Liza's review
The Bostonians (Modern Library Classics) by Henry James
Liza's review
rating:
recommended for: Bostonians, funnies, spinsters, people who don't know what's good for them but wish they did
status: Read in December, 2007
rating:
recommended for: Bostonians, funnies, spinsters, people who don't know what's good for them but wish they did
status: Read in December, 2007
I read this book because I just moved to Boston and hoped it would give me a sense of atmosphere, which it did. I was not expecting it to be as hilarious as it was. Unfortunately the humor tones down a little bit after the first hundred pages. It starts out absolutely ruthless but then you get the sense he maybe relented a little, because after all he loves these Bostonians, doesn't he? And so do we. (Or if you don't, you might be heartless.) Anyway, as the humor starts to fade the book becomes completely gripping in a dramatic way, so it is a win-win. Have you ever had friends or maybe even people you don't like very much who, for some reason, enter your consciousness such that even their smallest gestures or off-handed comments seem extremely significant, even urgent, fraught with a kind of meaning that points way beyond themselves? That's how these characters are, I think. (Maybe all Henry James?) And I guess I could see how it could get tiresome for some people, but I disagree with...more
