A review by jemlouise07
The Art of Fiction by Henry James

4.0

Knocked off a star for Besant’s assertion that ‘everything (...) which is invented and is not the result of personal experience and observation is worthless’. I don’t know if I can blame him for this- if the aim of art is to mimic real life then, how can he be wrong? But to negate writings upon writings (fantasy, sci-fi etc, though I do not at all suspect he anticipated their subject matter)...
It doesn’t sit quite right with me, a modern reader.