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Title: The Wings of the Dove (Penguin Classics) by Henry James ISBN: 0-14-043263-9 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1986 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.14 (28 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Complex and Hard to follow, but still good
Comment: First things first, it is a very nice novel, but very hard to follow. Personally speaking, sometimes I couldn't get very exactly what Henry James was trying to say, but I could understand the situation as a whole and be able to move on.
As everybody knows, Hery James is not an easy writer. His appeal is very difficult and complex although it doesn't read very old-fashioned. The story is very interesting and timeless, because it deals with passion, money and betrayal. The books follows Kate Croy and her beloved Merton Densher when then both get involved - in different degrees and with different interests- with the beautiful rich and sick American heiress Milly Theale.
Most of the time, the book kept me wondering what would come next and its result and the grand finale. But, that doesn't mean I was fully understand its words. As I said, I was just feeling what was going on. As a result, i don't think I was able to get all the complexity of Henry James. Maybe, if I read this book again in the futures, it will be clearer.
There is a film version of this novel made in 1997, and starring Helena Bonham Carter, Allison Elliot and Linus Roach, directed by Iain Softley. Carter is amazing as always! Kate is a bit different from the book, she is not only a manipulative soul, but, actually, she is a woman trying to find happiness. One character says of Kate, "There's something going on behind those beautiful lashes", and that's true for most female leads created by James. Watching this movie helped me a lot, after finishing reading the novel.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Old-Fashioned Genius
Comment: Two responses to previous reviews: it was written one hundred years ago, so it would of course be somewhat dated. Second, you should perhaps READ THE ENTIRE BOOK before you attempt to review the text.
The text follows the fascinating development of a manipulation: Milly Theale, an American woman, enters the London scene, endowed with prodigious wealth, youth, and beauty, and several characters vie for her affection. It's a standard James plot in that way. Much like Portrait of a Lady, the wealthy American is exploited by her European acquaintances. Kate Croy convinces her lover Merton Densher to take advantage of Milly's interest in him, and to go so far as to attempt to marry the young American for her money. She is, after all, fatally and tragically ill. James brilliantly depicts the struggle between Densher, Kate Croy, her powerful Aunt Maud, the piquant Susan Shepherd, Sir Luke, and Lord Mark, and his characteristically enigmatic ending does not disappoint. James manages to breathe life into these odd characters in a way that so few writers can: his genius is for complex character, and this book embodies that genius at its height.
The trouble with the book, however, is that it does not qualify as a "light read." The pace is incredibly slow - deliberately slow, of course. It is a novel about decisions, and the development of those decisions constitutes the bulk of the novel. James's prose does lack the terseness of a Hemingway, but the latter writer often fails to capture the nuances that James so elaborately evokes in his careful prose.
James, like Faulkner, is not for the faint of heart. Some of his work is more accessible; readers in search of a more palatable James should look to Washington Square, What Maisie Knew, or his popular masterpiece, The Turn of the Screw. This novel does not fit easily into a category, and its principal interest is that very quality of inscrutability. It's not really a "British" or an "American" novel but contains elements of both. It's not "Modern" or "Victorian" but both. Originally published in 1902, it's also not easy to include him in either the 19th or the 20th century. He appears to be writing in both.
In short, then, it's not a light-hearted novel and the prose can be challenging at times. But I believe that the effort of reading this book is well rewarded.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Highly Complex and Beautiful Character Study
Comment: I very recently read Colm Toibin's masterful book, THE MASTER, a novel of Henry James and that fueled my desire to reread some of my favorite James works. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE is, I think, my second favorite James book, coming in only a smidgen behind THE GOLDEN BOWL.
I reread most of THE WINGS OF THE DOVE on a long flight from Lima, Peru to Madrid, Spain, then finished it on a much shorter flight from Madrid to Nice (with a change of planes in Paris). Even with all that traveling, I was still mesmerized by James' elegant and formal prose and the way he has of folding a sentence back on itself and then folding it yet again. James' stylized prose has been a favorite of mine since my teenaged years. I can't get enough of it and doubt I ever will.
THE WINGS OF THE DOVE opens around the year 1900 in London and focuses on Kate Croy, who, shortly after the death of her mother, goes to live with her very wealthy Aunt Maud. Aunt Maud, of course, will do the "right" thing for Kate and marry her off to a very socially acceptable and wealthy young man, Lord Mark. If love enters into the picture, fine. If it doesn't, that is equally fine and Kate should be grateful and manage as best she can. There is one huge problem, however. Kate is very much in love with the journalist, Merton Densher, a man with little money and no social status and, as such, totally unsuitable to Aunt Maud. When Aunt Maud threatens to disinherit Kate, Kate thinks she's come up with the perfect solution. Like many perfect solutions, however, this one goes terribly awry.
Milly Theale is a wealthy, young American woman who has come to Europe because she is seriously, even fatally, ill. In Europe, Milly hopes to find a "cure" for her disease. Kate befriends Milly and introduces her to Densher. When all three take a holiday to Venice, it is Kate who, without Densher's knowledge or blessing, suggests that Milly charm her way into Densher's heart. Kate, of course, is hoping that Milly will die sooner rather than later and that she and Densher will then be free to marry each other and be the beneficiaries of Milly considerable wealth. But a few things happen that Kate didn't count on.
James was nothing if not the master of complex characters. Although he presents the character of Kate Croy in a very harsh light, she isn't completely without redeeming qualities. Either is Densher. And Milly isn't quite as gullible as one might initially expect. All of this complexity, of course, simply adds to the richness of this already rich and complex novel.
Unlike many, I don't think Henry James, in general, or THE WINGS OF THE DOVE, in particular, is a particularly "difficult" read and English is my third language, not my first. His sentences are long and convoluted and his paragraphs run for pages, but this doesn't make him "difficult," it only means that you can't speed read your way through one of James' books. And who, in their right mind, would want to speed read through James anyway? His writing is so rich, so insightful, so elegant, that it's writing to be savored, not hurried through.
James is slow-paced. This is something I really enjoy about his writing, but others might want a faster, crisper read. If you're a rabid fan if Hemingway (I'm not), you probably won't like James. If, on the other hand, you admire Faulkner's prose, you just might like James' equally as well.
If you decide to begin THE WINGS OF THE DOVE and fine it simply too slow going for your taste, I would suggest renting the film. It is slightly different from the book, but not in any substantive way and it's better than not experiencing James at all.
THE WINGS OF THE DOVE is one of my all time favorite books. I would recommend it highly to everyone who loves highly intelligent, highly literary writing and who can tolerate a slow-paced novel. Believe me, the payoffs will certainly be worth it.
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Title: The Golden Bowl (Penguin English Library) by Henry James ISBN: 0140432353 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1985 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: The Ambassadors (Penguin Classics) by Henry James, Harry Levin ISBN: 0140432337 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 1987 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: The Portrait of a Lady (Penguin Classics) by Henry James, Geoffrey Moore ISBN: 014043223X Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1988 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald ISBN: 068480154X Publisher: Scribner Book Company Pub. Date: 01 July, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: A Passage to India by E. M. Forster ISBN: 0156711427 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1984 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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