The Wings of the Dove by Henry James - 3 stars (Subdue)

[Joy D]

The Wings of the Dove by Henry James - 3* - My Review

Published in 1902, this slowly developing book involves two lovers scheming to defraud a dying heiress. Kate is an attractive young British woman. Her mother has died, and her father is despicable. Her Aunt Maud wants her to marry Lord Mark, a man of means and status, but he does not appeal to Kate, since she is already in love with Merton, a newspaperman with little money. Aunt Maud does not approve of Merton due to his low status.

Milly is a terminally ill American heiress touring Europe with her friend, Susan. Through Susan’s connections, Milly meets Kate and Aunt Maud. Kate manipulates the situation to get Merton and Milly together, with the idea that Merton will marry Milly, and they will inherit her fortune when she dies. Merton travels to Venice to pursue Milly, where the climax of the novel takes place. The denouement takes place back in London.

On the plus side, the characters, especially the schemers, are well developed. It is easy to envision them. They are delightful villains. One of them experiences a crisis of conscience. On the minus side, the reader may expect long convoluted sentences that seem (in today’s world) unnecessarily wordy and complex. I liked it, but I imagine many modern readers will have little patience for it. It is a book for those who enjoy reading the classics.

PBT Comments: Over half of this book takes place in London (where many of the main characters reside) and the rest in Venice (where they go on tour).

[Theresa]

Your comment on wordy sentences resonates! I am halfway through James' The Turn of the Screw and finding it a struggle - the sentence structures, wordiness, and even with all that, the lack of clarity on what it all issupposed to tell me are making this a slow read ... and it is a novella! I have read it before - decades ago - and seen two productions of Britten's opera adzptation, so the plot is familiar. It is taking me forever to read.

You know I don't mind wordiness! But I am not fond of most Victorian era wordiness in literature.

[Joy D]

I really love the classics but prefer the styles of other Victorian era authors (e.g., Dickens, Hardy, Austen, Twain, Conrad) to Henry James. There is a reason for the term "Jamesian" and for me, it is too convoluted. He did contribute to the development of the modern novel in terms of characters' perspectives and stream-of-consciousness writing, so I understand why he is acclaimed, but it was all a bit much in The Wings of the Dove. My favorite of his works is: The Portrait of a Lady.

[Mary]

The older I get the more I appreciate Henry James... but I do sometimes have to pause and have a good laugh at the construction of a sentence. The stories are always top notch; it's the writing I have to be in the right mood for.

[Joy D]

Mary wrote: "The older I get the more I appreciate Henry James... but I do sometimes have to pause and have a good laugh at the construction of a sentence. The stories are always top notch; it's the writing I h..."
I appreciate him, too, and still have a few books of his on my shelves that I need to get to. I will probably read The Golden Bowl later this year.

[Theresa]

Joy D wrote: "Mary wrote: "The older I get the more I appreciate Henry James... but I do sometimes have to pause and have a good laugh at the construction of a sentence. The stories are always top notch; it's th..."

@JoyD - Center for Fiction is discussing The Golden Bowl in May. https://centerforfiction.org/group-wo...

A friend is taking it - she says that discussion leader is wonderful - did a great job leading a Moby Dick discussion.

[Joy D]

Thanks, Theresa! I will take a look at the link.