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Title: Maxnotes the Portrait of a Lady (MAXnotes) by Henry James, Kevin T. Kelly ISBN: 0-87891-040-9 Publisher: Research & Education Association Pub. Date: 01 April, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (53 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Modern Storytelling at its best
Comment: The best thing about 19th century novels is that they take so long to unwind, you know that you are guaranteed a long and satisfying trip into a story. I initially bought this book after seeing the Jane Campion film, (which I actually wasn't too crazy about)but I always think it's a good idea to read the source material. After a few false starts (warning: one needs to devote all their attention to James in order to enjoy him)I finally got into this book, and couldn't put it down. From the great settings of the novel, to the variety of fascinating characters (the liberated Henrietta Stackpole, the sinister Madame Merle, the beloved Ralph Touchett, Ralph's eccentric mother, the flighty Countess Gemini, the deadly Gilbert Osmond, and of course, Isabel Archer herself... James gives characters great names as well) "Portrait" is a great novel not only of self discovery, but self deception. How many of us in this world have liked to have thought ourselevs as free to make our own chocies, and were excited by a future full of "possibility" only to allow something (or usually someone) to get in our way and make us realize just how quickly we can lose our freedom and be in a cage that we need to get out of. (Pardon my bad grammar.) Those of you looking fora Jane Austen type ending, this may not be the book for you, but I think this book is more of a spiritual cousin to Austen than we may think. It all comes down to making choices, and teh effects of those decisions. Throw off any reservations that you may have because this book was written over a century ago, it's as fresh, funny, tragic and riveting today as it was then. (And hey, buy the film soundtrack which perfectly captures the mood of the story for accompaniment..that was a plug!)
Rating: 5
Summary: Magnificent Book
Comment: The novel Portrait of a Lady is a beautiful. It starts out with a girl named Isabel Archer who goes with her Aunt Touchett to England. Isabel is portrayed beautifully by James in the novel as a curious, independent, intelligent lady. She arrives in isolated Gardencourt where she meets her uncle and her cousin, Ralph Touchett. Soon, she is proposed to by Lord Warburten portrayed as a polite, wealthy, radical gentleman but rejects him because her curiousity expects another, better suiter. Caspar Goodward, her other lover, fallows her to England and is determined to marry her. The two men come in even further in the novel when intrigue and scandel take place. Isabel travels all through Europe but is eventually entrapped and decieved. Drama and intrigue take the stage then. By that time it may sound like some domb soup opera, but really he refines the situations and makes them realistic but still dramatic unlike most stupid soaps. Some parts may seem long and dull because he explains himself so explicitly with huge paragraphs about one subject but it's worth it when your finished. The characters are done superbly with wonderful description. There is much irony, too, but if you immiedietly think irony is funny like some people its not in this novel. Its as a whole a serious novel. The ending is very well done if you think about it. Though,it may seem odd it is as a whole witty and crafty.
Rating: 5
Summary: Top 100 novel
Comment: This novel is certainly in the top 100 ever written. James explores the nuances of thought and emotion in a way that no other writer before or since has mastered. A charming plot, that of young Isabel Archer, an American heiress, off to seek her destiny in Europe, and the romances and troules that befall her. You have to read this book to understand the depth of understanding this writer is able to reach.
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Title: The Wings of the Dove (Penguin Classics) by Henry James ISBN: 0140432639 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1986 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: The House of Mirth (Signet Classics (Paperback)) by Edith Wharton ISBN: 0451527569 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: The Ambassadors (Penguin Classics) by Henry James, Harry Levin ISBN: 0140432337 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 1987 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: The Golden Bowl (Penguin English Library) by Henry James ISBN: 0140432353 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1985 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: My Antonia by Willa Cather ISBN: 039575514X Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 21 September, 1995 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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