The Europeans (1878)

I always enjoy James's ability to capture the subtleties in his characters, to the point where as to what they are thinking or feeling - the reader must almost have an intuition more than a knowledge of what will happen next. The Baroness's interest in Robert is dubious as is Robert's; Felix and Gertrude finally come together but in a most unorthodox fashion. Only Charlotte and her clergyman seem an obvious fit, but it's one that will seemingly never happen!
Of course, my favourite are all the half-said words and little piques, which are a careful observation of society and its mores. The pitting of Americans and European is charming albeit sometimes stereotypical, but created a great backdrop for all the romantic intrigues.
A light, delightful, little book in James's traditional style. ( )

Read for college; don't recall much now.

In the pub earlier this evening, I was trying to explain my thoughts about this novella to my partner, and managed to cobble together something about being told that the female lead was charming, but seeing no evidence of it. My partner, clever as he is, responded with a knowledgeable "Ah, telling, not showing", which pretty much summed it up for me. Turns out (as most librarything readers are probably aware) that there has been a recent movement towards revealing your characters through showing your reader what they're like, rather than telling your reader what they're like. So, in The Europeans, a modern Henry James would probably have demonstrated to his reader that Eugenia was charming, by showing instances of her charm. Perhaps that's what the real Henry actually thought he was doing, but for me, Eugenia was not charming, Gertrude was not unusual and misunderstood, and throughout the entire novella, the characters felt like they were straining against their imposed characteristics, to reveals their true selves (mostly dull).

There were saving graces; I found Felix and Robert Acton believable and quite interesting, but in general, I wasn't sorry to finish this one. I usually enjoy Henry James, so I'm hoping that this is an aberration, but it has put me off somewhat. Not a novel I would recommend. ( )

More of James' china doll people, with their fine heads but dead sawdust bodies.

This well crafted (1878) novella was intended as a comedy, contrasting European values and manners with those of more puritanical Americans. While I can appreciate James's written style, his comedic intentions fell a little flat with me, most likely due to differences in our times.

I found most of the characters too lightly drawn to sympathise with or particularly like. I can see how James intended us to laugh at them, particularly the haughty, fortune-hunting Baroness. In my view, she is too easy a target, and more to be pitied as James dooms her to a loveless end as pennance for her defects of character.

There is a delicate art to creating characters who can be laughed at, heartily, but without cruelty. P.G. Wodehouse and George Bernard Shaw are two of its masters. I'm not convinced about James, despite his other literary talents. ( )