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A review by thekqy
The Bostonians by Henry James
3.0
category (?): published before 1900
finally finished this book!!! i can’t believe it took me almost a month. it was a very nonlinear progression. the beginning of the book, honestly almost the entire first Book (the bostonians was originally published as a serial and in my copy at least was organized into three books) slogged on for so long. i honestly can’t imagine reading it as a serial. i feel like almost every week i would’ve been disappointed at how little happened. but ! there were definitely some shenanigans and funny descriptions even in this first bit.
the book finallyyyy picks up around halfway through. i also by this point got more used to the writing style so that probably helped some. i will say i did genuinely laugh out loud at certain parts! and you really get invested towards the end!
the ending (no spoilers) annoyed me, but in a way where i could accept that that was where the book was leading anyway. i understand that it’s a satire, and that realism was big at the time, but reading this at the time probably would’ve made me so sad. it’s just kinda cynical and demoralizing? (((i don’t want to go into too much detail because spoilers but yeah))) HOWEVER as a lens into the time period? so interesting ! to see the discussion of the post civil war era, especially with one of the main characters being from mississippi and the main settings of boston (duh) and new york. i liked seeing the discussions of feminism, and the different kinds of femininity we see, and i gotta give credit where credit is due—this book basically invented the term “boston marriage” so… happy pride month!
speaking of boston: i loved seeing the areas and community of boston and massachusetts depicted here! it was really fun to hear about the back bay, the cape, and even central mass!
overall: 3.5⭐️! do i recommend? if you want to read it and feel comfortable reading an older style of writing, go ahead! but if you don’t want to, you’re not missing out on too much!
finally finished this book!!! i can’t believe it took me almost a month. it was a very nonlinear progression. the beginning of the book, honestly almost the entire first Book (the bostonians was originally published as a serial and in my copy at least was organized into three books) slogged on for so long. i honestly can’t imagine reading it as a serial. i feel like almost every week i would’ve been disappointed at how little happened. but ! there were definitely some shenanigans and funny descriptions even in this first bit.
the book finallyyyy picks up around halfway through. i also by this point got more used to the writing style so that probably helped some. i will say i did genuinely laugh out loud at certain parts! and you really get invested towards the end!
the ending (no spoilers) annoyed me, but in a way where i could accept that that was where the book was leading anyway. i understand that it’s a satire, and that realism was big at the time, but reading this at the time probably would’ve made me so sad. it’s just kinda cynical and demoralizing? (((i don’t want to go into too much detail because spoilers but yeah))) HOWEVER as a lens into the time period? so interesting ! to see the discussion of the post civil war era, especially with one of the main characters being from mississippi and the main settings of boston (duh) and new york. i liked seeing the discussions of feminism, and the different kinds of femininity we see, and i gotta give credit where credit is due—this book basically invented the term “boston marriage” so… happy pride month!
speaking of boston: i loved seeing the areas and community of boston and massachusetts depicted here! it was really fun to hear about the back bay, the cape, and even central mass!
overall: 3.5⭐️! do i recommend? if you want to read it and feel comfortable reading an older style of writing, go ahead! but if you don’t want to, you’re not missing out on too much!