Literary The Master by Colm Tóibín

[ccowie]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

The Wall Street Journal has a book club. It was just announced that Colm Tóibín will be hosting the next club. He's selected The Golden Bowl to read which is one of the books that James wrote after this time period covered by The Master. I thought the article was interesting because there are interview questions with Tóibín which reveal some further insights on his view of James and his writing style and longevity.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/colm-toi...lub-1427903917

Thanks Bookworm Girl. I've not read a lot of James, but I know which I'll read next.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by ccowie

Thanks Bookworm Girl. I've not read a lot of James, but I know which I'll read next.

It was an odd coincidence to come across this article this week, but I suppose the timing is because he has a new book being released in April.

[sun surfer]

I wish I'd written this a little earlier because I had a few wisps of thought that have now escaped me, but suffice to say I really enjoyed the book. I already was a fan of Henry James and so I really enjoyed getting to know more about him. Though I think too cute to be the title of the book, I couldn't help but think of this as "The Portrait of a Gentleman", especially in the parallel drawn between the, in the end, repressed desires of Isabel Archer and James himself, and also of their choices to remain in the status quo of the world they had created for themselves even if it left them somewhat unhappy or unfulfilled.

Tóibín did a great job of paying homage to James' style and overall I think it was excellently written. However, in researching a bit afterwards, I did discover that James wasn't quite as standoffish as he may have appeared in the book (though, it's only a matter of degrees really). For instance, I seem to recall James' relationship with the young sculptor Andersen seeming very hesitant, including James' longing that he seemingly never dares to openly discuss with Andersen. But in doing the bare minimum by reading Andersen's wikipedia page, that appears not to be the case. James apparently kept up a quite frank emotional written correspondence with Andersen, such as:

“The sense that I can’t help you, see you, talk to you, touch you, hold you close & long, or do anything to make you rest on my, & feel my deep participation – this torments me, dearest boy, makes my ache for you, & for myself; makes me gnash my teeth & groan at the bitterness of things. . . . This is the one thought that relieves me about you a little - & I wish you might fix your eyes on it for the idea, just, of the possibility. I am in town for a few weeks, but return to Rye April 1st, & sooner or later to have you there & do for you, to put my arm round you & make you lean on me as on a brother & a lover, & keep you on & on, slowly comforted or at least relieved of the bitterness of pain – this I try to imagine as thinkable, attainable, not wholly out of the question.’’

Though this letter was written in 1902, after the book's conclusion and after Andersen's brother's death, it was representative of the type of correspondence they regularly had. This leads me to believe that their relationship was at times loving, physical and gratifying, or at the very least openly discussed between the two, while the book makes it seem like it was (another) source of rather unfulfilled yearning and hidden desires on James' part.

Regardless, I still found the book...masterly.

[Bookworm_Girl]

As an aside, Dan Simmons has a new book, The Fifth Heart, set in the 1890s which pairs Henry James as the narrator with Sherlock Holmes. I really enjoyed his book Drood which was narrated by Wilkie Collins about his friend Charles Dickens.

Publication Date: March 24, 2015

In 1893, Sherlock Holmes and Henry James come to America together to solve the mystery of the 1885 death of Clover Adams, wife of the esteemed historian Henry Adams--member of the Adams family that has given the United States two Presidents. Clover's suicide appears to be more than it at first seemed; the suspected foul play may involve matters of national importance.

Holmes is currently on his Great Hiatus--his three-year absence after Reichenbach Falls during which time the people of London believe him to be deceased. Holmes has faked his own death because, through his powers of ratiocination, the great detective has come to the conclusion that he is a fictional character.

This leads to serious complications for James--for if his esteemed fellow investigator is merely a work of fiction, what does that make him? And what can the master storyteller do to fight against the sinister power -- possibly named Moriarty -- that may or may not be controlling them from the shadows?

[Bookpossum]

That sounds to be good fun, Bookworm_Girl!

