n this book of essays, Colm Toibin, author of The Master, a fictionalized account of a period from Henry James’ life, attempts to lay out how both he and James came to write their fictions. More than a tribute to James’ work, Toibin explains across many works the complex processes whereby James metamorphizes bits of life (anecdotes heard, figures glimpsed, experiences recalled) into art. As Toibin puts it, “As James imagined his books, he saw life as shadow and the art he produced as substance. He believed that language and form, the tapestry of the novel, could produce something much richer and more substantial than mere life, could produce something that offered what was chaotic and fascinating, a sort of complex and golden completion.” In his analysis of Portrait of a Lady, Toibin examines the question of just what James took from the life of his cousin, Minny Temple, who died quite young, and quotes from James’s own journal: "Poor Minny was essentially incomplete and I have attempted to make my young woman more rounded, more finished. In truth everyone, in life, is incomplete and it is [in] the work of art that in reproducing them one feels the desire to fill them out, to justify them, as it were." Toibin remarks, “Here, in a few sentences, was the philosophy of the novel, which made all the difference to James and makes all the difference to us now when we read him and consider his vast dedication to his art. He believed that his novels, in all their shapeliness and formal grace, in all the nuance and shadow offered, in all their drama, were richer than life, more complete than life. This does not mean he held life in contempt. Rather he longed to shape it, offer it, with his great talent and industry, significance and a sense of completion.” As James imagined his books, he saw life as shadow and the art he produced as substance. He believed that language and form, the tapestry of the novel, could produce something much richer and more substantial than mere life, could produce something that offered what was chaotic and fascinating, a sort of completion.
The essays in this collection address many of James’ greatest works, his stories, as well as recent biographies, studies, and collections of letters and documents. Toibin also discusses his own work and growth as a writer, what he has learned from James, and how he began writing his own novel The Master. In a final tour de force, Toibin takes a scrap from Henry James’ journal, and spins it out into a story, re-imagining James’ own creative process. A fabulous collection of essays, really all a Henry James lover needs.
The essays in this collection address many of James’ greatest works, his stories, as well as recent biographies, studies, and collections of letters and documents. Toibin also discusses his own work and growth as a writer, what he has learned from James, and how he began writing his own novel The Master. In a final tour de force, Toibin takes a scrap from Henry James’ journal, and spins it out into a story, re-imagining James’ own creative process. A fabulous collection of essays, really all a Henry James lover needs.
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