Difference between revisions of "Henry James"
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| + | ''It might be of great profit to me; and now that I am older, that I have more time, that the labor of writing is less onerous to me, and I can work more at my leisure, I ought to endeavor to keep, to a certain extent, a record of passing impressions, of all that comes, that goes, that I see, and feel, and observe. (The Notebooks of Henry James -NHJ- p. 23)'' | ||
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Revision as of 01:46, November 13, 2008
Henry James (New York, 1843 – London, 1916) was an American writer. His works included 20 novels, 112 short stories, 12 plays, and a number of literary criticism. His autobiography, A Small Boy And Others, appeared in 1913.
"The stories of James tend to be records of seeing rather than of doing. The characters are more like patients than agents; their business seems to be to register impressions; to receive illumination rather than to make up their minds and set about deeds. But this is a way of conceiving our human business by no means confined to these novels; is it not more or less characteristic of the whole period in which James wrote? One passes by insensible degrees from the world of Renan to that of Pater and Swinburne, and thence to that of Oscar Wilde and of writers yet living, in whom the cult of impressions has been carried to lengths yet more extreme." Peculiarity of the Henry James method.
It might be of great profit to me; and now that I am older, that I have more time, that the labor of writing is less onerous to me, and I can work more at my leisure, I ought to endeavor to keep, to a certain extent, a record of passing impressions, of all that comes, that goes, that I see, and feel, and observe. (The Notebooks of Henry James -NHJ- p. 23)