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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
False start, will probably try to read thin in one sitting another time.
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
L
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The way the author paints the human feelings is very good. But the story is a very simple one.
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A dark novella with an unnamed narrator obsessed with the work of a romantic poet called Aspern. Rumours of papers being held by the poets muse, Juliana lead the narrator to Venice where he smooth talks his way into renting a floor of the rundown palazzo where elderly frail Juliana and her spinster niece Tita live. All three of the characters are unlikeable especially the narrator who seems to think that his right to see the personal papers of his favourite writer is more important than any other consideration. But the two women aren’t victims, they seem to be suspicious of the narrators motives from the start. James based Juliana on Claire Clairmont, and letters she had from Shelley but I thought more about Byron as I was reading and how his memoirs were burnt by his friends and family after his death.
Having read The Aspern Papers very quickly, I must confess that:
1. I am a huge, huge fan of Henry James and his works.
2. If I pick up a novella or a short story written by him, it is likely that I will read it and keep reading it, from beginning to end, in just one sitting.
Of course The Aspern Papers was not an exception to the previous fact: it took me about four hours to finish it, basically I couldn't put it down, and trust me, the whole experience has been worth it quite a bit.
This is a typical Henry James story: an American man—in this case a nameless man—who is obsessed with finding some papers which belonged to Jeffrey Aspern (a very known poet) travels to Venice, since he thinks that an Aspern's former lover, Mrs Bordereau, might own these relics in her house. The question is: will he be able to do anything in order to get those documents? And if so, at what cost?
This novella has become my second favorite book by James, only after Washington Square, since we have very well developed characters, a good, straightforward prose—not the confusing, dense writing style of his last novels—, a compelling story who follows our protagonist and his attempts(?) to get the Aspern papers, and finally, that perfect ending (in my view) – I couldn't have expected a different one.
In short, I enjoyed reading this great piece of literature a lot, and obviously I'd wholeheartedly recommend it, especially because this might be, for instance, a good reading to kick off your Jamesian journey with.
That was originally what I had loved him [Jeffrey Aspern] for: that at a period when our native land was nude and crude and provincial, when the famous “atmosphere” it is supposed to lack was not even missed, when literature was lonely there and art and form almost impossible, he had found means to live and write like one of the first; to be free and general and not at all afraid; to feel, understand, and express everything.
1. I am a huge, huge fan of Henry James and his works.
2. If I pick up a novella or a short story written by him, it is likely that I will read it and keep reading it, from beginning to end, in just one sitting.
Of course The Aspern Papers was not an exception to the previous fact: it took me about four hours to finish it, basically I couldn't put it down, and trust me, the whole experience has been worth it quite a bit.
This is a typical Henry James story: an American man—in this case a nameless man—who is obsessed with finding some papers which belonged to Jeffrey Aspern (a very known poet) travels to Venice, since he thinks that an Aspern's former lover, Mrs Bordereau, might own these relics in her house. The question is: will he be able to do anything in order to get those documents? And if so, at what cost?
This novella has become my second favorite book by James, only after Washington Square, since we have very well developed characters, a good, straightforward prose—not the confusing, dense writing style of his last novels—, a compelling story who follows our protagonist and his attempts(?) to get the Aspern papers, and finally, that perfect ending (in my view) – I couldn't have expected a different one.
In short, I enjoyed reading this great piece of literature a lot, and obviously I'd wholeheartedly recommend it, especially because this might be, for instance, a good reading to kick off your Jamesian journey with.
That was originally what I had loved him [Jeffrey Aspern] for: that at a period when our native land was nude and crude and provincial, when the famous “atmosphere” it is supposed to lack was not even missed, when literature was lonely there and art and form almost impossible, he had found means to live and write like one of the first; to be free and general and not at all afraid; to feel, understand, and express everything.
(4.5)
me ha ENCANTADO la ambientación los tres personajes la historia.....uf qué buena qué buena
quizá el final podría haber sido un poco mejor (?) pero bueno no te impide disfrutar de lo bien escrita que está esta novela y el disfrute que ha sido leerla
me ha ENCANTADO la ambientación los tres personajes la historia.....uf qué buena qué buena
quizá el final podría haber sido un poco mejor (?) pero bueno no te impide disfrutar de lo bien escrita que está esta novela y el disfrute que ha sido leerla
3.5 оценка.
За първи път чета нещо на Хенри Джеймс, и съм много приятно впечатлен от стила му на писане, което пасва перфектно на тази история.
Джеймс гради съспесн в история, която е далеч от криминалните.
За първи път чета нещо на Хенри Джеймс, и съм много приятно впечатлен от стила му на писане, което пасва перфектно на тази история.
Джеймс гради съспесн в история, която е далеч от криминалните.
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes