Details

The Life of Henry James


The Life of Henry James

A Critical Biography
Wiley Blackwell Critical Biographies 1. Aufl.

von: Peter Collister

43,99 €

Verlag: Wiley-Blackwell
Format: EPUB
Veröffentl.: 27.03.2023
ISBN/EAN: 9781119483090
Sprache: englisch
Anzahl Seiten: 480

DRM-geschütztes eBook, Sie benötigen z.B. Adobe Digital Editions und eine Adobe ID zum Lesen.

Beschreibungen

<p><b>Discover anew the life and influence of Henry James, part of the acclaimed <i>Wiley Blackwell Critical Biographies </i>series.</b></p> <p>In <i>The Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography</i>, Peter Collister, an established critic and authority on Henry James, offers an original and fully documented account of one of America’s finest writers, who was both a creative practitioner and theorist of the novel. In this volume, James’s life in all its personal and cultural richness is examined alongside a detailed scrutiny of his fiction, essays, biographies, autobiographies, travel writing, plays and reviews.  </p> <p>James was a dedicated and brilliant letter-writer and his biographer make judicious use of this material, some of it previously unpublished, evoking in the novelist’s own words the society within which he moved and worked. His gift for friendship, often resulting in close relationships with both men and women, are sensitively explored. Near the beginning of his long and highly productive life, James left America to immerse himself in European culture and history – a necessity, he felt, for the developing artist. In an ironic symmetry he witnessed in his youth the effects of the American Civil War and in his last days, finally becoming a British citizen, despaired at the unfolding tragedy of the Great War in Europe. Sustained, nevertheless, by his own creative energy, he never ceased to believe in the capacity of the arts to enhance and give significance to life.     </p> <ul> <li>Provides well-informed accounts of Henry James’s youth in New York City, his unconventional education, his extensive travel in Europe, his eventual assimilation into British society, his development as a writer and his personal relationships as a single man. </li> <li>Features discussions of James’s major works in a variety of genres from an assured theoretical and historical perspective.</li> <li>Assesses James’s developing quest for dramatic form in his fiction – the ‘scenic art’ – as well as his critical writing which was to have a lasting influence on the literature and aesthetic values of the twentieth century.</li> <li>Discusses his achieved aspiration to be ‘just literary’, to become what he called that ‘queer monster’, an artist.</li> <li>Charts James’s lifelong interest in art and theatre.</li> </ul> <p>An incisive discussion of the life of an author of major stature, <i>The Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography</i> offers a refreshingly lucid and human account of a novelist and his often challenging, but rewarding, writing. </p> <p>Peter Collister, a former college Assistant Principal, has published many essays in Europe and America on a range of nineteenth-century British and French authors. He is the author of <i>Writing the Self: Henry James and America </i>and later edited for the university presses of Cambridge and Virginia the award-winning volumes: <i>The Complete Writings of Henry James on Art and Drama, </i>James's autobiographical writings, <i>A Small Boy and Others, Notes of a Son and Brother, </i>and <i>The Middle Years</i>, as well as <i>The American Scene</i>. </p>
<p>Acknowledgments ix</p> <p>Note on the text xi</p> <p>Abbreviations xii</p> <p>Prelude: James and Biography xiv</p> <p><b>Part I The Early Years 1</b></p> <p>1 ‘Wondering and Dawdling and Gaping’ in New York City (1843 –1855) 3</p> <p>2 Europe and Newport: In Search of a ‘Sensuous Education’ (1855 –1861) 26</p> <p>3 Civil War and ‘a Consecration to Letters’ (1861–1869) 49</p> <p><b>Part II Independence and Europe 71</b></p> <p>4 Italy and the ‘Complex Fate’ of Being an American (1869 –1872) 73</p> <p>5 Return to Italy and ‘an Incalculable Number of Gathered Impressions’ (1872 –1873) 93</p> <p>6 Rome and Paris: Roderick Hudson: An Experiment in Journalism (1873 –1876) 110</p> <p>7 ‘The Wheel of London Life’ and Early Novels (1876 –1879) 134</p> <p>8 Friendships Begin and End: The Achievement of The Portrait of a Lady (1879–1881) 156</p> <p><b>Part III The Lure of the Theatre 181</b></p> <p>9 Family Deaths: New Friendships in Europe (1881–1884) 183</p> <p>10 A Range of Novels: Robert Louis Stevenson and Constance Fenimore Woolson (1885–1887) 209</p> <p>11 ‘The Sawdust & Orange-peel Phase’ Begins: The Tragic Muse (1887–1891) 229</p> <p>12 Deaths and Losses: Theatrical Ventures (1891 –1895) 248</p> <p><b>Part IV The Later Years 269</b></p> <p>13 Return to ‘The Sacred Fluid of Fiction’ (1895 –1899) 271</p> <p>14 A Roman Encounter: ‘Letting Yourself Go’ (1899 –1902) 297</p> <p>15 ‘Dearly Beloved’ Young Men: The Final Novels (1902 –1904) 323</p> <p>16 The ‘Agreeable and Absorbing Adventure’ of America: The New York Edition and Last Stories (1904 –1909) 343</p> <p>17 Loss of William, ‘So Shining a Presence’: Autobiographical Writing: The Great War and Death (1909 –1916) 369<br /><br /> Letter Details 395<br /><br /> Notes 421<br /><br /> Bibliography 435<br /><br /> Index 447</p>
<p><B>PETER COLLISTER, </B>a former college Assistant Principal, has published many essays in Europe and America on a range of nineteenth-century British and French authors. He is the author of <i>Writing the Self: Henry James and America </i>and later edited for the university presses of Cambridge and Virginia the award-winning volumes, <i>The Complete Writings of Henry James on Art and Drama</i>, James’s autobiographical writings, <i>A Small Boy and Others, Notes of a Son and Brother, </i>and <i>The Middle Years</i>, as well as <i>The American Scene</i>.
<p><B>BLACKWELL CRITICAL BIOGRAPHIES</B> <p><i>The Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography </i>offers an original and fully documented account of one of America’s finest writers who was both a creative practitioner and theorist of the novel. In this volume, James’s life in all its personal and cultural richness is examined alongside a detailed scrutiny of his fiction, essays, biographies, autobiographies, travel writing, plays, and reviews. <p>James was a prolific and brilliant correspondent and his biographer combs his letters, some of them previously unpublished, to capture the society in which he played a part. He began life in New York City, receiving a random education as the family moved between America and Europe before he finally settled as an adult in England. James felt this to be a necessary move for a developing artist, that “queer monster”, as he said, and he was quickly assimilated into British society. <i>The Life of Henry James </i>examines with sensitivity the author’s close relationships with both men and women, whilst also discussing his literary achievement across a range of genres. His fiction was to master the “scenic art” and his critical writing helped shape the literary and aesthetic values of the twentieth century. To his last days he continued to believe in the capacity of the arts to enhance and give significance to life. <p>An incisive discussion of the life of an author of major stature, <i>The Life of Henry James: A Critical Biography </i>offers a refreshingly lucid and human account of a novelist and his often challenging but rewarding writing.

Diese Produkte könnten Sie auch interessieren:

The Handbook of Hispanic Linguistics
The Handbook of Hispanic Linguistics
von: José Ignacio Hualde, Antxon Olarrea, Erin O'Rourke
PDF ebook
46,99 €
A Companion to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies
A Companion to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies
von: George E. Haggerty, Molly McGarry
PDF ebook
38,99 €