Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
To live only to suffer—only to feel the injury of life repeated and enlarged—it seemed to her she was too valuable, too capable, for that. Then she wondered if it were vain and stupid to think so well of herself. When had it even been a guarantee to be valuable? Wasn't all history full of the destruction of precious things? Wasn't it much more probable that if one were fine one would suffer?
I'm so mad! Yet so happy! Aaaaaahhhh this book has wrecked me.
I spent 3/4ths of it wanting to shake Isabel soundly - after House of Mirth and The Awakening I've read one too many accounts of turn-of-the-century #feministicons ruining their lives & ending in misery that I thought I knew where this was going -but then that ending happened????
That glorious ambiguous ending which completely shook me???
GIRL. MY GIRL.
The Portrait of a Lady is entirely concerned with Isabel's yearning for freedom - to make her own choice, be it for good or ill. & oh my god, despite her many (many, many) bad choices, how I love her. 200+ years on, some of her musings struck me to the core & resounded so strongly as applicable in my own life. She's impeccable.
But real talk, outside of the gloriousness of Isabel herself, sections of this book are a slog. I could have done with a least a dozen less scenes of Merle twirling her mustache, and everything after the the marriage just completely dragged - that's the only thing stopping this from being a true 5-star. Regardless, it's a masterpiece.
I'm so mad! Yet so happy! Aaaaaahhhh this book has wrecked me.
I spent 3/4ths of it wanting to shake Isabel soundly - after House of Mirth and The Awakening I've read one too many accounts of turn-of-the-century #feministicons ruining their lives & ending in misery that I thought I knew where this was going -but then that ending happened????
That glorious ambiguous ending which completely shook me???
GIRL. MY GIRL.
Spoiler
You leave that dumb boy you save yourself you go out on your own to get your stepdaughter!The Portrait of a Lady is entirely concerned with Isabel's yearning for freedom - to make her own choice, be it for good or ill. & oh my god, despite her many (many, many) bad choices, how I love her.
Spoiler
That moment that Ralph's like, I'm worried about you because I love you! And she literally ROLLS HER EYES & is like, 'ugh do I have to add you to that odious list too?' Dear reader, I screamed.But real talk, outside of the gloriousness of Isabel herself, sections of this book are a slog. I could have done with a least a dozen less scenes of Merle twirling her mustache, and everything after the the marriage just completely dragged - that's the only thing stopping this from being a true 5-star. Regardless, it's a masterpiece.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The second half of the book is a drastic departure from the first half. I was unable to follow the author's style throughout the first half of the book. Most of the sentences are puzzles to be solved. While some unravel fascinating answers, many do not offer much value even after solving. I had to force myself to read and I took comfort in the fact that I was in elite company in struggling to read the book (Once you've put one of his [Henry James] books down, you simply can't pick it up again. - Mark Twain). I was not as caustic as that. The characters, the dialogue between them and the curiosity of how an independent young woman would end up in a Victorian society kept me going.
The second half of the book is where the prose really eases out. It goes along at a good pace and is much more interesting to follow. However, even the second half carries with it certain disappointments. The heroine going back to Rome at the end is one of the major ones. As an observer who wants to understand the Victorian times, I have no right to be disappointed, but as a reader sitting in the 21st century, I am.
The behaviour of the heroine cannot be used as a proxy for the views of the society. But the influence of the society's norms are visible in the justifications that she provides to go back to her husband.
The second half of the book is where the prose really eases out. It goes along at a good pace and is much more interesting to follow. However, even the second half carries with it certain disappointments. The heroine going back to Rome at the end is one of the major ones. As an observer who wants to understand the Victorian times, I have no right to be disappointed, but as a reader sitting in the 21st century, I am.
The behaviour of the heroine cannot be used as a proxy for the views of the society. But the influence of the society's norms are visible in the justifications that she provides to go back to her husband.
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finally finished this beast after borrowing twice from the library. It was long and sad. It felt more modern than I thought it was going to be, which was interesting. But the story definitely could have been told in half the pages.
I suppose it is a sort of heresy for a former English major to say this, but I honestly didn't think this was that good. James' prose is dense and convoluted and at times impenetrable. It made me see why writers like Hemingway were so amazing when they first arrived. I never felt as if I understood Isabel and could never see what everyone else saw in her. The first half of the book took forever.
Maybe it is just that I encountered this at the wrong time in my life?
Maybe it is just that I encountered this at the wrong time in my life?
I love classics, but I was bored out-of-my-mind reading this novel. Loved the grammar, word usage and sentence structure but found the story itself too drawn out and uninspiring. Within 600 pages all that happens is an American girl, Isabelle, moves to London and stays with her uncle after her father dies. She's proposed to twice, but rejects both suitors. Then a snobbish man, Osmond, with no money or job proposes and she accepts, not knowing she has been set up by an acquaintance of Osmond. The marriage quickly goes downhill. Revelations occur with the parentage of Osmond's daughter, Pansy, from his first marriage and a semi-dramatic ending occurs with Isabelle helping Pansy marry the man she loves and Osmond rejects. The end is ambiguous and, in my opinion, anti-climatic. Ugh, many times I tried to put the book down but just keep plowing on in hopes the story would become better. It didn't.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes