Henry James died 109 years ago this week on 28 February 1916. He was an American-British author, regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language.
He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of renowned philosopher and psychologist William James, and diarist Alice James. He is best known for a number of novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, English people, and continental Europeans, including The Portrait of a Lady, The Ambassadors, and The Wings of the Dove.
His later works were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often made use of a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character’s psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his late works have been compared to Impressionist painting.
This documentary by Malcolm Hossick is not about his work but about his life and is useful to those fans of James’novels who are interested in how his life influenced the ideas and motivations in his work.
The post Ruth Leon recommends… Henry James – American Novelist appeared first on Slippedisc.
