Portrait of Jennie

Lonely and magical, Portrait of Jennie is often cited as a romantic fantasy masterpiece. Thanks to a classic film starring Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones, it is the one book title by this sadly almost forgotten author which is vaguely familiar to modern readers.

Perhaps because there is something pure and lovely in his gentle tales, his oeuvre is incompatible with the crass harshness of modern life, and much of modern literature. That makes them no less wonderful, however, and for some readers, makes them better. Like all of Robert Nathan’s stories, there is something ethereal here in Portrait of Jennie that nearly defies description.

Is it the feeling of loneliness and loss of hope with which Nathan dusts the pages?

Is it Nathan's show more skill at showing the thin line between desolation and inspiration which so plagues every artist?

Is it Nathan's own tender portrait of the lovely Jennie, using words rather than a brush to paint her as she moves through time and ages, finally becoming the protagonist's great love, and his inspiration?

Or is it Robert Nathan's insightful observations on life, and the living of it?

Perhaps it is all of these things, and much more. Robert Nathan imbued this story with some intangible magic that either touches our heart when it is still open to love and romance, or falls flat and shames us because our heart has been worn down and tainted by our crass modern world, and already moved into a winter too cold to embrace its romantic purity.

While it is somewhat more protracted than many of Nathan’s other wonderful stories, it is still incredibly lovely, with passages and sentiments so touching they are never forgotten by the reader. An all-time favorite book of mine, one which will certainly be enjoyed by anyone with a romantic heart. show less

Deceptively simple, evocative prose telling a disturbingly charming, sad, beautiful...ummm...ghost story? Time travel tale? Dreamscape? Doesn't matter. The not-knowing is part of it all. Includes wonderful musings such as:
Once upon a time, not so very long ago, men thought that the earth was flat, and that where earth and heaven met, the world ended. Yet when they finally set sail for that tremendous place, they sailed right through it, and found themselves back again where they had started from. It taught them only that the earth was round.
It might have taught them more.

Alternated between being annoyed by the somewhat (to us in our time) cloyingly romantic elegiac tone of it, and being impressed with the writing which is very good, occasionally excellent, but has a compelling quality to it also, a flow, you might say. I can see why, in his time, Nathan was a very popular author, very successful. It's dated though and the plot is unthinkable now. Our protag. is a painter, struggling, of course. He meets a very young girl on a winter's day and they make friends (unthinkable, as I said). During an unspecified time which I assume is not even a whole year for Adam, they meet about five or six times, during which he sketches or paints her. The "catch" is that every time he sees her she is significantly show more older. By spring she is a young woman. Most of the story takes place in NY, the final part in Truro. (As someone who lived on the Cape and loves it dearly, I can only say he describes it so well it is almost painful to read.) There are sexist/dated irritations, amazing how unacceptable it is now for anyone to refer to "artists" as "he". You just can't do that anymore. Nor can you make this kind of fatuous generalization: There ought to be something timeless about a woman. Not about a man--we've always been present-minded. The person speaking then goes on and on about how women in portraits seem more 'alive' than portraits of men, which is utter nonsense! On the weather on the Cape: Sometimes in late summer or in early fall there is a day lovelier than all the others, a day of such pure weather that the heart is entranced, lost in a sort of dream, caught in an enchantment between time and change.. Apparently the old Cape Codders call that kind of weather a "weather-breeder" a wonderful expression that makes perfect sense! That might be a characteristic of New England, in fact. There are, at the end of summer, a handful of days like that which make it hard to believe that it could ever be other than the way it is, except you know that winter is not far off and will come. The time travel piece of it is more a suggestion and a window into musing about the ironclad fact that only the present exists, past and future, both unreachable and basically unknowable therefore. Kind of a long review, but it is interesting to read a book like this, from another time, which is likely why I picked it up, wherever and whenever I did! ***1/2 show less

I decided to read this novella because I remembered watching (and enjoying) the 1948 film starring Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones which was based on the story.

So which is better, the novella or the film? The novella, of course! I liked Nathan's writing so much that I'm going to make a point of looking up his other works. In a short period of time, Robert Nathan delineated some memorable characters. Besides Eben himself, I particularly enjoyed the gallery owner Henry Matthews and his assistant Miss Spinney.

Portrait of Jennie comes to life when Eben talks about art, and the scenes describing a hurricane are so vivid that I felt as though I were there. There is a paranormal aspect to the story because Jennie is actually a spirit, but show more those scenes are so fleeting that I scarcely noticed them. For me, it was all about Eben, and Eben makes it a very good story indeed. show less

I enjoyed this one with some mixed feelings. I appreciated that it was written and set in a time before cell phones and even televisions. A child named Jennie keeps appearing in odd places in NY City to the struggling painter Eben Adams. Each time he sees her she seems to be several years older even though only a few months have passed. I had seen this movie as a child and remembered little. Not quite Halloween-ish, but still an eerie atmospheric read.

Portrait of Jennie by Robert Nathan

Reading anything by Robert Nathan is like reading poetry. His words are so beautifully scripted on the page. It is unfortunate that his work goes so unappreciated in our time and that so many of his works are no longer in print.

This lovely short novella was written in 1939 and is an odd & haunting story. I found it to be beautiful & moving. It is about a young struggling & starving artist, Eben, who meets a mysterious little girl, Jennie, playing alone in the park on a misty, foggy late afternoon. They befriend one another and when they part she asks him to wait for her telling him that she will hurry. As they walk away from each other Eben turns for a last glimpse at this remarkable child, he finds show more that she has vanished in the mist.
Over the years Jennie returns to Eben and always it seems to him that she has grown so & each time she seems much older than when he last saw her. Jennie seems rather disconnected from time and tells him of living in a place that Eben knows is no longer there. She is so eager to finish growing up so that she can be with Eben always. He is fascinated and perhaps obsessed with her.
Eben sketches her over these years and these works are practically the only paintings/sketches that he can sell. They allow him to continue & to improve his painting.
Jennie has become Eben's muse. One time when she comes to him he begins painting her. This Portrait of Jennie takes a very long time to complete as her visits are sparse & short. I was enthralled by each appearance of Jennie and so eager for the next meeting between Eben and Jennie, the mysterious girl/woman.
The author has created wonderful minor characters in the gentleman & lady who own the gallery where he sells & attempts to sell his work. Also the character of Gus, the taxi driver, the owner of the cafe, & Eben's painter friend are marvelous characters.

When I reached the end of the book I wanted to take it up and read it again. It is a book in my collection that I am certain I will be reading again and again as time passes. This is truly a timeless classic, a lovely story. show less

Really more of a 3.5, a book I'm sure I'll actually remember and think about in the future. Right after reading this I read this essay in the NY Times, about not remembering books: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/books/review/Collins-t.html

This one I'll remember, for the story and writing as well as the circumstances of its reading. I read it in one sitting on (probably) the last sunny day of this year, on a hill overlooking a lake, with mosquitoes, gnats, and other winged irritants attacking.