Having finished the book, I agree that my first reaction was indeed too dark. Otherwise, the ending would not have been as it is. I won't comment on that as I don't want to take away from the experience of others.
I came away with the definite feeling that everyone in the book was peculiar in one way or another, with the exception of Maisie, but of course her desperate attempts to understand what was going on, and the treatment she received at the hands of those who should have taken most care of her, her parents, would be enough to warp any child.
I was also left feeling that what Henry James needed most was a good editor! Some of his sentences go on forever and are almost impossible to understand, even when I reread them. Here's one I noted, though earlier in the book, there were some that were even worse!
Quote:
|
(In reference to the apartment in the hotel) They offered the good lady herself, Maisie could immediately observe, not only that of this rather grand reference, which, already emulous, so far as it went, of her pupil, she made as if she had spent her life in salons; but that of a stiff French sofa where she could sit and stare at the faint French lamp, in default of the French clock that had stopped, as for some account of the time Sir Claude would markedly interpose. (Chapter 24)
|
Oh dear! Anyway, I'm glad I have read it, and I shall certainly read
The Golden Bowl sometime soon.