Thanks for the interesting post, sun surfer, and the quote from James' letter to Andersen. I suppose in The Master, we saw only the beginning of the relationship between the two men. I can imagine that someone like James would need to proceed very cautiously in becoming involved with Andersen or anyone else - such dangerous ground in those days.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

As an aside, Dan Simmons has a new book, The Fifth Heart, set in the 1890s which pairs Henry James as the narrator with Sherlock Holmes. I really enjoyed his book Drood which was narrated by Wilkie Collins about his friend Charles Dickens.

Yes, I just purchased this a couple of days ago from Book Depository. It is currently a potential birthday present for my mother - as she really liked Drood. However, it may just end up being a purchase for me and I'll loan it to her.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

...Thanks for the interesting post, sun surfer, and the quote from James' letter to Andersen. I suppose in The Master, we saw only the beginning of the relationship between the two men. I can imagine that someone like James would need to proceed very cautiously in becoming involved with Andersen or anyone else - such dangerous ground in those days.

Definitely, but I still can't help but wonder if James could really go from as guarded as he was in The Master to as open as he was in that letter within the span of only a couple of years. Also, that letter was representative - there may have been similar letters from the time period the book was written in, though I haven't researched further so I'm not sure.

[fantasyfan]

Well, the Charles Williams novel took over quite unexpectedly! I haven't forgotten about Henry James though. I am still reading it and was fascinated by the "Guy Domville" episode. I knew the play had been a flop--and as drama probably deserved to be (though it reads well and you can download it free).

I didn't know that it probably made certain that James would devote himself to the novel afterwards. I ran across a very interesting blog about the novel, the play and Henry James: The Author as 'Master': Colm Toibin's Henry James

I think it makes very interesting reading. Here's the link:

http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2006/08/...ins-henry.html

[BelleZora]

Thanks for the link, fantasyfan. Interesting reading, indeed.

Several weeks ago, on the day that I finished The Master, I was in the desert town of Tecopa, California and had found wifi at the closed Community Center. So I sat on the steps in a wind storm balancing my computer on my knee, blinking sand away, while composing several paragraphs for this thread. Just as I was ready to hit 'post reply' it all disappeared. And that was the end of that.

But the book sent me down a happy path. Many years ago, during a period of infatuation with William James, I gave up on Henry James. But I am giving him another go. Although I wasn't greatly impressed with The Turn of the Screw, I am reading The Golden Bowl, thanks to Bookworm_girl's link to the Wall Street Journal's book club. A WSJ Facebook post clued me in to all that was going on in the first meeting of the Prince and Charlotte. I would have missed it, and that post provided the key for me to enjoy James. Every word mattered. I always feel slightly sad when reading outside the mystery genre, but suddenly clues abounded. This story is going somewhere interesting (plot! - or close enough) if only I pay close attention.

Now A Portrait of a Lady and The Ambassadors are near the top of my TBR.

Thanks to the literary book club, I now love Henry James references and found this blog post to be hilarious: How to Tell if You are in a Henry James Novel

[caleb72]

I finally finished this book last week (audiobook version).

I felt that the narrator was brilliant and brought out some of the aspects well - the ghost-like quality of James' memories, the quiet of his thoughts and ponderings, the distance he set himself from those around him etc..

The problem I had with the story was that it felt like a jumble of anecdotes that were not as cohesive as I would have liked. It wasn't that the interspersing of these back-stories themselves were the problem, it was more that I didn't understand what story was being told, punctuated by these memories. It left me feeling that the anecdotes themselves made up the story - and hence the lack of cohesion.

This may relate to the fact that I listened to an audiobook rather than read the story in text. Because of scheduling constraints, I found that I was only listening to the 12 hours of audio some 20-30 minutes each weekday. It became a rather lengthy experience through which I was reading other novels.

Regardless, I'm glad I experienced this novel as it's rekindled an interest in Henry James who was off my radar after I didn't particularly enjoy The Turn of the Screw.

