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The Pupil
The Pupil is a short story by Henry James, first published in Longman's Magazine in 1891. It is the emotional story of a precocious young boy growing up in a mendacious and dishonorable family. He befriends his tutor, who is the only adult in his life that he can trust.
Excerpt:
The poor young man hesitated and procrastinated: it cost him such an effort to broach the subject of terms, to speak of money to a person who spoke only of feelings and, as it were, of the aristocracy. Yet he was unwilling to take leave, treating his engagement as settled, without some more conventional glance in that direction than he could find an opening for in the manner of the large affable lady who sat there drawing a pair of soiled gants de Suede through a fat jeweled hand and, at once pressing and gliding, repeated over and over everything but the thing he would have liked to hear. He would have liked to hear the figure of his salary; but just as he was nervously about to sound that note the little boy came back - the little boy Mrs. Moreen had sent out of the room to fetch her fan. He came back without the fan, only with the casual observation that he couldn't find it. As he dropped this cynical confession he looked straight and hard at the candidate for the honour of taking his education in hand. This personage reflected somewhat grimly that the thing he should have to teach his little charge would be to appear to address himself to his mother when he spoke to her - especially not to make her such an improper answer as that.
Excerpt:
The poor young man hesitated and procrastinated: it cost him such an effort to broach the subject of terms, to speak of money to a person who spoke only of feelings and, as it were, of the aristocracy. Yet he was unwilling to take leave, treating his engagement as settled, without some more conventional glance in that direction than he could find an opening for in the manner of the large affable lady who sat there drawing a pair of soiled gants de Suede through a fat jeweled hand and, at once pressing and gliding, repeated over and over everything but the thing he would have liked to hear. He would have liked to hear the figure of his salary; but just as he was nervously about to sound that note the little boy came back - the little boy Mrs. Moreen had sent out of the room to fetch her fan. He came back without the fan, only with the casual observation that he couldn't find it. As he dropped this cynical confession he looked straight and hard at the candidate for the honour of taking his education in hand. This personage reflected somewhat grimly that the thing he should have to teach his little charge would be to appear to address himself to his mother when he spoke to her - especially not to make her such an improper answer as that.
72 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1891
26 people are currently reading
395 people want to read
About the author
Henry James
4,556 books3,940 followersHenry James was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.
He is best known for his novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, the English, and continental Europeans, such as The Portrait of a Lady. His later works, such as The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character's psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his late works have been compared to Impressionist painting.
His novella The Turn of the Screw has garnered a reputation as the most analysed and ambiguous ghost story in the English language and remains his most widely adapted work in other media. He wrote other highly regarded ghost stories, such as "The Jolly Corner".
James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, James largely relocated to Europe as a young man, and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, a year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916. Jorge Luis Borges said "I have visited some literatures of East and West; I have compiled an encyclopedic compendium of fantastic literature; I have translated Kafka, Melville, and Bloy; I know of no stranger work than that of Henry James."
He is best known for his novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, the English, and continental Europeans, such as The Portrait of a Lady. His later works, such as The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character's psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his late works have been compared to Impressionist painting.
His novella The Turn of the Screw has garnered a reputation as the most analysed and ambiguous ghost story in the English language and remains his most widely adapted work in other media. He wrote other highly regarded ghost stories, such as "The Jolly Corner".
James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, James largely relocated to Europe as a young man, and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, a year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916. Jorge Luis Borges said "I have visited some literatures of East and West; I have compiled an encyclopedic compendium of fantastic literature; I have translated Kafka, Melville, and Bloy; I know of no stranger work than that of Henry James."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
January 22, 2023
2023/10
Is there anything better than reading a story by Henry James? Yes, reading TWO stories by Henry James in a row. I know, don't judge me, please.
Since my previous experience with the author was not really successful, I wasn't happy; therefore, I decided to pick up The Pupil, a short story—novella, perhaps—about a young boy and his tutor whose relationship is depicted as a pure, and true friendship that goes on and becomes stronger throughout some years, until the moment we get a bittersweet, yet memorable ending. Morgan, the pupil, is neglected by his parents, who are more concerned about his sisters and brother's lives, so Pemberton, the new tutor, will become friends with him and together will be inseparable, perhaps one of the truest friendships I have seen in a book written by James.
