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51st out of 289 books
—
364 voters
The Master
by
Colm Tóibín
Like Michael Cunningham in The Hours, Colm Tóibín captures the extraordinary mind and heart of a great writer. Beautiful and profoundly moving, The Master tells the story of a man born into one of America's first intellectual families who leaves his country in the late nineteenth century to live in Paris, Rome, Venice, and London among privileged artists and writers. In st...more
Paperback, 339 pages
Published
April 19th 2005
by Scribner
(first published March 14th 2003)
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24th out of 138 books
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80 voters
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Apr 17, 2011
K.D. Oliveros
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to K.D. by:
501 Must Read Books, Man Booker 2004, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006-2010)
The subtle third-person narrative of Tolm Coibin (born 1955) masterfully portrays Henry James (1843-1916) as person in this 2004 Booker-shortlisted novel, The Master. Covering a period of 5 years, 1895 to 1899, this includes his defeat at London Theatre when Guy Domville (1895) flopped, his self-seclusion in Rye East Sussex, flashback to his former life in America, before going back and ending the story in Rye.
I picked up this book because this is both a 501 and a 1001 and I have been postponin...more
I picked up this book because this is both a 501 and a 1001 and I have been postponin...more
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Colm Tóibín is a genius. In this novel, he explores the life and work of Henry James, spanning the period from 1895 to 1900. His characterization of James is so subtle and - dare I say? nuanced - that I was forced to keep on reading. Even though I don't particularly like Henry James or his work, by the time I finished this book, I was motivated to rethink my dislike.
If you're a James fan, this is probably a five-star book for you. For the rest of us, it's somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. It def...more
If you're a James fan, this is probably a five-star book for you. For the rest of us, it's somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. It def...more
If you'd like to get a feel for the personality and life of Henry James without struggling (g), try this book.
Colm Toibin, author of _The Master_, imitates Henry James' style as he tells this fictionalized biography of part of Henry James' life.
I found it thrilling to feel so close to Henry James who has always seemed so distant as a writer. It was interesting to learn, as I read Henry's inner thoughts, that he suffered from self-doubt . He was human after all.
It was also interesting to read how...more
Colm Toibin, author of _The Master_, imitates Henry James' style as he tells this fictionalized biography of part of Henry James' life.
I found it thrilling to feel so close to Henry James who has always seemed so distant as a writer. It was interesting to learn, as I read Henry's inner thoughts, that he suffered from self-doubt . He was human after all.
It was also interesting to read how...more
Having just finished this today, I'm left slightly bewildered. There's no question that this is a piece of historical fiction which does proud to the genre, and I entered its world expecting to be dazzled. But it soon became clear that the author has no intention of dazzling anyone(perhaps this would fall under 'humbug'?).
There is a certain delicacy to the tone that blunts the keenest of humiliations and fervid of passions. Perhaps Toibin has taken us too deep into his subject, where every line...more
There is a certain delicacy to the tone that blunts the keenest of humiliations and fervid of passions. Perhaps Toibin has taken us too deep into his subject, where every line...more
usually i get frustrated and bogged down when the pace of a book is as slow as this one, and when the plot isn't really the point. but i loved loved loved this book, and loved its carefully crafted, meditative prose style. i found myself reading much more slowly than i usually do and thinking more about what was being said, so for me it was more of an interactive experience than reading usually is, and i loved that. the sentence structure was more challenging than the books i guess i've been rea...more
Mar 29, 2008
Jeff
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
revisionist historians
Recommended to Jeff by:
andrea lynch
it's been a couple weeks since i finished _the master_, so i approach this review with both the benefit of critical distance and the burden of a poor memory for detail.
ostensibly a fictional account of the life and inner mental workings of henry james, _the master_ ironically succeeds in painting nuanced portraits of james's cohorts while treating james himself as little more than a caricature-montage of social withdrawal, repressed homosexuality and inadvertant emotional carelessness.
While one...more
ostensibly a fictional account of the life and inner mental workings of henry james, _the master_ ironically succeeds in painting nuanced portraits of james's cohorts while treating james himself as little more than a caricature-montage of social withdrawal, repressed homosexuality and inadvertant emotional carelessness.