[Synamon]

I haven't read enough of James' work to understand the frequent references to his stories, so I feel like I'm missing a lot and I'm going to bail on this.

[sun surfer]

BelleZora and caleb, I haven't read The Turn of the Screw yet but I'm glad you're looking past that one to other books of his. He liked the odd ghost story here and there but I'm not sure if those (even the most famous one, TotS) can match his more realistic fiction.

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Thanks to the literary book club, I now love Henry James references and found this blog post to be hilarious: How to Tell if You are in a Henry James Novel

That's great!

Originally Posted by caleb72

This may relate to the fact that I listened to an audiobook rather than read the story in text. Because of scheduling constraints, I found that I was only listening to the 12 hours of audio some 20-30 minutes each weekday. It became a rather lengthy experience through which I was reading other novels.

That's pretty much the way I normally listen to audiobooks. But I can read slowly too so I'm used to taking a while to get through a book.

[fantasyfan]

This is quite an intriguing novel—it is based on a real character and Tóibín makes extensive use of the letters, works, and biographies of Henry James but fictionalises the writer’s inner life, its motives, its guilt, its anguished introspective searching. Hence, it is an example of “faction”. The Henry James of this novel is certainly very much a creation of the author and while much may well be revelatory—it remains an imaginative excursion.

To build this portrait of the author, Tóibín concentrates on the relations James had with three women: his sister, Alice, a cousin, Minny Temple, and the author Constance Fenimore Woolson.

Alice is the first death actually seen by James and it clearly has a powerful emotional impact. It is worth noting that he isn’t particularly happy to have Alice there with him.

Minny Temple is a young woman with strong proto-feminist qualities and she is admired by both Henry James and his friend Oliver Wendall Holmes. However, her death drives a wedge between the friends. Holmes, for all practical purposes, accuses James of bearing some responsibility for her early death in this dialogue:

“Do you ever regret not taking her to Italy when she was ill?” he asked. “Gray says she asked you several times.”

“I don’t think ask is the word” Henry said. “She was very ill then. Gray is misinformed.”

“Gray says that she asked you and you did not offer to help her and that a winter in Rome might have saved her.”

“Nothing could have saved her,” Henry replied.

. . . “When she did not hear from you she turned her face to the wall.” . . . When finally she knew no one would help her she turned her face to the wall. She was very much alone then and she fixed on the idea. You were her cousin and could have travelled with her. You were free, in fact you were already in Rome. It would have cost you nothing...”


But the great central focus is the betrayal of Constance by James. She and he have forged a deep emotionally sustaining relationship. While he is in London she asks him to come to Venice to be with her—evidently she is suffering from depression. James refuses to come—evidently because he is afraid of any deepening of the relationship. Shortly thereafter she commits suicide.

Toibin describes the appalling reactions of Henry James to the death of this very close friend and we get a picture of a man barren of genuine emotion, perhaps because he is simply afraid of it.

Yet these three women provide a tremendous inspiration for his novels. He creates lives in alternate realities for them. He is able to configure his responses to these women only through the use of Art. Henry James becomes a Master of the novel but this is caused somehow by his failure as a person.

This is pretty much how I see the novel. To what extent the book reflects the actual man is moot. But it is intriguing.

Personally, the book prompted me to decide to sample the novels of Constance Fenimore Woolson. They are in the public domain and excellent digital copies which include the original illustrations are available right here in the ebook section of MobileRead.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/ebo...id=128&page=19

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

Personally, the book prompted me to decide to sample the novels of Constance Fenimore Woolson. They are in the public domain and excellent digital copies which include the original illustrations are available right here in the ebook section of MobileRead.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/ebo...id=128&page=19

That's not a bad idea. Wikipedia seems to indicate that the novella "For the Major" was well respected. That's probably a good start. I might put it on my TBR pile as well.

[Bookpossum]

Yes, good idea, and a great review, fantasyfan.