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A review by maliazaidi
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
4.0
While reading The Portrait of A Lady, I kept thinking, this is a book that should be illustrated by John Singer Sargent. There is an opulence, a lushness and attention to detail here so in tune with the painter's work, and, too, there is a distance, a slight chasm between the subject and the audience.
I won't summarize the plot, but for such a long book, I have to say, I was engaged and interested the whole time. Despite several characters' slight frostiness, the scenery was almost a character in itself, and I was fascinated to read about the expats in Italy and England, and enjoyed James' descriptively fluent language. Ralph was by far my favorite character, and I definitely think James did his best work in developing him and fleshing him out. I heard that in this novel, James was trying to accurately portray the way a woman felt, really considering her psyche and not just her veneer. In this, I am not certain he succeeded, as Isabelle never truly felt developed to me. Complex, yes, but somehow not quite like a real person. This book really raises interesting questions about the roles of women, cultural differences, and significantly, distinctions between the classes, particularly for women. He does a nice job in showing us characters from different generations and backgrounds and pushing them all together on one stage. It's one of those books I think will stay with me for a long time. The way everything was described, the nuances and attention to details just painted such an intense image.
This was only my second book by Henry James, but I have already bought The Europeans and The Wings of the Dove, which is probably the most telling testament regarding my reception of this novel. Like Edith Wharton, it's sort of a slow burn, but one I won't be quick to forget.
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
I won't summarize the plot, but for such a long book, I have to say, I was engaged and interested the whole time. Despite several characters' slight frostiness, the scenery was almost a character in itself, and I was fascinated to read about the expats in Italy and England, and enjoyed James' descriptively fluent language. Ralph was by far my favorite character, and I definitely think James did his best work in developing him and fleshing him out. I heard that in this novel, James was trying to accurately portray the way a woman felt, really considering her psyche and not just her veneer. In this, I am not certain he succeeded, as Isabelle never truly felt developed to me. Complex, yes, but somehow not quite like a real person. This book really raises interesting questions about the roles of women, cultural differences, and significantly, distinctions between the classes, particularly for women. He does a nice job in showing us characters from different generations and backgrounds and pushing them all together on one stage. It's one of those books I think will stay with me for a long time. The way everything was described, the nuances and attention to details just painted such an intense image.
This was only my second book by Henry James, but I have already bought The Europeans and The Wings of the Dove, which is probably the most telling testament regarding my reception of this novel. Like Edith Wharton, it's sort of a slow burn, but one I won't be quick to forget.
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com