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Indian Summer: A Library of America Paperback Classic
Set against a glamorous Italian backdrop, here is William Dean Howell's classic comedy of errors, a pitch-perfect story of romantic confusions that surprises and delights. "A midlife crisis has rarely been sketched in fiction with better humor," writes John Updike in his engaging introduction, first published in 1990.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1886
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897 people want to read
About the author
William Dean Howells
1,203 books101 followersWillam Dean Howells (1837-1920) was a novelist, short story writer, magazine editor, and mentor who wrote for various magazines, including the Atlantic Monthly and Harper's Magazine.
In January 1866 James Fields offered him the assistant editor role at the Atlantic Monthly. Howells accepted after successfully negotiating for a higher salary, but was frustrated by Fields's close supervision. Howells was made editor in 1871, remaining in the position until 1881.
In 1869 he first met Mark Twain, which began a longtime friendship. Even more important for the development of his literary style — his advocacy of Realism — was his relationship with the journalist Jonathan Baxter Harrison, who during the 1870s wrote a series of articles for the Atlantic Monthly on the lives of ordinary Americans.
He wrote his first novel, Their Wedding Journey, in 1872, but his literary reputation took off with the realist novel A Modern Instance, published in 1882, which described the decay of a marriage. His 1885 novel The Rise of Silas Lapham is perhaps his best known, describing the rise and fall of an American entrepreneur of the paint business. His social views were also strongly represented in the novels Annie Kilburn (1888), A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890), and An Imperative Duty (1892). He was particularly outraged by the trials resulting from the Haymarket Riot.
His poems were collected during 1873 and 1886, and a volume under the title Stops of Various Quills was published during 1895. He was the initiator of the school of American realists who derived, through the Russians, from Balzac and had little sympathy with any other type of fiction, although he frequently encouraged new writers in whom he discovered new ideas.
Howells also wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Henrik Ibsen, Émile Zola, Giovanni Verga, Benito Pérez Galdós, and, especially, Leo Tolstoy, which helped establish their reputations in the United States. He also wrote critically in support of American writers Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Emily Dickinson, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charles W. Chesnutt, Abraham Cahan, Madison Cawein,and Frank Norris. It is perhaps in this role that he had his greatest influence. In his "Editor's Study" column at the Atlantic Monthly and, later, at Harper's, he formulated and disseminated his theories of "realism" in literature.
In 1904 he was one of the first seven people chosen for membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, of which he became president.
Howells died in Manhattan on May 11, 1920. He was buried in Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts.
Noting the "documentary" and truthful value of Howells' work, Henry James wrote: "Stroke by stroke and book by book your work was to become, for this exquisite notation of our whole democratic light and shade and give and take, in the highest degree documentary."
In January 1866 James Fields offered him the assistant editor role at the Atlantic Monthly. Howells accepted after successfully negotiating for a higher salary, but was frustrated by Fields's close supervision. Howells was made editor in 1871, remaining in the position until 1881.
In 1869 he first met Mark Twain, which began a longtime friendship. Even more important for the development of his literary style — his advocacy of Realism — was his relationship with the journalist Jonathan Baxter Harrison, who during the 1870s wrote a series of articles for the Atlantic Monthly on the lives of ordinary Americans.
He wrote his first novel, Their Wedding Journey, in 1872, but his literary reputation took off with the realist novel A Modern Instance, published in 1882, which described the decay of a marriage. His 1885 novel The Rise of Silas Lapham is perhaps his best known, describing the rise and fall of an American entrepreneur of the paint business. His social views were also strongly represented in the novels Annie Kilburn (1888), A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890), and An Imperative Duty (1892). He was particularly outraged by the trials resulting from the Haymarket Riot.
His poems were collected during 1873 and 1886, and a volume under the title Stops of Various Quills was published during 1895. He was the initiator of the school of American realists who derived, through the Russians, from Balzac and had little sympathy with any other type of fiction, although he frequently encouraged new writers in whom he discovered new ideas.
Howells also wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Henrik Ibsen, Émile Zola, Giovanni Verga, Benito Pérez Galdós, and, especially, Leo Tolstoy, which helped establish their reputations in the United States. He also wrote critically in support of American writers Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Emily Dickinson, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charles W. Chesnutt, Abraham Cahan, Madison Cawein,and Frank Norris. It is perhaps in this role that he had his greatest influence. In his "Editor's Study" column at the Atlantic Monthly and, later, at Harper's, he formulated and disseminated his theories of "realism" in literature.
In 1904 he was one of the first seven people chosen for membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, of which he became president.
Howells died in Manhattan on May 11, 1920. He was buried in Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts.
