The Master in Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

Nov 03, 2010 Chick_Flick rated it did not like it

I found "The Master" utterly boring to read. I'd only picked it up because it was on one of the "1001 books you must read before you die" lists. Perhaps I should have read a summary of the book before reading it. As a reader who has not read any of Henry James's books, I can't say that Colm Toibin made me anymore the curiouser. Of course, I do think it was a technically well written book -- however there was so little suspense there or anything to keep the reader, who has no interest in Henry Ja ...more

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Jul 13, 2008 Steven rated it really liked it

Shelves: irish-blood, 1001

This book is a fictional biography of five years in the life of the great master, Henry James. This book can likely be enjoyed without some familiarity of Henry James and some of his work, but not nearly as appreciated. I myself have not read a great deal of Henry James, (reading only “Portrait of a Lady” and “Turn of the Screw,” but seeing a lot of his movies), but what I appreciated the most about this work is that it really did an excellent job of exploring the psychological aspects of James ...more

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Aug 26, 2008 Tiffany rated it really liked it

Shelves: nickhornbysuggests, 1001-books, group_read

1/5/13
A few chapters in, and so far I'm loving the tone -- it sounds like you're really listening to Henry James' thoughts, given the style of his writing.

I'm also finding this to be sort of like a game -- James meets someone, describes them, and I think to myself, "Ooh! I wonder if that's going to be the inspiration for so-and-so in such-and-such story." It's also making me want to go find all of his books and short stories that I don't already own.

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1/14/13 r ...more

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Mar 09, 2018 Arukiyomi rated it liked it

Shelves: 1001-books

"... a melancholic novel of a man much misunderstood ...>"

It's been a while since I read this, but the impression it made on me hasn't left. Tóibín has written a melancholic novel of a man much misunderstood it seems. I don't know enough about its subject, Henry James, to know whether The Master clears or muddies the water. But it certainly held interest for me as perhaps the only novel on the 1001 books list that is about a novelist who features heavily on the 1001 books list.

The Master is slow ...more

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Oct 04, 2007 Yelena Malcolm rated it did not like it

I should have known when I discovered this book was a fictionalized account of Henry James's later years that it might not be supremely up my alley. The book wasn't bad - there were some good moments - I just couldn't have cared less.

Apologies to my college advisor, an avid James man, but James always left me cold as well, frankly, as did his character in Toibin's book.

Toibin spared no effort in his research, but when the topic of said research was something of little interest to me, the result ...more

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