The Aspern Papers (Dover Thrift Editions)

by Henry James

book data

199 ratings, 3.63 average rating, 23 reviews (more data...)

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4		32%
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2		11%
1		2%

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published

August 20th 2001 (first published 1888) by Dover Publications

binding

Paperback, 112 pages

setting

Italy

isbn

0486419223 (isbn13: 9780486419220)

description

With a decaying Venetian villa as a backdrop, an anonymous narrator relates his obsessive quest for the personal documents of a deceased Romantic poet...more

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kabukigal rated it:

11/03/08

Read in October, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Corey rated it:

(review of isbn 0140620974)

04/17/07

Read in March, 2007

This my introduction to Henry James and, while the book was mildly enjoyable, I really didn't feel like I was being introduced to a great master of the English language. I just walked away feeling the slightly slimy feeling of the protagonist and without much closure. I can only assume James gets better as he gets more verbose since this slim volume was hardly anything to get excited about unless you wanted some lovely descriptions of Venice in which case it would be quite appropriate. His descr...more

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Ben rated it:

08/30/07

Read in August, 2007

Classic James: you climb a hundred unremarkable pages to watch a single painful, surprising scene unfold.

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Martine rated it:

(review of isbn 0140620974)

08/06/08

bookshelves: british, nineteenth-century, north-american, novellas, psychological-drama

Read in December, 1998

recommends it for: people who think they hate Henry James

'Hypocrisy, duplicity are my only chance. I'm sorry for it, but there's no baseness I wouldn't commit for Jeffrey Aspern's sake.'

So says the unnamed narrator of Henry James' The Aspern Papers, a literary scholar who is writing a book about the fictional poet Jeffrey Aspern (loosely based on either Keats or Browning, depending on whose theories you choose to believe). At the beginning of the novella, the narrator discovers that Juliana Bordereau, to whom the poet addressed some of his...more 'Hypocrisy, duplicity are my only chance. I'm sorry for it, but there's no baseness I wouldn't commit for Jeffrey Aspern's sake.'

So says the unnamed narrator of Henry James' The Aspern Papers, a literary scholar who is writing a book about the fictional poet Jeffrey Aspern (loosely based on either Keats or Browning, depending on whose theories you choose to believe). At the beginning of the novella, the narrator discovers that Juliana Bordereau, to whom the poet addressed some of his most beautiful love poems, is still alive, a very old lady who lives with a niece in a dilapidated house in Venice. Not unreasonably, he suspects Miss Bordereau of having mementoes (possibly even love letters from the poet), and since a colleague of his has already established that she won't part with them the regular way, he inveigles his way into her house as a lodger. And then he waits -- waits for an opportunity to get his hands on the papers, or to get hold of them some other way.

In many respects, The Aspern Papers is an ideal book for people who dislike James, or think they do. A product of his middle period, it doesn't feature the late-period characteristics with which so many people associate him: the stupendous subtlety, the ponderous tone and the endless sentences whose meaning is obscure even after rereading them. The Aspern Papers is neither ponderous nor obscure. It's a perfectly straightforward and easy-to-read story about hope and obsession and where they will lead us. As is often the case with James, it's also about people using each other, but exactly who is using whom here is unclear. Indeed, a case could be made for all three leads using each other, which adds a bitter dimension to the tale. And it's a pretty bitter story to begin with -- dark and cynical with a bit of well-handled tragedy thrown in for good measure.

Reading The Aspern Papers is an interesting experience. It's quite fascinating to follow the narrator's progress, seeing him plot, attempt to justify his actions, pity himself and check himself whenever he's aware that he is about to do something which may ruin his chances. He's a calculating monster, but in a way you want him to succeed, both because you feel he deserves something for his efforts and because he has to put up with two very difficult women to get at the papers. For Juliana and her niece are difficult. The former poet's mistress has turned into a cynical, sarcastic and avaricious old lady, and as for her niece, Miss Tina, well, she's a bit of a simpleton, albeit an interesting one (the narrator nastily describes her as 'a piece of middle-aged female helplessness'). So how should the narrator go about dealing with them? How should he manipulate them into giving him what he wants? Jeffrey Aspern never offered any advice on that, so the narrator is left to find out for himself. But of course the women have an agenda of their own, and it doesn't necessarily match his.

As a story about academic obsession, The Aspern Papers is a bit too detached to leave a lasting impression. However, as a story about cold ambition and ruthlessness -- about the corrupting influence of want and need -- it's very successful. It's an intense and suspenseful novella with a few short bursts of melodrama, some near-gothic moments and an impressive, well-written ending. If it's a tad light-weight by James' later standards, I daresay there will be readers who will consider that a good thing. I know I do. In my weaker moments. :-)...less

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10 comments

Robert rated it:

02/11/08

bookshelves: finished, owned-and-gave-away

Read in March, 2001

Henry James, The Aspern Papers (Laurel, 1888)

One of James' shortest novels, and one of his least-known, The Aspern Papers is a (supposedly based on a true) story about a young biographer of famed poet Jeffrey Aspern (based, depending on to whom you talk, on either Browning or Keats) who contrives to get his hands on the love letters Aspern wrote to a mistress by presenting himself at the now-ancient mistress' Italian villa and passing himself off as a wealthy traveller and author looking for l...more Henry James, The Aspern Papers (Laurel, 1888)

One of James' shortest novels, and one of his least-known, The Aspern Papers is a (supposedly based on a true) story about a young biographer of famed poet Jeffrey Aspern (based, depending on to whom you talk, on either Browning or Keats) who contrives to get his hands on the love letters Aspern wrote to a mistress by presenting himself at the now-ancient mistress' Italian villa and passing himself off as a wealthy traveller and author looking for lodging. The mistress lives with her spinster niece, whose age is never given (one assumes mid-forties, a few years older than the narrator), and the two are impoverished. Things go as planned until the narrator finds himself starting to like the niece a bit more than he bargained for.

The novel runs a bit over a hundred pages, which makes it an excellent introduction to James' extremely dry wit; it's much lighter-weight than the ponderous tomes he's known for. The prose here has an agility which is absent from works such as The Bostonians or The Wings of the Dove, but still manages to convey emotion quite well with only a few words and a gesture. The novel's last pages are a triumph of minimal writing, and probably deserve closer scrutiny than the works of James' that are normally assinged in English classes around the globe.

Oddly, the one major failing of this novel is that James abandons the minimalism every once in a while, and his characters go overboard with hysterical crying and the like so common to Victorian literature. In a book that's otherwise so controlled, these episodes-- never longer than a few sentences-- seem absurd more than anything; perfectly composed people suddenly collapse into tears as if shot with pepper spray, and then within the space of a paragraph are back to their cool, collected selves once again. These intrusions are minimal, and while they detract from the scenes in which they're placed, the novel overall is still a worthy one. If you've been turned off by James through exposure to one of those million-page drawing room comedies, you may want to give him another try with this. *** 1/2 ...less

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Sarah rated it:

12/03/08

This never gets old no matter how many times I read it. The original unreliable narrator, and any book with a character named "Miss Tita Bordereau" is just fine by me.

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Mo rated it:

(review of isbn 0192836161)

08/14/07

Read in January, 1996

Although I used to joke that this book and a few of the shorter novels constituted my "HJ training wheels" phase, this is not a collection to be taken lightly. I especially enjoy all of the Oxford World Classics versions of James, something to do with the way the paper feels and the font they use. I've got weird quirks like that, what can I say? Anyway, this quote from "The Middle Years" pretty much sums it up for me: "...the revelation of his own slowness had seemed to ...more

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Agnes rated it:

(review of isbn 0140620974)

10/16/08

Read in October, 2008

recommended to Agnes by: Liz Glasgow

This was a great little 80-page novella. I was a bit nervous because I quit "Daisy Miller" in disgust about halfway through back in high school and have not picked up a Henry James novel since, but the Venetian setting and intriguing plot did much to help this one. The main character, a literary scholar/critic, goes to Venice in the 1880s to find the still-living former lover of a well-known 1820s poet in order to try to get his hands on the old lady's letters and papers related to t...more

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Heidi rated it:

02/26/08

bookshelves: fiction, i-own

Read in September, 2003

Interesting story--not what I had expected at all. But it made a connection with me when I actually had good particpation in class. Not that I never spoke in my classes. But that my teacher asked if anyone had been to Venice (where the book is set) and I raised my hand. Surprisingly, I was the only one who had. And this professor loved to get me to talk whenever he could. He asked my opinion of the city. I gave my honest answer, thinking it wouldn't be quite what he was looking for: It's filthy....more

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Elizabeth rated it:

(review of isbn 0140620974)

05/12/07

bookshelves: haveread

Read in February, 2007

recommends it for: Agnes

Although not an "I can't put it down" book, this short read was a nice introduction to Henry James. I particularly liked the fact that it is loosely based on a true story (which I learned reading Falling Angels, by John Berendt). I would recommend it if you have hesitations about investing the time into one of his other books (since they are all so long). I've committed to starting Wing of the Dove because I now know that I enjoy his writing style and I think he will be even better ...more

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Rebecca rated it:

08/10/08

bookshelves: classics

Typical HJ tale of plotting 'n' manipulation. And revelation in action. *tells Ishiguro to take notes*
Tis about a scholar's obsession with a poet's relics and segregation from their meaning.

I appreciate the 'up yours' to academia. Imo, education's a deathly unison.

*concludes with rendition of 'Brick in the Wall* ;)

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3 comments

Werebot rated it:

10/06/08

Read in May, 2007

recommends it for: people who think James is dull and pretentious.

I loved this book. Loved it. It was dark and a bit creepy, and almost had a Patricia Highsmithesque suspense about it. I always thought James was a conceited dick, and part of me still thinks that, but when he's on, he's on. If you're thinking of reading The Turn of the Screw, read this instead. You'll thank me.

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J rated it:

(review of isbn 3829008937)

11/18/08

Read in November, 2008

so, i think i like henry james' style and story-telling ability, but his books never end satisfactorily enough for me. this was doubly the case with the aspern papers. and he got a little long-winded towards the end. not terrible, but i don't think i'll ever read it again.

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Michael rated it:

07/10/08

A great read. James matches his characters and locale, Venice, perfectly. There are 3 main characters and each one has unique desires and goals that intermesh and conflict on many levels. A little hint of Poe and gothic literature. Masterful writing and a suspenseful tale.

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Wally rated it:

06/04/07

At the end of the day, who cares what those damn papers were or were not? Apparently we do. H.J. takes literary scholars to task for over-weaning interest in the arcana of authors' lives - and he does so with the unforgettable intensity that only his prose can bestow.

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Lisa rated it:

04/27/08

Read in March, 2008

Who can ever get enough of Henry James? No one. And this novella is well worth your time. It's light and humorous. It takes place in Venice! We were just there, so that made this particular work of James's that much more interesting.

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HRT rated it:

11/10/08

bookshelves: unexciting-but-not-bad-classics

This is the only book by James I've ever been able to stand. All his other books are like fingernails down a blackboard to me because of his Victorian prissiness and his extremely indirect and faint-hearted prose.

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Melissa rated it:

01/28/08

bookshelves: fiction-lecture-08

Read in January, 2008

This little novel is a great example of an unreliable narrator. The style is pure, early James, but despite the lyrical prose it's a very quick and entertaining read.

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