Noting the "documentary" and truthful value of Howells' work, Henry James wrote: "Stroke by stroke and book by book your work was to become, for this exquisite notation of our whole democratic light and shade and give and take, in the highest degree documentary."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
April 6, 2014
Indian Summer is an old and polished gem. William Dean Howells was a star American novelist in his day (late 19th century), who has been overshadowed by the Jameses and Dickensons of the U.S. literary glitterati. So what a pleasure to find an American novelist I had never heard of and to be delighted by his intelligence and prose!
I recommended the novel to my book club after reading Updike’s praise: “Again and again in Indian Summer, the felicity of the writing makes us pause in admiration... A midlife crisis has rarely been sketched in fiction with better humor, with gentler comedy and more gracious acceptance of life’s irrevocability.”
It is set in the expatriate community, mostly American, of Florence of the 1880's and, tellingly, the three main characters are not East Coasters. Rather, hailing from Ohio, Indiana, and Buffalo, they are less hide-bound or constrained by New England’s puritan history and are able to explore the intricacies of a G-rated love triangle with a tad more emotional abandon. Their relative isolation within a sea of Italians helps. Decorum – such an alien concept these decadent days – still mostly holds, allowing three major characters, plus a number of lesser ones, to brilliantly emerge. (Howells considers them to be the best developed personalities of his large oeuvre.)
The conversations are witty, erudite, and charming, with Howells’s wry observations sprinkled like pixie dust. As the outcome, due to the title, is never in doubt, I was frustrated now and then by our protagonist Coleville’s obtuseness. Yet with able and non-intrusive guidance from others, especially from a young widow named Mrs. Bowen, he emerges from the crisis nearly whole, even transformed. A wise retired reverend, a certain Mr. Waters who may most directly reflect Howells’s own thinking, praises her with “I have never met a lady who reconciled more exquisitely what is charming in society with what is lovely in nature.” I would agree, finding her one of the most attractive female characters in American literature.
But, as I found out with my book club, I am hopelessly outdated. Indeed, the pall of political correctness already infiltrated the introduction of my paperback edition, whose author felt compelled to defend the title as not being a slur against Indians. It should have alerted me that my book club, preponderantly of “modern” women, would find the characters “insipid,” the main man a blockhead. All the subtleness and humor of Howells treatment of his characters’ plights went unappreciated, making me grieve how much political correctness has deadened our current sensibilities. When I asked – as I had to lead the discussion – if Mrs. Bowens is indeed the female ideal as implied by Mr. Waters, the usual feminist horror – how could Mrs. Bowen be so constrained by society? and fatally attracted to an idiot like Coleville? – settled over the table like goo.
So allow me this Warning label: if you tend towards modern palliatives and accepted thinking, this book isn’t for you. If, however, you are open to older truths, you might marvel with me at how rich American literature of the ages gets.
I recommended the novel to my book club after reading Updike’s praise: “Again and again in Indian Summer, the felicity of the writing makes us pause in admiration... A midlife crisis has rarely been sketched in fiction with better humor, with gentler comedy and more gracious acceptance of life’s irrevocability.”
It is set in the expatriate community, mostly American, of Florence of the 1880's and, tellingly, the three main characters are not East Coasters. Rather, hailing from Ohio, Indiana, and Buffalo, they are less hide-bound or constrained by New England’s puritan history and are able to explore the intricacies of a G-rated love triangle with a tad more emotional abandon. Their relative isolation within a sea of Italians helps. Decorum – such an alien concept these decadent days – still mostly holds, allowing three major characters, plus a number of lesser ones, to brilliantly emerge. (Howells considers them to be the best developed personalities of his large oeuvre.)
The conversations are witty, erudite, and charming, with Howells’s wry observations sprinkled like pixie dust. As the outcome, due to the title, is never in doubt, I was frustrated now and then by our protagonist Coleville’s obtuseness. Yet with able and non-intrusive guidance from others, especially from a young widow named Mrs. Bowen, he emerges from the crisis nearly whole, even transformed. A wise retired reverend, a certain Mr. Waters who may most directly reflect Howells’s own thinking, praises her with “I have never met a lady who reconciled more exquisitely what is charming in society with what is lovely in nature.” I would agree, finding her one of the most attractive female characters in American literature.
But, as I found out with my book club, I am hopelessly outdated. Indeed, the pall of political correctness already infiltrated the introduction of my paperback edition, whose author felt compelled to defend the title as not being a slur against Indians. It should have alerted me that my book club, preponderantly of “modern” women, would find the characters “insipid,” the main man a blockhead. All the subtleness and humor of Howells treatment of his characters’ plights went unappreciated, making me grieve how much political correctness has deadened our current sensibilities. When I asked – as I had to lead the discussion – if Mrs. Bowens is indeed the female ideal as implied by Mr. Waters, the usual feminist horror – how could Mrs. Bowen be so constrained by society? and fatally attracted to an idiot like Coleville? – settled over the table like goo.
So allow me this Warning label: if you tend towards modern palliatives and accepted thinking, this book isn’t for you. If, however, you are open to older truths, you might marvel with me at how rich American literature of the ages gets.