While one...more
The Master tells about Henry James from the inside out and back. The insight into the author's psych is mesmerizing and daring. He also gives a picture of those times' society, with the rich who offered their palaces, parties and company to artists all over Europe, and the artists who stayed as guests for months.
Henry James has enjoyed this kind of hospitality but he has also treasured his solitude.
It's hinted more than once and in various ways that he was homosexual, but either he was a-sexed...more
Henry James has enjoyed this kind of hospitality but he has also treasured his solitude.
It's hinted more than once and in various ways that he was homosexual, but either he was a-sexed...more
A good one. Very nice. I'd recommend this book to people like my former roommate, who read the first page of "Wings of the Dove" and then threw it across the room while saying, "WTF is this shit?" That is to say, this is book for people to read who can't stand Henry James' style: the long sentences, etc. I am a James fan but I definitely concur that you totes have to be in the mood and that it's definitely a matter of taste. So yeah, I liked this book and looked forward to reading it. At times I...more
This is a slightly fictionalized account of the later years of novelist Henry James’ solitary life. He struggles to balances his social life and his desire for solitude. He represses his sexuality, never allowing anyone to become too close. He lives in the sea of regrets and guilt, blaming himself for the unhappiness of so many others. He’s never happy with all the choices he has made or the number of successes and failures he’s had. He grieves the loss of friends and family members. He avoids c...more
Now that I finished, I find it amazing that I nearly did not read this book. It was actually the trunk of my car awaiting return to the library, when I needed something to read while meeting a friend for lunch. I told her about the book, stating that I was having difficulty getting into it, but kept returning to it because the writing was so fine. I'm so glad I got hooked again and savored it over the course of a week. I learned a lot about Henry James, and am now inspired to read his own writin...more
I'm not a stranger to James but far from knowledgeable about his life and work, and I picked up this book in hopes of gaining a glimpse inside the man whose novels I have always found somewhat difficult. And Toíbín certainly provides that. Yet a glimpse into a mystery points to more mysteries, and one is left at the end of this novel with a conviction that no creative person - perhaps no person - can ever be really known.
There are many ways to read this novel, because there are so many ways Toíb...more
There are many ways to read this novel, because there are so many ways Toíb...more
Really liked Toibin's capturing of Henry James' life in novel form. Although the sections cover 1895-1899, the omnniscient narrator allows the reader to telescope through James' childhood in Boston and Newport, his journeys around Europe, settling into Lamb House in Rye, and his relationships with his parents, siblings, and friends like Constance Fenimore Woolston, Oliver Wendell Holmes and Hendrik Andersen. There is much ado about Freudian repression of desire and the incredible output of his w...more
Thoughtful and well considered novel about a short period in the life of Henry James the novelist. It is set in the late 1890s when James lived in Rye and is entirely told from the point of view of James and is placed in his interior life. James is not an author I have read; apart from The Turn of the Screw, but that didn't present any problems in reading and appreciating the book. The basic knowledge I had about his life and family was enough.
This novel moves slowly and is very descriptive,but...more
This novel moves slowly and is very descriptive,but...more
“Nuanced” is one of those great homological words. (“Polysyllabic” is the usual example – a word that describes itself.) When multiple blurbs for a book call it nuanced, you can bet it’ll feature more in the way of inner life and less in the way of plot. Of course, this can be good or bad depending on how skilled the writer is, how interesting the drill-downs are, and the extent to which the M.O. might otherwise be hackneyed or boilerplate. It’s like jazz standards. I’m not talking about the ivo...more
The title of Toibin’s novel refers to the 19th century American writer Henry James. The book amounts primarily to a static record of the life and mind of James. The most poignant aspects of the novel are the beautiful, probing psychological passages and other various asides that range throughout the narrative. James’ own work depicted high society and the distinctions of class, and similarly Toibin’s novel does not contain much action and suspense, relying heavily instead on the psychological in...more
This 2004 novel by Irish author Colm Tóibín is a fictionalized biography of Henry James. The time period is the late 1800’s and it reads like a who’s who in literature. Henry James, the author of The Turn of the Screw, The Wings of the Dove and many others was an American who lived his life in Paris, Rome, London and other less known places. Henry James spent some time in Ireland. He didn’t like it even though the James family was from Ireland before they immigrated to the U.S. After the failure...more
This book is about Henry James, an author we all know. I must admit however, I’ve read very few of Henry James novels. I enjoyed this novelization of a short period of his life, 1885-1999, one in which he reflects on the things he did and more importantly, the things he did not do in his personal life. The book is not so much about his published works but how they came into existence and how they were mined from places within himself that he didn’t freely share with many people. It seems though...more
An interesting contrast to David Lodge's Author Author which places the opening of James' play in the middle and ends with his death. Far more internal, and giving a different and darker portrait of the writer, this left one at the end feeling that James' reclusivity was more complex and less bitter than Lodge would have it. Toibin paints a picture of a man constantly holding back, keeping himself distant from relationships lest he should get hurt and suffering for this in the end, although not...more
This was a reread for me, and I'm so glad I did take time out to reread.
I've been a longtime fan of Henry James and I've read almost everything he ever published. Not quite everything, but almost. My favorites are The Golden Bowl, the novella, The Turn of the Screw, and the exquisite Portrait of a Lady. Henry James is the only man, other than Jose Saramago, who can grab my attention at the beginning of a sentence and hold it until he concludes that very same sentence several pages later.
Talented...more
I've been a longtime fan of Henry James and I've read almost everything he ever published. Not quite everything, but almost. My favorites are The Golden Bowl, the novella, The Turn of the Screw, and the exquisite Portrait of a Lady. Henry James is the only man, other than Jose Saramago, who can grab my attention at the beginning of a sentence and hold it until he concludes that very same sentence several pages later.
Talented...more
Toibin, Colm. THE MASTER. (2004). ****.
Winner of the L.A. Times Book Award, and short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, the author treats us to an examination of the life of Henry James from 1895-1899. Granted, I’m not a huge fan of James – especially the novels of his later period – but Mr Toibin manages to snare the reader, mostly focusing on James’s interaction with his friends. The novel starts out with the abysmal failure of James’s play, “Guy Domville.” At the end of the play, James was t...more
Winner of the L.A. Times Book Award, and short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, the author treats us to an examination of the life of Henry James from 1895-1899. Granted, I’m not a huge fan of James – especially the novels of his later period – but Mr Toibin manages to snare the reader, mostly focusing on James’s interaction with his friends. The novel starts out with the abysmal failure of James’s play, “Guy Domville.” At the end of the play, James was t...more
One of the best books I've read in years. Keep in mind, I have a special fetish for the idea of Henry James. Just as "white people love the idea of soccer," so I love to read Henry James--but can never entirely get through one of his tomes unless it's because I had a grad paper to write about it. Thus, I read Colm Toibin's homage to Henry James and his mastery of free indirect discourse, the slow exploration of interiority, and the transatlantic experience. Delicious, delicious prose. I could pr...more
Measured words and cadence describe the author's style...which in turn sets the tone for a wonderfully written portrait of Victorian-era author Henry James. Prolific American writer Henry James spent most of his life as part of the ex-pat monied class in Europe observing and writing about his friends and family. This fictionalized account of his life is masterful in evoking both the mind and the strict times of "Europeanized" Henry James. Tortured to convey appropriate behavior as dictated by er...more
"It would spoil my post-mortem expression which I have been practising for years." This is what James's sister says some time before her death, which he eventually attends: "He stayed by her body, knowing that lying peacefully in death was what she had craved to do. She looked beautiful and noble, and he believed, after all his earlier doubts, that if she could see herself as her body awaited cremation, she would feel a grim delight at what she had become." And on and on the book is filled with...more
The Genesis Seeds of Genius: Meditating on Henry James
Colm Toibin's fine novel THE MASTER is an act of art in and of itself. This is a well-researched biography of one of America's greatest novelists but it is also a novel, a great work of literature that sifts through all the extant data found in the copious letters between Henry James and his brother (the equally famous William James) and others of his family and acquaintances, other biographies, and the vast writings about this extraordinary...more
Colm Toibin's fine novel THE MASTER is an act of art in and of itself. This is a well-researched biography of one of America's greatest novelists but it is also a novel, a great work of literature that sifts through all the extant data found in the copious letters between Henry James and his brother (the equally famous William James) and others of his family and acquaintances, other biographies, and the vast writings about this extraordinary...more
One way to think of this is as Henry James biographical fan fiction done by number one fan/genius gay Irish novelist, because it really feels like a James novel, just less wordy and minus extraneous plot points. There is the presentment of a rich internal voice mediated by a highly mannered exterior life, epitomized by polite verbal exchanges that seem to a Mr. Tom Postmodern as so subtle that meaning is almost, but obviously not quite, elided.
However, and here's the genius, while initially the...more
However, and here's the genius, while initially the...more
This is a deeply poignant book. I liked how Toibin wove themes and characters from James' novels into the story of James' life, creating a portrait of a hyper-sensitive spirit who moves through life both starving for and terrified of intimate connection. The portrait of James' ambivalence about people and relationships is totally convincing and full of nuance.
The enigma of James' sexuality was handled in a subtle and nuanced way. It's a fantastic fictional evocation of "the closet" - a person s...more
The enigma of James' sexuality was handled in a subtle and nuanced way. It's a fantastic fictional evocation of "the closet" - a person s...more
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Incredibly moving, very beautiful, very sad. Kind of a terrifying thing for any writer to read because it's sort of a worst-case-scenario portrayal of the writer mentality - the desire for solitude, a sense of detachment from the world, a feeling that you're always observing rather than participating in experiences and storing them up to use in your work. A haughty old Baroness says to James at one point, while bitterly reminiscing about their youth, "We all liked you, and I suppose you liked us...more
This is a historical novel about the life of the writer Henry James.
On the one hand, I'm surprised by the level of critical success this book achieved. (It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and on several Top Ten Books lists for the year.) The pacing is slow - we're talking snail speed, here - and while there was dramatic tension within individual chapters and scenes, there is none whatever between chapters. If this were a debut novel, I wonder if it would ever even have found a publishe...more
On the one hand, I'm surprised by the level of critical success this book achieved. (It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and on several Top Ten Books lists for the year.) The pacing is slow - we're talking snail speed, here - and while there was dramatic tension within individual chapters and scenes, there is none whatever between chapters. If this were a debut novel, I wonder if it would ever even have found a publishe...more
The Master is the fictionalized biography of author Henry James. James was born of a wealthy Boston family, but lived much of his life in Europe. Throughout this book, James struggles in his relationships with both family and friends. He never completely loses his aloof standoffish behavior as well as the book hints of a struggle accepting or exploring his sexuality.
I have to say that I really struggled with this book. As I read over other people's reviews and I kept thinking - Is that the same...more
I have to say that I really struggled with this book. As I read over other people's reviews and I kept thinking - Is that the same...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21st Century Lite...: The Master - Chapters 1-7 (no spoilers) | 22 | 42 | Jan 22, 2013 04:06pm | |
| 21st Century Lite...: The Master - Chapters 8-11 | 14 | 25 | Jan 16, 2013 01:56pm | |
| 21st Century Lite...: The Master - Conclusion | 1 | 8 | Jan 03, 2013 06:59am | |
| 21st Century Lite...: The Master General Discussion - No Spoilers | 1 | 21 | Dec 28, 2012 07:26pm | |
| perfect for a book club, one of the best novels I've read | 7 | 44 | Dec 28, 2012 01:10pm | |
| 21st Century Lite...: Announcement: January 2013 Moderator Pick has been chosen! | 6 | 69 | Dec 02, 2012 01:35pm |
(From the authors website - http://www.colmtoibin.com/content/bio... )
"Colm Toibin was born in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford in 1955. He studied at University College Dublin and lived in Barcelona between 1975 and 1978. Out of his experience in Barcelona be produced two books, the novel ‘The South’ (shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and winner of the Irish Times/ Aer Lingus First Fiction...more
More about Colm Tóibín...
"Colm Toibin was born in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford in 1955. He studied at University College Dublin and lived in Barcelona between 1975 and 1978. Out of his experience in Barcelona be produced two books, the novel ‘The South’ (shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and winner of the Irish Times/ Aer Lingus First Fiction...more
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“For the first time in years, he felt the deep sadness of exile, knowing that he was alone here, an outsider, and too alert to the ironies, the niceties, the manners, and indeed, the morals to be able to participate.”
—
2 people liked it
“It is terrible to be an unprotected being.”
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2 people liked it
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