Also, as I read his autobiography called A Small Boy and Others last year, I was able to identify some of his personal anecdotes in this story, for instance, when being a child he had to move and live in Europe, especially in Italy and France; finding these facts in The Pupil made my reading experience even better because I love when a writer vividly connects his life with the piece of literature he is portraying.
Overall, I feel like Henry James definitely pulled it off here, it was much better than The Figure in the Carpet in terms of my enjoyment if you ask me; in short, I'd highly recommend giving it a try.
My rating on a scale of 1 to 5:
Quality of writing [4/5]
Pace [4/5]
Plot development [4/5]
Characters [4/5]
Enjoyability [4.5/5]
Insightfulness [4/5]
Easy of reading [3.5/5]
Photos/Illustrations [N/A]
Total [28/7] = 4
Is there anything better than reading a story by Henry James? Yes, reading TWO stories by Henry James in a row. I know, don't judge me, please.
Since my previous experience with the author was not really successful, I wasn't happy; therefore, I decided to pick up The Pupil, a short story—novella, perhaps—about a young boy and his tutor whose relationship is depicted as a pure, and true friendship that goes on and becomes stronger throughout some years, until the moment we get a bittersweet, yet memorable ending. Morgan, the pupil, is neglected by his parents, who are more concerned about his sisters and brother's lives, so Pemberton, the new tutor, will become friends with him and together will be inseparable, perhaps one of the truest friendships I have seen in a book written by James.
Also, as I read his autobiography called A Small Boy and Others last year, I was able to identify some of his personal anecdotes in this story, for instance, when being a child he had to move and live in Europe, especially in Italy and France; finding these facts in The Pupil made my reading experience even better because I love when a writer vividly connects his life with the piece of literature he is portraying.
Overall, I feel like Henry James definitely pulled it off here, it was much better than The Figure in the Carpet in terms of my enjoyment if you ask me; in short, I'd highly recommend giving it a try.
My rating on a scale of 1 to 5:
Quality of writing [4/5]
Pace [4/5]
Plot development [4/5]
Characters [4/5]
Enjoyability [4.5/5]
Insightfulness [4/5]
Easy of reading [3.5/5]
Photos/Illustrations [N/A]
Total [28/7] = 4
September 24, 2019
I'm not sure what to make of this novella by Henry James. I'm trying so hard to get on with his writing but I just don't think it's for me. I enjoyed 'Washington Square' and that was about it, others I have tried and given up early on because his style of writing is just a drag.. Maybe I'm not intellectual enough for his work, but either way I don't find much pleasure in reading his stuff - sorry.
December 9, 2025
Mesmo hoje, decorrido um considerável período de tempo, as recordações que Pemberton guarda dos excêntricos Moreen subsiste ainda em algo fantasmagórico, como os reflexos de um prisma ou um romance em folhetins. Se não fossem algumas recordações tangíveis (…), todo o episódio e as figuras que o povoaram pareceriam a Pemberton demasiado incongruentes para pertencerem a algo mais do que um sonho. O mais estranho naquela família era o seu sucesso – tal como se lhe afigurara na altura, e durante um breve período – pois ele nunca vira uma família tão brilhantemente equipada para o fracasso. Não foi um sucesso o facto de o terem conseguido reter durante um período tão odiosamente longo?
Com “O Pupilo”, Henry James continua a explorar o tema dos americanos em terras europeias, desta vez com uma família encantadoramente peculiar que contrata um pobre preceptor para dar aulas a Morgan, um menino frágil mas genial e atencioso, que cativa Pemberton de tal forma, que ele acaba por se sujeitar a trabalhar de graça. Deslocando-se entre França e Itália, em palacetes e hotéis de luxo, a família Moreen vive de charme e aparências na tentativa de arranjar bons casamentos para os filhos, deixando atrás de si um rasto de dívidas e vigarices.
Conseguiam imitar veneziano e cantar em napolitano, e quando queriam dizer algo de particularmente pessoal comunicavam entre si num engenhoso dialecto por eles inventado, uma flexível linguagem cifrada que Pemberton tomou inicialmente por uma espécie de patuá das suas regiões de origem. (…)
- É a língua da família: o ultramoreen – explicou Morgan num tom de chalaça.
