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Title: Daisy Miller by Henry James, Elizabeth Hardwick ISBN: 0-375-75966-2 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 08 January, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.42 (33 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Good, quick injection of James
Comment: I hadn't read James for about eight years or so when I came across a copy of Daisy Miller in a pile of discarded books at a local university. It sat on my shelf for a while longer, as I knew full well that James writes in thick sentences, making up for the lack of volume by quite a bit.
What I found was what I have come to expect from James, even in his early works. This book does a great deal in terms of pulling together many levels of interpretaion: Old World versus New World, common versus exclusive, and also the chaser and the chased.
This last viewpoint in particular is what stuck with me. We have a young girl, and a young man. They meet once for a few days, and the young man becomes utterly fixated on her, if for any other reason that she is playing, in his view, hard to get. When she turns her attention elsewhere, the ante is doubled and tripled when, for a variety of reasons most likely centered around our young hero Winterbourne, the American society in Rome starts to give our heroin the "cold shoulder". Given that James writes most often to examine the person most in focus in the novel, I tend to atribute most of the troubles of this young girl to both herself and Winterbourne, not just the society of the time. This is far from a safe academic interpretation, however.
The notes included in the book are helpful for getting into the mindset of the typical reader of James' day, but are not distracting. Overall, this would probably be suitible for an ambitios middle school student, and just right for most high school students.
Rating: 3
Summary: Not Typical Henry James
Comment: DAISY MILLER is "early" Henry James, so if you've only read the more famous THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY, or the even later masterpieces, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE and THE GOLDEN BOWL, you'll find this little novella quite different. Conspicuously absent are the convoluted stroylines (this book is too short for that anyway), the long sentences and the highly stylized writing that characterizes much of James' later work.
Although DAISY MILLER isn't vintage James, it is quite refreshing in both its simplicity and its straightforward quality. I also think James did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of the American tourist in Europe and the vast differences in American versus European society.
I didn't enjoy this book simply because I didn't like either Daisy Miller or Frederick Winterbourne. I found Winterbourne too "stuffy," even for his "time," and Daisy too spoiled and self-indulged. I think perhaps James went a little overboard in creating her. I really believe Daisy was supposed to come across as a sweet, innocent, charming young girl...a girl who was very genuine. I saw her as spoiled, petulant and always needing to "have her own way." I would have liked to have seen more interaction between Daisy and Frederick, but James always kept Frederick a bit too much on the conservative side.
I am sure part of my problem with this book lies in the fact that I've been living in Europe for most of my life. I can say with certainty that Europeans aren't really unaccepting of Americans. In fact, most Europeans like Americans (the French are the one exception). What they don't like are Americans (or anyone else) who come to Europe and expect Europe (and Europeans) to be "just like" America and Americans. This was Daisy's tragic mistake and it infuriated me that Frederick wasn't more vigorous in his attempts at educating her. What's interpreted as sweet and innocent and even charming in one place can be seen as bold and brazen in another. I'm sure, had I not lived in Europe, my view of Daisy would have been different. As it is, I can see the European side of the story all too clearly and I can so easily understand why Daisy wasn't accepted and embraced by society there.
And speaking of Europeans, I have a bone to pick with Mr. James regarding the character of Giovanelli. Although James spent far more time in Paris and London, he did visit Rome and should have known that the "Italian lover" (a la Giovanelli) was/is nothing but a stereotype. Italian men come with all different types of personalities...just like all the rest of us.
To repeat, DAISY MILLER isn't vintage James and, in my opinion, it lacks the maturity and insight that characterize James' later novels. That doesn't mean it isn't worth reading, however. It is. DAISY MILLER is a sad story about a sweet girl who simpy lacks the maturity to adapt and, in the end, pays a very heavy price.
Rating: 4
Summary: An engaging story.
Comment: "Daisy Miller" is a small classic that loses its risqué themes in today's society. It's an uncomplicated book to read with interesting phrases, which are explained in the back of the novella. Without a lot of detail, one must use their imagination greatly. Nonetheless, it's attention grabbing. I recommend.
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Title: Washington Square by Cynthia Ozick, Henry James ISBN: 0375761225 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 08 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov ISBN: 0679723161 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 13 March, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi ISBN: 081297106X Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 30 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald ISBN: 0684801523 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 01 June, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Awakening by Kate Chopin ISBN: 0380002450 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 10 February, 1982 List Price(USD): $4.50 |
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