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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
This my introduction to Henry James and, while the book was mildly enjoyable, I really didn't feel like I was being introduced to a great master of the English language. I just walked away feeling the slightly slimy feeling of the protagonist and without much closure. I can only assume James gets better as he gets more verbose since this slim volume was hardly anything to get excited about unless you wanted some lovely descriptions of Venice in which case it would be quite appropriate. His descriptions are probably the most likeable part of the book since his characters were certainly did not inspire affection.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Attention archivists: You should read this! A solid and satisfying novel about a literary historian who finds the elderly mistress of a famous poet languishing in a deteriorating Venetian palace with her spinster niece. He goes to great lengths to get his hands on the poet's papers which may or may not still be in the hands of his former lover. Excellent in every way.
American poetry critic comes to Venice to try to obtain papers of a famous poet by tricking two spinsters into letting him move in.
Obsession…
Our unnamed narrator is a literary critic, writing a biography of a long-dead American poet of the Romantic school, Jeffery Aspern. His interest in Aspern has become so intense it is a passion – an obsession, in fact. So when his writing collaborator tells him that some letters of Aspern’s may exist in the possession of a woman he once loved, the narrator’s desire to obtain them is irresistible. But Aspern’s lover, Juliana Bordereau, now a very old lady, has become a kind of recluse, living in a dilapidated old Venetian palace with only her niece for company. Direct appeals having failed, our narrator turns to subterfuge – under a false name and identity, he offers the old lady an enormous sum of money to be allowed to rent some rooms in the palace for a few months. And then he turns to wheedling himself into the good graces of the niece, Miss Tita…
Novella-length, this is a wonderful depiction of the morally destructive power of obsession, shown through the interactions of the three characters who fill the stage – the narrator, the old lady and the niece. The narrator would consider himself a gentleman and would generally be considered so by others, but we see how little by little his moral scruples are weakened and destroyed by his self-justifying belief that the papers should be available to the academic world – in other words, to him. Partly this is so that he can write the definitive biography of Aspern – justification: to bring his work back to public prominence; reality: to make the narrator’s name and fortune. But there’s another part which is never spelled out and of which it appears the narrator himself may be unaware – that his feelings for Aspern go well beyond artistic admiration. When his thoughts linger on Aspern, the unexpressed homoeroticism tingles in the air.
Perhaps this explains his blindness to his own narcissistic cruelty. Obsessed by his own desires, he sees the desires of the two women as mere obstacles to be overcome, and increasingly he is willing to cross the ethical boundaries he initially sets himself. He sees the old lady as grasping and greedy, as she extorts money from him at every turn. Although Miss Tita tells him repeatedly that Juliana wants the money to safeguard Miss Tita from poverty after the old lady’s death, the narrator never gives Juliana any credit for this. To him, she is cold and unreasonable, clinging on to her precious papers as if she has a greater right to them than the world – it never occurs to him to wonder why she might not want her lover’s letters to her read by strangers.
But it is to Miss Tita that the narrator’s behaviour is increasingly cruel. Seeing her as the weaker of the two, he bombards this faded, lonely, middle-aged woman with flowers and flattery, seeking out her company and faking interest in her dull preoccupations, trying to persuade her to go against her aunt’s wishes and give him access to the papers. Poor Miss Tita – the narrator’s tunnel vision doesn’t let him see what we, the readers, see – her little spark of hope, unexpected after so many years alone. And yet James doesn’t quite make her tragic – he gives her a kind of resigned strength, born of years of being overlooked by the world, that in the end saves her from being a simple object of pity.
Given the simplicity of the plot – will the narrator get his hands on the papers or won’t he? – James creates real tension, all building up to a quietly dramatic climax. Along the way he forces us to consider the ethics of literary criticism and biography, of prying into the private lives of public figures, and raises the question of how much is “owed” to the pursuit of knowledge. As someone regularly made uncomfortable by revelations in biographies of things that the subject tried to keep secret in his or her lifetime, this theme resonated strongly for me, and James’ refusal to answer the questions he raises leaves space for the reader to think for herself.
I listened to this as an audiobook, perfectly narrated by Jeremy Northam. He brings out all the depth and layers in the characterisation, not just of the narrator but of the two women too, and he does a wonderful job with the building tension and the underplayed drama of the climax. A great performance of a masterful piece of writing – highly recommended!
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Our unnamed narrator is a literary critic, writing a biography of a long-dead American poet of the Romantic school, Jeffery Aspern. His interest in Aspern has become so intense it is a passion – an obsession, in fact. So when his writing collaborator tells him that some letters of Aspern’s may exist in the possession of a woman he once loved, the narrator’s desire to obtain them is irresistible. But Aspern’s lover, Juliana Bordereau, now a very old lady, has become a kind of recluse, living in a dilapidated old Venetian palace with only her niece for company. Direct appeals having failed, our narrator turns to subterfuge – under a false name and identity, he offers the old lady an enormous sum of money to be allowed to rent some rooms in the palace for a few months. And then he turns to wheedling himself into the good graces of the niece, Miss Tita…
Novella-length, this is a wonderful depiction of the morally destructive power of obsession, shown through the interactions of the three characters who fill the stage – the narrator, the old lady and the niece. The narrator would consider himself a gentleman and would generally be considered so by others, but we see how little by little his moral scruples are weakened and destroyed by his self-justifying belief that the papers should be available to the academic world – in other words, to him. Partly this is so that he can write the definitive biography of Aspern – justification: to bring his work back to public prominence; reality: to make the narrator’s name and fortune. But there’s another part which is never spelled out and of which it appears the narrator himself may be unaware – that his feelings for Aspern go well beyond artistic admiration. When his thoughts linger on Aspern, the unexpressed homoeroticism tingles in the air.
