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shellballenger 's review for:

Aspern Papers by Henry James
1.0

Type of read: Commuter Read.

What made me pick it up: I think it was just in the list of immediately available books. And I liked the sepia-toned cover (yes, sometimes choosing a book really is that simple).

Overall rating: This is a dense and cloying read that continually grated at my nerves and quite honestly if this book was any longer, I would not have finished it. After looking at the originally published date (1888) it makes so much more sense as to why there is such a formality of tone and language. Not only did I find the main character/narrator to be selfish, rude, and single-minded, the whole story was so shortsighted. Maybe it's just not my style. Maybe it just didn't age well. Either way, I did not find "Aspern Papers' to be a good read.