Com “O Pupilo”, Henry James continua a explorar o tema dos americanos em terras europeias, desta vez com uma família encantadoramente peculiar que contrata um pobre preceptor para dar aulas a Morgan, um menino frágil mas genial e atencioso, que cativa Pemberton de tal forma, que ele acaba por se sujeitar a trabalhar de graça. Deslocando-se entre França e Itália, em palacetes e hotéis de luxo, a família Moreen vive de charme e aparências na tentativa de arranjar bons casamentos para os filhos, deixando atrás de si um rasto de dívidas e vigarices.
Conseguiam imitar veneziano e cantar em napolitano, e quando queriam dizer algo de particularmente pessoal comunicavam entre si num engenhoso dialecto por eles inventado, uma flexível linguagem cifrada que Pemberton tomou inicialmente por uma espécie de patuá das suas regiões de origem. (…)
- É a língua da família: o ultramoreen – explicou Morgan num tom de chalaça.
March 10, 2022
If this hadn't been a relatively short story, I would have given up. All of the characters were unlikeable.
September 29, 2021
people call it one of the best short stories of all time, or so i hear. not bad tbh i got everything i wanted out of it
but i just know there are people who get way too into the homosexual undertones to this story that really aren’t there. and by they really aren’t there i don’t mean it in like a gatsby-nick situation (where there is obvious tension and killackey is just scared to admit it) but in a “proof that you lack critical thinking skills and reading comprehension” type of situation.
the ending actually made me stop and think, independent of the usual stop and reflect motions. not too long either
but i just know there are people who get way too into the homosexual undertones to this story that really aren’t there. and by they really aren’t there i don’t mean it in like a gatsby-nick situation (where there is obvious tension and killackey is just scared to admit it) but in a “proof that you lack critical thinking skills and reading comprehension” type of situation.
the ending actually made me stop and think, independent of the usual stop and reflect motions. not too long either
February 7, 2022
This story has an anguish and momentum that will stay with me a long time—forever, I hope. The veil that is decorously thrown over the relationship between the tutor and his pupil is never removed, never even mentioned, and yet the intensity of their connection is never questioned. It makes for such a curious mix of passion and innocence—as if everything that Victorians couldn’t say was somehow said anyway.
July 8, 2016
Ilustrarea relaţiei dintre mentor şi învăţăcel, dublată de surprinderea moravurilor aristocratice de la sfârşit de secol XIX.
Domină sobrietatea specifică lui Henry James, ceea ce face ca textul să fie extrem de greu de digerat.
Domină sobrietatea specifică lui Henry James, ceea ce face ca textul să fie extrem de greu de digerat.
September 10, 2025
Esta novela corta arrebata al lector. En el contexto de una familia de clase alta, venida a menos, que insiste en vivir por encima de sus posibilidades, el relato nos adentra en la relación entre el menor de los hijos y su tutor.
Lo que más me atrajo es la complejidad con la que James construye el vínculo entre los personajes. Desde el inicio no hay blancos ni negros absolutos: simpatía y antipatía se dan la mano en la relación del profesor con la familia de su pupilo; el niño, por su parte, ama a su profesor y se avergüenza de sus padres, aunque mantiene un vínculo afectivo con ellos.
El autor consigue plasmar estas contradicciones de manera magistral, revelando que la vida, como sus personajes, rara vez se deja reducir a categorías simples. Es un relato conmovedor, crítico y lleno de matices, tan complejo como la propia existencia. Culmina con un final magistral.
Lo que más me atrajo es la complejidad con la que James construye el vínculo entre los personajes. Desde el inicio no hay blancos ni negros absolutos: simpatía y antipatía se dan la mano en la relación del profesor con la familia de su pupilo; el niño, por su parte, ama a su profesor y se avergüenza de sus padres, aunque mantiene un vínculo afectivo con ellos.
El autor consigue plasmar estas contradicciones de manera magistral, revelando que la vida, como sus personajes, rara vez se deja reducir a categorías simples. Es un relato conmovedor, crítico y lleno de matices, tan complejo como la propia existencia. Culmina con un final magistral.
August 17, 2016
En esta novela corta, James nos presenta un triángulo formado por Morgan, un niño con una excepcional inteligencia; su familia, formada por unos miembros muy peculiares entre bohemios y vividores y su nuevo profesor, Pemberton, un joven que se siente desde un principio afortunado por tener semejante alumno.