Perhaps this explains his blindness to his own narcissistic cruelty. Obsessed by his own desires, he sees the desires of the two women as mere obstacles to be overcome, and increasingly he is willing to cross the ethical boundaries he initially sets himself. He sees the old lady as grasping and greedy, as she extorts money from him at every turn. Although Miss Tita tells him repeatedly that Juliana wants the money to safeguard Miss Tita from poverty after the old lady’s death, the narrator never gives Juliana any credit for this. To him, she is cold and unreasonable, clinging on to her precious papers as if she has a greater right to them than the world – it never occurs to him to wonder why she might not want her lover’s letters to her read by strangers.
But it is to Miss Tita that the narrator’s behaviour is increasingly cruel. Seeing her as the weaker of the two, he bombards this faded, lonely, middle-aged woman with flowers and flattery, seeking out her company and faking interest in her dull preoccupations, trying to persuade her to go against her aunt’s wishes and give him access to the papers. Poor Miss Tita – the narrator’s tunnel vision doesn’t let him see what we, the readers, see – her little spark of hope, unexpected after so many years alone. And yet James doesn’t quite make her tragic – he gives her a kind of resigned strength, born of years of being overlooked by the world, that in the end saves her from being a simple object of pity.
Given the simplicity of the plot – will the narrator get his hands on the papers or won’t he? – James creates real tension, all building up to a quietly dramatic climax. Along the way he forces us to consider the ethics of literary criticism and biography, of prying into the private lives of public figures, and raises the question of how much is “owed” to the pursuit of knowledge. As someone regularly made uncomfortable by revelations in biographies of things that the subject tried to keep secret in his or her lifetime, this theme resonated strongly for me, and James’ refusal to answer the questions he raises leaves space for the reader to think for herself.
I listened to this as an audiobook, perfectly narrated by Jeremy Northam. He brings out all the depth and layers in the characterisation, not just of the narrator but of the two women too, and he does a wonderful job with the building tension and the underplayed drama of the climax. A great performance of a masterful piece of writing – highly recommended!
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Classic Henry James - superb writing as always. Radio 4 Book of the Week (from 2010).
This story was alright, it wasn't anything special. Inf fact, I would've given this book 2 stars were it not for the ending (which proved to be more redeeming than I would've thought. The bulk of the text is a bit draggy and the chief characters all seem vaguely unlikeable in their own ways; not utterly abhorrent or offensive, just irritating in their predictability and type-cast roles. The narrator is conniving and self centered, concerned only with getting the papers and even goes so far as to profess his intentions of making false love to Miss Tita if that's what it comes to. Miss Bordereau, while good having good intention, is only concerned with money and how much of it she can get. Miss Tita is probably the worst of all, being a silly naive girl trapped in a thirty-something spinsters body.
The initial plot, as I have mentioned is dull. Man covets object held by two women, man seeks to relieve women of object by any means necessary, one of the women falls in love with the man, no one comes out happy. The redemption I spoke of earlier is the manner of Miss Tita's revenge. He rebuffed her affections and so she destroyed the thing he held most dear. Put plainly Miss Tita is a righteous bitch and I love that. He tried to play her and in the end was dealt a devastating blow. Bravo Miss Tita, bravo.
The initial plot, as I have mentioned is dull. Man covets object held by two women, man seeks to relieve women of object by any means necessary, one of the women falls in love with the man, no one comes out happy. The redemption I spoke of earlier is the manner of Miss Tita's revenge. He rebuffed her affections and so she destroyed the thing he held most dear. Put plainly Miss Tita is a righteous bitch and I love that. He tried to play her and in the end was dealt a devastating blow. Bravo Miss Tita, bravo.
This is my first foray into the works of Henry James and I read it concurrently with The Turn of the Screw, my preference for the second novel has perhaps affected my review of this one.
It’s certainly an interesting tale, and James makes excellent use of his characters to build suspense. I think that’s why I rated it three stars, I had far too many unanswered questions at the end of the work, and I was annoyed. Where did Tita’s money come from? Why did the Aunt refuse to speak of Aspern…etc. I loved his descriptions of Venice though, I loved the way he caressed the setting, and I love the essence of his characters- was the nameless narrator a character in his own right, or was his obsession with the papers a truer character, Tita seemed just as whispy as her confidence, and how could we have seen Julia as separated from Aspern?
It did bring up some interesting points that I’d never personally considered. James amassed many correspondences right before he died and he burnt them, and asked others to do the same. He didn’t want his personal letters making it to the public; he was fiercely private. James is now regarded as a monumental figure in the world of literature, a turning point for the novel; does the reading-world have a right to his letters if its helps illuminate his genius? Should those letters that he wanted destroyed be a part of his legacy? Do we have the right to know an author’s darkest secrets even if it has been a hundred years since he died?
It’s certainly an interesting tale, and James makes excellent use of his characters to build suspense. I think that’s why I rated it three stars, I had far too many unanswered questions at the end of the work, and I was annoyed. Where did Tita’s money come from? Why did the Aunt refuse to speak of Aspern…etc. I loved his descriptions of Venice though, I loved the way he caressed the setting, and I love the essence of his characters- was the nameless narrator a character in his own right, or was his obsession with the papers a truer character, Tita seemed just as whispy as her confidence, and how could we have seen Julia as separated from Aspern?
It did bring up some interesting points that I’d never personally considered. James amassed many correspondences right before he died and he burnt them, and asked others to do the same. He didn’t want his personal letters making it to the public; he was fiercely private. James is now regarded as a monumental figure in the world of literature, a turning point for the novel; does the reading-world have a right to his letters if its helps illuminate his genius? Should those letters that he wanted destroyed be a part of his legacy? Do we have the right to know an author’s darkest secrets even if it has been a hundred years since he died?
dark
slow-paced
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated