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Joy H.'s Reviews > The Wings of the Dove
The Wings of the Dove
by Henry James, Amy Bloom , Pierre A. Walker
by Henry James, Amy Bloom , Pierre A. Walker
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James (first published in 1901 or 1902)
Added 5/5/11
I did not read this book. I watched the film only.
I posted the following at my group on 4/16/09:
*****************************************
I finally finished watching my Netflix DVD, "Wings of the Dove" (1997).
NETFLIX DESCRIPTION: http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The...
Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Elizabeth McGovern, Charlotte Rampling, Linus Roache, Michael Gambon, Alison Elliott, Alex Jennings
See who's who in the cast here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120520/
THE PLOT:
Kate devises a plan in which her lover, Merton, should marry dying Millie for her money. Then, upon Millie's death, when he would be rich, he could marry Kate.
IMDb description:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"An impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is attracted to her own lover and is dying, she sees a chance to have both the privileged life she cannot give up and the lover she cannot live without."
FROM: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120520/
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Below is Leonard Maltin's review:
==============================================
"Exquisite but emotionally uneven film (from the Henry James novel) about a young woman [Kate] torn between her love for a working man [Merton] and her desire for wealth and position... complicated by her growing friendship with a rich, guileless American woman [Millie]. Sophisticated and intelligent, but the characters' vacillations and ambiguous feelings make it difficult to empathize with anyone. Venice has never been portrayed so beautifully, or romantically."
===============================================
I enjoyed the scenes of Venice; they were gorgeous. I feel as if I've been there.
As for book itself, I haven't read it (_The Wings of the Dove_). Goodreads reviewer, Ann Hopper says: "This is one of the most difficult books I’ve ever read...".
I'm not sure I want to tackle it.
In his review, Roger Ebert compares the book to the film.
I found what he says interesting. He says:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kate Croy, whose desire fuels the story, was more selfish and evil in the James version [the book]; the film softens her into someone whose actions can almost be defended as pragmatism... [the:] ... film emphasizes Kate's desperation and downplays her cold calculation. It softens the villainy of Merton by making it clear how desperately Millie does want to be involved in a romance with him; is he simply granting her dying wish?
"There is another fugitive strand of affection in the film that I did not sense in the book: Millie and Kate genuinely like each other, and it's almost as if they strike an unexpressed bargain, in which Kate lets Millie have the use of Merton--lets her find what she came to Europe for. The money is crucial, of course, but too vulgar to be discussed.
"The film is acted with great tenderness. If the three central characters had been more forthright, more hedonistic, we wouldn't care nearly as much. But all three have a certain tact, a certain sympathy for the needs of the others."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I agree with Ebert and find his observations brilliant. See Ebert's review at:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/p...
Wiki says: "The Wings of the Dove" is a 1902 novel by Henry James. One of the masterpieces of James' final period, this novel tells the story of Milly Theale, an American heiress stricken with a serious disease, and her impact on the people around her. ... There's no question that Milly is based on Minny Temple (1845-1870), James' beloved cousin who died from tuberculosis."
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wing...
PS-The title "Wings of the Dove" refers to the 55th Psalm:
"Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then I would flee away and be at rest."
The character, Merton, expresses this thought near the end of the film.
*****************************************
The original copy of the above post is at:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/9...
See Message #153.
See the Wiki page for this book at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wing...
Added 5/5/11
I did not read this book. I watched the film only.
I posted the following at my group on 4/16/09:
*****************************************
I finally finished watching my Netflix DVD, "Wings of the Dove" (1997).
NETFLIX DESCRIPTION: http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The...
Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Elizabeth McGovern, Charlotte Rampling, Linus Roache, Michael Gambon, Alison Elliott, Alex Jennings
See who's who in the cast here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120520/
THE PLOT:
Kate devises a plan in which her lover, Merton, should marry dying Millie for her money. Then, upon Millie's death, when he would be rich, he could marry Kate.
IMDb description:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"An impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is attracted to her own lover and is dying, she sees a chance to have both the privileged life she cannot give up and the lover she cannot live without."
FROM: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120520/
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Below is Leonard Maltin's review:
==============================================
"Exquisite but emotionally uneven film (from the Henry James novel) about a young woman [Kate] torn between her love for a working man [Merton] and her desire for wealth and position... complicated by her growing friendship with a rich, guileless American woman [Millie]. Sophisticated and intelligent, but the characters' vacillations and ambiguous feelings make it difficult to empathize with anyone. Venice has never been portrayed so beautifully, or romantically."
===============================================
I enjoyed the scenes of Venice; they were gorgeous. I feel as if I've been there.
As for book itself, I haven't read it (_The Wings of the Dove_). Goodreads reviewer, Ann Hopper says: "This is one of the most difficult books I’ve ever read...".
I'm not sure I want to tackle it.
In his review, Roger Ebert compares the book to the film.
I found what he says interesting. He says:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kate Croy, whose desire fuels the story, was more selfish and evil in the James version [the book]; the film softens her into someone whose actions can almost be defended as pragmatism... [the:] ... film emphasizes Kate's desperation and downplays her cold calculation. It softens the villainy of Merton by making it clear how desperately Millie does want to be involved in a romance with him; is he simply granting her dying wish?
"There is another fugitive strand of affection in the film that I did not sense in the book: Millie and Kate genuinely like each other, and it's almost as if they strike an unexpressed bargain, in which Kate lets Millie have the use of Merton--lets her find what she came to Europe for. The money is crucial, of course, but too vulgar to be discussed.
"The film is acted with great tenderness. If the three central characters had been more forthright, more hedonistic, we wouldn't care nearly as much. But all three have a certain tact, a certain sympathy for the needs of the others."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I agree with Ebert and find his observations brilliant. See Ebert's review at:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/p...
Wiki says: "The Wings of the Dove" is a 1902 novel by Henry James. One of the masterpieces of James' final period, this novel tells the story of Milly Theale, an American heiress stricken with a serious disease, and her impact on the people around her. ... There's no question that Milly is based on Minny Temple (1845-1870), James' beloved cousin who died from tuberculosis."
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wing...
PS-The title "Wings of the Dove" refers to the 55th Psalm:
"Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then I would flee away and be at rest."
The character, Merton, expresses this thought near the end of the film.
*****************************************
The original copy of the above post is at:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/9...
See Message #153.
See the Wiki page for this book at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wing...
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