Reviews - The Portrait of a Lady

908 reviews for:

The Portrait of a Lady

Henry James

3.66 AVERAGE

juliash's review against another edition

4.25

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

conqueeftador's review against another edition

3.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sarahanne8382's review against another edition

4.0

I was a little worried about doing Henry James on audio, but since I'm also not shy about consulting Novels for Students while reading classics, I ended up really enjoying listening to James's exquisite word pictures wash over me. You don't read Henry James for the plot, you read it for the way he describes intimate situations down to the minutest detail, while still remaining the master of showing not telling.

In this one young Isabel Archer receives a surprise visit from her well-to-do aunt that changes her life. Drawn from the backwaters of Buffalo, New York into the cosmopolitan centers of Europe, Isabel is eager to sample life to the fullest. But everyone's big question, of course, is if she will marry well, and the beginning of an answer to that question is what concerns the second half of the book.

Without giving too much away, the ending is very open-ended. Knowing that going in, I could appreciate it better, instead of being outrage at the rather abrupt last scene.

Yes, it's a lot of work, but you'll be well-rewarded if you give it a try. James is one of the best wordsmiths.

erinfinn5's review against another edition

5.0

Beautiful, beautiful book
This book filled me with agony, broke my heart, repaired it slightly, made me smile…. Then did it all again!
The characters are so fleshed out, even the women which seeing as how this was written by a man in 1880 was a pleasant surprise. Henry James you mastermind. I’ll have to read more of his works.
All I can say is justice for Pansy,,, she was my very favorite character along with Isabel Archer herself and maybe Henrietta Stackpole.
Such an interesting psychological study. I love a good book that has me analyzing the exact moments things went wrong for a character. I’m not sure what writers were on in the late 19th century but oh was it good.
That is all I have to say. Read this book if you have a decent attention span. The 623 pages are a bit numerous but lord is it worth it.