Si bien, todos parecen interesados en el bienestar y la educación del pequeño Morgan, poco a poco el autor nos va mostrando la verdadera naturaleza de todos sus protagonistas y como sus relaciones personales no son lo que parecen, ni sus sentimientos tan sinceros y desinteresados.
Una novela en la que el autor nos muestra una cara de los personajes y cuando ya los tenemos calados, descubrimos su cruz y toda la percepción de la historia cambia. Una narración hecha con maestría sin duda.
Una novela que podría ser una crítica a la educación familiar y profesional y a las relaciones superficiales tanto en la familia como en la vida privada. Todo alrededor de un niño, Morgan, al que no se le escapa nada de lo que sucede a su alrededor. La realidad no es lo que parece.
Una historia que te deja un recuerdo muy especial. Una muy buena historia de la que desprenden muchos subtemas interesantes para pensar y debatir.
Si bien, todos parecen interesados en el bienestar y la educación del pequeño Morgan, poco a poco el autor nos va mostrando la verdadera naturaleza de todos sus protagonistas y como sus relaciones personales no son lo que parecen, ni sus sentimientos tan sinceros y desinteresados.
Una novela en la que el autor nos muestra una cara de los personajes y cuando ya los tenemos calados, descubrimos su cruz y toda la percepción de la historia cambia. Una narración hecha con maestría sin duda.
Una novela que podría ser una crítica a la educación familiar y profesional y a las relaciones superficiales tanto en la familia como en la vida privada. Todo alrededor de un niño, Morgan, al que no se le escapa nada de lo que sucede a su alrededor. La realidad no es lo que parece.
Una historia que te deja un recuerdo muy especial. Una muy buena historia de la que desprenden muchos subtemas interesantes para pensar y debatir.
March 12, 2014
When does an investment in another person doubly compensate as an investment in oneself, and when does it not? This is one of my favorite middle-period James novellas. A penniless young tutor is hired by a family of eccentric ex-patriot Americans to educate their prodigy son while they move from hotel to hotel to stay ahead of creditors. The education happens in both directions, and its final results are complicated and incomprehensible to characters outside the tutor and pupil relationship.
“When he tried to figure to himself the morning twilight of childhood, so as to deal with it safely, he perceived that it was never fixed, never arrested, that ignorance, at the instance one touched it, was already flushing faintly into knowledge, that there was nothing that at a given moment you could say a clever child didn’t know.”
“When he tried to figure to himself the morning twilight of childhood, so as to deal with it safely, he perceived that it was never fixed, never arrested, that ignorance, at the instance one touched it, was already flushing faintly into knowledge, that there was nothing that at a given moment you could say a clever child didn’t know.”
June 21, 2017
Pemberton is an American student in London who becomes a tutor to an English family's precocious young son, Morgan Moreen, to make money to continue his studies.
At first, he cannot grasp why the family is so nomadic, but Morgan knows and soon establishes a tight bond with Pemberton. The relationship of Pemberton to Morgan and vice versa and the sense of responsibility for his young pupil are the ingredients of this short novel.
As the family moves from place to place to escape creditors and Pemberton is hard pressed to receive payment and even reluctant to ask for what is due him, he finds compensation in learning from Morgan as the pupil learns from him.
It is the psychology and interworkings of the family that makes this James work so interesting and complex.
At first, he cannot grasp why the family is so nomadic, but Morgan knows and soon establishes a tight bond with Pemberton. The relationship of Pemberton to Morgan and vice versa and the sense of responsibility for his young pupil are the ingredients of this short novel.
As the family moves from place to place to escape creditors and Pemberton is hard pressed to receive payment and even reluctant to ask for what is due him, he finds compensation in learning from Morgan as the pupil learns from him.
It is the psychology and interworkings of the family that makes this James work so interesting and complex.
May 24, 2020
3,5 estrellas
October 1, 2014
Henry James is my newest author crush.
I did not expect to like this novella. The writing style is ornate and Victorian. I contemplated putting this one down as a "not so awesome" read and archiving my ebook. Then somehow, the magic happened. That moment arrived when I wanted Pemberton to man up and assume responsibility for his protege.
So, in a nutshell, this book is worth wading through.
I did not expect to like this novella. The writing style is ornate and Victorian. I contemplated putting this one down as a "not so awesome" read and archiving my ebook. Then somehow, the magic happened. That moment arrived when I wanted Pemberton to man up and assume responsibility for his protege.
So, in a nutshell, this book is worth wading through.
March 5, 2023
"O Aluno" de Henry James foi publicado em março de 1891; Pemberton é um jovem tutor que é contratado por uma família aristocrática na Inglaterra, com o objetivo de educar o caçula dos filhos que é uma criança muito inteligente e habilidosa mas com problemas de saúde. Ao longo de seu trabalho, ele perceberá que a família está falida e se recusa a pagar por seus serviços, mas será que o amor por seu aluno é tão grande que ele vai decidir ficar, sem receber, em uma família em decadência?
September 5, 2022
The only work by James I’ve previously read was The Portrait of a Lady, which I found to be terribly uncomfortable because almost all the characters in the work were so well off that they didn’t have to do anything to get by: just sit around and talk to one another. The sole character with a real job was looked down on by most of the others. Well, this 1891 work could not have provided a better antidote to my assumption that James’ fascination with the hoity-toity classes in Europe had overwhelmed him so completely that his abundant skill with a pen was subsumed in his cloying social admiration.
Virtually none of the characters in this extended short story ever has enough money. The Moreen family in which Pemberton ‘works’ as a tutor for the precocious but sickly younger son Morgan, are well described as ‘a family of Bohemians who wanted tremendously to be Philistines.’ The father wears a ribbon ‘for services’ which are never specified. The eldest son spends a lot of time with ‘green felt’ and possesses a moustache ‘with no pretensions to type’. The mother’s ‘elegance was intermittent and her parts didn’t always match’. Together, they form ‘a party of adventurers’ who are ‘speculative and rapacious and mean’. The engage in ‘the line of pushing and toadying and lying and cheating’ trying to get into good society without realizing that ‘the people they wanted did not want them.’ Never having money, they flit from Paris to Nice to Venice, trying unsuccessfully to get one or both of their daughters married and, assumedly, to stay ahead of their creditors.
However, the real story is in the evolving relationship between Pemberton, the penniless Oxford graduate who is hired as a tutor and Morgan, the then eleven year old youngest of the brood, who is somewhat sickly. They get on famously, leading some critics to assume a homoerotic element to their closeness. Realizing that he will never get a regular salary from the family, Pemberton nonetheless stays for several years even though Morgan advises him to leave and, hopefully, take him with him. The maturity-beyond-his-years exhibited by this young man is well complemented by Pemberton’s growing closeness to the boy and sympathy for his straitened circumstances.
James really knows how to write, and although at times his prose becomes too convoluted, when he pulls off descriptions like this one of Morgan, all other excesses are forgiven:
‘a pale, lean, acute, undeveloped little cosmopolite, who liked intellectual gymnastics and who, also, as regards the behaviour of mankind, had noticed more things than you might suppose, but who nevertheless had his proper playroom of superstitions, where he smashed a dozen toys a day.’
As with The Portrait of a Lady, I found the dramatic reversals of the final page or two quite disconcerting. I’m beginning to feel that James is about descriptive atmosphere much more than moral action, and to suddenly upend the structure of situations as one brings one’s work to an end seems to unnecessarily dull the impact of the description which is the main element of the writing.
Recommended.
Virtually none of the characters in this extended short story ever has enough money. The Moreen family in which Pemberton ‘works’ as a tutor for the precocious but sickly younger son Morgan, are well described as ‘a family of Bohemians who wanted tremendously to be Philistines.’ The father wears a ribbon ‘for services’ which are never specified. The eldest son spends a lot of time with ‘green felt’ and possesses a moustache ‘with no pretensions to type’. The mother’s ‘elegance was intermittent and her parts didn’t always match’. Together, they form ‘a party of adventurers’ who are ‘speculative and rapacious and mean’. The engage in ‘the line of pushing and toadying and lying and cheating’ trying to get into good society without realizing that ‘the people they wanted did not want them.’ Never having money, they flit from Paris to Nice to Venice, trying unsuccessfully to get one or both of their daughters married and, assumedly, to stay ahead of their creditors.
However, the real story is in the evolving relationship between Pemberton, the penniless Oxford graduate who is hired as a tutor and Morgan, the then eleven year old youngest of the brood, who is somewhat sickly. They get on famously, leading some critics to assume a homoerotic element to their closeness. Realizing that he will never get a regular salary from the family, Pemberton nonetheless stays for several years even though Morgan advises him to leave and, hopefully, take him with him. The maturity-beyond-his-years exhibited by this young man is well complemented by Pemberton’s growing closeness to the boy and sympathy for his straitened circumstances.
James really knows how to write, and although at times his prose becomes too convoluted, when he pulls off descriptions like this one of Morgan, all other excesses are forgiven:
‘a pale, lean, acute, undeveloped little cosmopolite, who liked intellectual gymnastics and who, also, as regards the behaviour of mankind, had noticed more things than you might suppose, but who nevertheless had his proper playroom of superstitions, where he smashed a dozen toys a day.’
As with The Portrait of a Lady, I found the dramatic reversals of the final page or two quite disconcerting. I’m beginning to feel that James is about descriptive atmosphere much more than moral action, and to suddenly upend the structure of situations as one brings one’s work to an end seems to unnecessarily dull the impact of the description which is the main element of the writing.
Recommended.
April 17, 2016
As usual, James treats us to exquisite, ornate, intricate prose, some of which you have to read twice to get the gist of. As usual, I find it hard to tell who I liked in the story: probably the young boy, who is the victim of dishonest, ruthless parents who will do just about everything it takes to keep up a life of luxury they can't really afford. Pemberton, the protagonist, is often unforgivably naive and shamefully manipulated by the scheming Moreens. James once again shows us the social game, and how those who face life open-heartedly are bound to fail and end up tragically.
May 25, 2018
How cruel
August 4, 2023
Tan mundano, tan decadente y tan real. Un final que me ha obligado a releerlo repetidas veces debido al impacto que me ha provocado ver esos últimos diálogos tan bien escritos y cargados de emoción.
April 7, 2017
Surprising story about the special relation between a child and his teacher, although the family of the boy make the real abnormal situation, including the fact that the teacher is almost never paid.
April 8, 2023
At least it wasn't long.
Very underwhelming, I think I expected a bit more.
There were a few great and witty one-liners; other than that, it is probably not worth reading.
Very underwhelming, I think I expected a bit more.
There were a few great and witty one-liners; other than that, it is probably not worth reading.
October 8, 2021
The Pupil was a touching, powerful short work. I quite liked it the way it was written but contrary to my usual preference for tight, as short as possible, narratives I actually thought this one could have been longer, with at least twice or three times more pages. Reading it made me think back to Henry James’ novel – What Maisie Knew, about a child – a young girl called Maisie, whose ineffectual parents did not give her the love and parenting she deserved. In The Pupil I would have liked more about the interaction between Pemberton and Morgan as what Henry James wrote was not sufficient to convince me of the strong bond between the man and the young boy, the level and quality of the investment that Pemberton put into being not just a tutor, but a friend and perhaps a substitute parental figure,
May 10, 2011
I have an admittedly hard time with James. I get what he's doing with the whole psychological realism. I do. But sometimes I think he crosses that line of when it works and when it doesn't. If a reader puts the book/short story down before he/she is done with it, doesn't that mean James failed? I read all of "The Pupil" and thought it laborious and wondered if I had gotten out of it what James wanted me to. But maybe that's just my desire for instant gratification.
August 21, 2015
I'm only now beginning to understand that not only is there a lot of emotion under the surface of Henry James, but also a lot of illegal dealings and feelings. This also applies to the novella The Marriages
October 14, 2013
of course the kid dies!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2019
Racconto lungo. Tutto il non detto fa il libro. Come scrive bene Henry James. Alle volte me lo scordo. Che storia...
July 4, 2024
Matilda but boys, I will not be elaborating (but Matilda is better)
February 25, 2019
The short story “The Pupil” by Henry James (1843-1916) was published in 1891 by Longman’s Magazine after it was rejected by Atlantic Monthly, although Atlantic published other tales by Henry James. Atlantic felt that the depiction of the American family in the story as being overly deceitful was not the kind of story its American readers would enjoy
The 62-page story is about a very smart and articulate boy Morgan who is eleven-years-old at the start of the tale and 15 at its end, his parents, especially his mother, who lie and cheat, and the penniless young tutor Pemberton, a graduate of Oxford University. Morgan has a heart condition and cannot attend school, so the live-in tutor is necessary. No information is given about the lessons Pemberton teaches other than that Morgan should act properly. At times, it appears that young Morgan is smarter than his college-graduate teacher.
Morgan’s parents feign to be aristocrats. Yet, although Morgan’s mother repeatedly promises to pay Pemberton, she gives him only a nominal amount of money on only a couple of occasions, and even attempts once to borrow money from the penniless tutor, which makes him laugh. The family moves from country to country, from one kind of dwelling to another, quite frequently. Morgan’s father and mother do not seem to have jobs.
Morgan becomes very attached to Pemberton and he to Morgan. Morgan wants to escape from the deceitfulness of his family with Pemberton, but the two cannot do so without any money.
The famed author Jorge Luis Borges wrote “Despite the scruples and delicate complexities of James, his work suffers from a major defect: the absence of life.” This is true about this tale. We are only given some information about each character, with any depth. We know that Pemberton, for example, is attached to Morgan and the reverse, a key element in the tale, but do not know why.
Henry James is known for filling his stories with ambiguity. He leaves it to his readers to decide matters he does not explain. It is as if two people write the tale: James and his reader.
The reader is left to decide what kind of bond exists between Pemberton and Morgan? What did Morgan’s parents feel about Morgan? Did they want to abandon him? Did they ironically want Morgan to leave with Pemberton, just as Morgan wanted to do, although neither he nor Pemberton knew the parent’s wishes? Why did the parents lie? Why didn’t they pay Pemberton? What made them think they could get away from paying him? Why did they travel from one country to another? Why did they move from rich surroundings to poor ones and then to rich ones again, with the cycle being repeated? How should we characterize the tale – is it a chilling story, pathetic, strange? Did Pemberton act intelligently? Is there some sort of moral in the tale?
The 62-page story is about a very smart and articulate boy Morgan who is eleven-years-old at the start of the tale and 15 at its end, his parents, especially his mother, who lie and cheat, and the penniless young tutor Pemberton, a graduate of Oxford University. Morgan has a heart condition and cannot attend school, so the live-in tutor is necessary. No information is given about the lessons Pemberton teaches other than that Morgan should act properly. At times, it appears that young Morgan is smarter than his college-graduate teacher.
Morgan’s parents feign to be aristocrats. Yet, although Morgan’s mother repeatedly promises to pay Pemberton, she gives him only a nominal amount of money on only a couple of occasions, and even attempts once to borrow money from the penniless tutor, which makes him laugh. The family moves from country to country, from one kind of dwelling to another, quite frequently. Morgan’s father and mother do not seem to have jobs.
Morgan becomes very attached to Pemberton and he to Morgan. Morgan wants to escape from the deceitfulness of his family with Pemberton, but the two cannot do so without any money.
The famed author Jorge Luis Borges wrote “Despite the scruples and delicate complexities of James, his work suffers from a major defect: the absence of life.” This is true about this tale. We are only given some information about each character, with any depth. We know that Pemberton, for example, is attached to Morgan and the reverse, a key element in the tale, but do not know why.
Henry James is known for filling his stories with ambiguity. He leaves it to his readers to decide matters he does not explain. It is as if two people write the tale: James and his reader.
The reader is left to decide what kind of bond exists between Pemberton and Morgan? What did Morgan’s parents feel about Morgan? Did they want to abandon him? Did they ironically want Morgan to leave with Pemberton, just as Morgan wanted to do, although neither he nor Pemberton knew the parent’s wishes? Why did the parents lie? Why didn’t they pay Pemberton? What made them think they could get away from paying him? Why did they travel from one country to another? Why did they move from rich surroundings to poor ones and then to rich ones again, with the cycle being repeated? How should we characterize the tale – is it a chilling story, pathetic, strange? Did Pemberton act intelligently? Is there some sort of moral in the tale?
May 14, 2018
At the center of this longish short story (1891) is the relationship between Pemberton, a financially strapped Oxford student hired by a feckless American family to tutor its teenage son as it roams Europe, and Morgan Moreen, Pemberton’s bright and receptive pupil. Pemberton so enjoys Morgan’s company that he is far less insistent than he should be on receiving his agreed upon wages. Morgan, well aware that his mendacious, social climbing family lacks the means to support an aristocratic lifestyle, is as pleased with Pemberton’s company as Pemberton is with his. Not only do they share a similar sense of humor, but the two of them gad about visiting museums and galleries and conversing like buddies. The tutor’s curriculum is, as we might say now, without a core, much like that of the teenage Henry James as he traveled Europe with the his own family.
The James family was by no means as uncultivated and deceitful as Morgan’s. And while other stories by James may have prepared us to have him glorify the broad European education young Morgan is receiving, that is hardly the case here. Rather Henry James poignantly recalls in the character of Morgan the sad inward effects of the rootless upbringing his father inflicted on him by setting him loose on the European continent when what he needed most at that time was geographical and psychological stability.
The choice confronting Morgan is between the continued delights of Pemberton’s company and his need for family stability, and James does not simplify the results of having to make that choice at so young an age.
August 28, 2018
A voluptuous miasma of human uncertainty, written with a tremendous degree of psychological warfare at the Forefront, yet wrapped in a narrative full of unknotted "plot laces" (I shall call them) made only perverse by the unspoken details of possible dysfunction that exists below the surface of these two people who are only troubled because of the complications of a society that values lines and boundaries over sophisticated thoughts and social challenges. This short story was given to me as a gift by a man who I, to this day, remind remember fondly as both a mentor and as a savior. The nearest of humor, as far as one like this can go, remains straightforwardly queer in a way that only a Henry James writing can be. The pupil here is a highly intelligent and thoughtful young boy without even a hint of malice, yet has every reason in the world to wield animosity due to his maddening depraved, dysfunctional family. His tutor is an impaired young gentleman who obviously holds disorders that remain undiagnosed...and yet...somehow...he remains the right person for this startling and difficult young lad. The fondness the two have for one another deepens, but the question that remains in the center is one of efficiency, integrity, and practicality rather than morality. A weird story, destined to spark some mixed feelings, yet it does not lack a certain type of noteworthy logic that one would be at home with in the realm of European coming-of-age fables.
August 26, 2022
📚Sinópsis:
Pemberton es un joven profesor que acaba de conseguir trabajo como tutor en la casa de los Moreen y aunque no le han especificado su sueldo, él acepta. Su pupilo es Morgan, un niño de 11 años, astuto pero padece de una enfermedad que lo obliga a educarse en casa..
Ellos desarrollarán un lazo más fuerte que el de profesor y alumno, una amistad (aunque algunos lectores intuyen otra cosa), que los ayudará a sobrellevar las dificultades y desventuras en las que se encontrarán debido a los padres de Morgan.
🔥Opinión:
Al seguir la historia desde el punto de vista de Pemberton experimentamos sus sorpresas y suspicacias, dejándonos sumergir en esa familia bohemia pero “de mundo” que es en parte una crítica social a la división de clases, los excesos y pretensiones; crítica que podría seguir siendo aplicada al día de hoy.
Sin embargo, aunque el relato no es muy largo abarca apróx. 4 años de historia y creo que hubiese sido interesante que James desarrolle más el tiempo que pasaron en Italia y Francia, no solo para poder reforzar el vínculo entre ambos, sino por como un pedido personal ya que disfruté de la inclusión de piezas representativas de la arquitectura de ambas ciudades.
4/5🌟 Y ya estoy pensando en cuál será mi próximo relato de Henry
Pemberton es un joven profesor que acaba de conseguir trabajo como tutor en la casa de los Moreen y aunque no le han especificado su sueldo, él acepta. Su pupilo es Morgan, un niño de 11 años, astuto pero padece de una enfermedad que lo obliga a educarse en casa..
Ellos desarrollarán un lazo más fuerte que el de profesor y alumno, una amistad (aunque algunos lectores intuyen otra cosa), que los ayudará a sobrellevar las dificultades y desventuras en las que se encontrarán debido a los padres de Morgan.
🔥Opinión:
Al seguir la historia desde el punto de vista de Pemberton experimentamos sus sorpresas y suspicacias, dejándonos sumergir en esa familia bohemia pero “de mundo” que es en parte una crítica social a la división de clases, los excesos y pretensiones; crítica que podría seguir siendo aplicada al día de hoy.
Sin embargo, aunque el relato no es muy largo abarca apróx. 4 años de historia y creo que hubiese sido interesante que James desarrolle más el tiempo que pasaron en Italia y Francia, no solo para poder reforzar el vínculo entre ambos, sino por como un pedido personal ya que disfruté de la inclusión de piezas representativas de la arquitectura de ambas ciudades.
4/5🌟 Y ya estoy pensando en cuál será mi próximo relato de Henry
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