Elena's review
Washington Square
by Henry James
Elena's review
Washington Square by Henry James
Elena's review
rating:
recommended for: People who have sat through the 6-hour BBC version of Pride and Predudice more than once
Engrossed in this book after the first few chapters, I read further with slight irritation because I couldn't pin down why I was so into it. Even the Austinian precision with which James paints his characters should have been overshadowed by a heroine who was "plain, dull" and lacking in intelligence. But it wasn't. I read the introduction after fininshing the book, and I think this is why:
"James commends Balzac for the way he so obviously loves his characters, not for any virues they may possess, but jut as they are. His ability to empathize with all his characters enables him to present them as almost completely 'free' creatures. James's inability to do this in his earlier fiction is one of the faults he was most aware of, and it is one he begins to correct in Washington Square; so that the character of Dr Sloper, say, is far more difficult to judge...one might say that he learned from Balzac how to give his characters a little more moral and imaginative rein....more
"James commends Balzac for the way he so obviously loves his characters, not for any virues they may possess, but jut as they are. His ability to empathize with all his characters enables him to present them as almost completely 'free' creatures. James's inability to do this in his earlier fiction is one of the faults he was most aware of, and it is one he begins to correct in Washington Square; so that the character of Dr Sloper, say, is far more difficult to judge...one might say that he learned from Balzac how to give his characters a little more moral and imaginative rein....more