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A review by arisbookcorner
The Ambassadors by Henry James
2.0
IQ "It's not too late for you, on any side, and you don't strike me as in danger of missing the train; besides which people can be in general pretty well trusted, of course-with the clock of their freedom ticking as loud as it seems to do here-to keep an eye on the fleeting hour. All the same don't forget that you're young-blessedly young; be glad of it on the contrary and live it up. Live all you can; it's a mistake not to. It doesn't so much matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life. If you haven't had that what have you had? [...] And it's as if the the train had fairly waited at the station for me without my having had the gumption to know it was there. Now I hear its faint receding whistle miles and miles down the line. What one loses one loses; make no mistake about that." Strether pgs. 152-153
What happened in this novel? I DON'T KNOW. I grasped the gist of the issue as to why Chad had not returned to America but I fear that I missed out on other character's and their story lines. What's up with Waymarsh (was he friends with Strether)? What happened between Strether and Maria Gostrey? If the subplots confused me, the language absolutely bewildered me. If the sentences had run-on less and used fewer words/better synonyms i might have understood what was happening. As it were, the language of the novel might seem very beautiful but that doesn't make a novel as dear to me if I can't understand what is occurring. It doesn't help that a lot of the action occurs off-stage so we simply have to trust Strether/the narrator and since Strether seems content to remain blissfully innocent, that doesn't help the reader understand any better.
I (obviously) liked the quote I included at the top of the review although I do think that it matters HOW you live your life, not just that you LIVED (you could consider living robbing banks but that's not the best way you could live methinks). This quote embodies the one theme of the novel I felt that I understood, one of regrets and finding one's sense of self renewed/changed in your midlife. That quote is addressed to Little Bilham who, though all the characters were complex and richly drawn, was my favorite because I actually understood his thoughts and motivations. I also found Miss Barrace wonderfully candid and between her and Maria Gostrey they helped fill in the reader/Strether. Granted they did so at their own pace, slowly unraveling the mystery surrounding Chad's relations with a mysterious woman. I also wish there had been more of a focus on the Parisian surroundings, most living seemed to occur inside, surrounded mostly by Americans. I can see that there must be some literary merit to this novel and since its James' favorite there really must be something to it, but it is not my favorite of his. So far that honor still rests with The American .
Another favorite quote: "'Why should she marry Chad?'
'Because I'm convinced she's very fond of him. She has done wonders for him' [Strether]
'Well then, how could she do more? Marrying a man, or a woman either,' Miss Barrace sagely went on, 'is never the wonder, for any Jack and Jill can bring that off. The wonder is their doing such things without marrying'" pg. 188
What happened in this novel? I DON'T KNOW. I grasped the gist of the issue as to why Chad had not returned to America but I fear that I missed out on other character's and their story lines. What's up with Waymarsh (was he friends with Strether)? What happened between Strether and Maria Gostrey? If the subplots confused me, the language absolutely bewildered me. If the sentences had run-on less and used fewer words/better synonyms i might have understood what was happening. As it were, the language of the novel might seem very beautiful but that doesn't make a novel as dear to me if I can't understand what is occurring. It doesn't help that a lot of the action occurs off-stage so we simply have to trust Strether/the narrator and since Strether seems content to remain blissfully innocent, that doesn't help the reader understand any better.
I (obviously) liked the quote I included at the top of the review although I do think that it matters HOW you live your life, not just that you LIVED (you could consider living robbing banks but that's not the best way you could live methinks). This quote embodies the one theme of the novel I felt that I understood, one of regrets and finding one's sense of self renewed/changed in your midlife. That quote is addressed to Little Bilham who, though all the characters were complex and richly drawn, was my favorite because I actually understood his thoughts and motivations. I also found Miss Barrace wonderfully candid and between her and Maria Gostrey they helped fill in the reader/Strether. Granted they did so at their own pace, slowly unraveling the mystery surrounding Chad's relations with a mysterious woman. I also wish there had been more of a focus on the Parisian surroundings, most living seemed to occur inside, surrounded mostly by Americans. I can see that there must be some literary merit to this novel and since its James' favorite there really must be something to it, but it is not my favorite of his. So far that honor still rests with The American .
Another favorite quote: "'Why should she marry Chad?'
'Because I'm convinced she's very fond of him. She has done wonders for him' [Strether]
'Well then, how could she do more? Marrying a man, or a woman either,' Miss Barrace sagely went on, 'is never the wonder, for any Jack and Jill can bring that off. The wonder is their doing such things without marrying'" pg. 188