March 3, 2011
I've never read Henry James, and while I probably should be somewhat bashful about admitting that, I'm typically too busy discovering still more authors who I'd previously been insufficiently aware of to fully recognize that I should be ashamed of my myriad literary blind spots. As I understand it, in his time (late 19th Century), William Dean Howells was viewed as a peer of James at the top of the game of American realism, although the two men's legacies have since gone in different directions, with James being ascendant and Howells in some ways overlooked. (While I've never read James, I'm not sure I'd ever heard of Howells until a few weeks ago.)
I reference James because Indian Summer might be close to the type of books I imagine him (my philistine mind constructs through mere overheard reputations) to have written, in which witty, lovelorn men banter with supremely sophisticated and unquestionably in control women in semi-exotic locales (here, it's Florence), while a comedy of manners plays out amongst them, and true intentions are rarely voiced or signaled. In other reviews here you'll see descriptions of Indian Summer as "charming," "delicate," and "sweet" among others. I'd agree with all of these, and I'd add that while I don't know if I've ever read a book I'd describe as "droll," this might be the one. But more than just a well written tale of a love triangle, Indian Summer is also surprisingly touching on the subjects of aging, lost love, self-deceptions/delusions, living abroad as well as the rhythms and echoes of life more generally as one struggles to find one's way. Not perfect but a quick read and a well-written and well-observed one at that.
=======================================
For what it's worth, although I was made aware of Indian Summer as part of the New York Review of Books Classics series, I read the free version of this book which is available for the Kindle. I wouldn't necessarily recommend going this route, however, as the free version contains quite a few textual errors, some of which occur, unfortunately, in quite important scenes. Free is great, but accurate and complete is certainly better.
I reference James because Indian Summer might be close to the type of books I imagine him (my philistine mind constructs through mere overheard reputations) to have written, in which witty, lovelorn men banter with supremely sophisticated and unquestionably in control women in semi-exotic locales (here, it's Florence), while a comedy of manners plays out amongst them, and true intentions are rarely voiced or signaled. In other reviews here you'll see descriptions of Indian Summer as "charming," "delicate," and "sweet" among others. I'd agree with all of these, and I'd add that while I don't know if I've ever read a book I'd describe as "droll," this might be the one. But more than just a well written tale of a love triangle, Indian Summer is also surprisingly touching on the subjects of aging, lost love, self-deceptions/delusions, living abroad as well as the rhythms and echoes of life more generally as one struggles to find one's way. Not perfect but a quick read and a well-written and well-observed one at that.
=======================================
For what it's worth, although I was made aware of Indian Summer as part of the New York Review of Books Classics series, I read the free version of this book which is available for the Kindle. I wouldn't necessarily recommend going this route, however, as the free version contains quite a few textual errors, some of which occur, unfortunately, in quite important scenes. Free is great, but accurate and complete is certainly better.
July 6, 2022
"Oso dire che lei non capisce. E Come potrebbe. Lei è un uomo e oltretutto quel genere di uomo che non è in grado di capire. "
Paragonato all'amico Henry James io però l'ho trovato molto distante dallo scrittore americano. Finale prevedibile di una storia che sarebbe stata più piacevole se raccontata in molte meno pagine, così da risultare meno ripetitiva e meno stucchevole.
Paragonato all'amico Henry James io però l'ho trovato molto distante dallo scrittore americano. Finale prevedibile di una storia che sarebbe stata più piacevole se raccontata in molte meno pagine, così da risultare meno ripetitiva e meno stucchevole.
April 24, 2019
Non appena ho letto la trama del romanzo la mia curiosità è salita alle stelle. In questo romanzo convergono un sacco di elementi che mi attirano sempre, in fatto di storie. Innanzitutto si tratta di un romanzo americano; è ambientato in Italia, precisamente nella bella Firenze, e racconta le vicissitudini sentimentali e psicologiche di un uomo di mezz'età.
Theodore Colville, il protagonista, dopo aver lasciato la direzione del giornale da lui stesso fondato, si reca a Firenze. La città è stata teatro, negli anni della sua giovinezza, di una storia d'amore finita per lui in amara delusione. Cosa succederà, adesso che persone del suo passato torneranno a fargli compagnia?
In libri come questo non è la trama vera e propria a farla da padrone, non l'azione, ma lo spessore della prosa, la sottigliezza dei dialoghi, la costruzione dei rapporti e le sfumature psicologiche dei personaggi. Tutto questo è estremamente curato in Indian summer ed è il motivo per cui ne ho apprezzato moltissimo la lettura.
Il tema del romanzo è il cambiamento, la maturazione individuale della persona in rapporto a se stessa e in rapporto agli altri.
Questo tema da il via ad una serie di profonde riflessioni intersecate l'una nell'altra, profondamente connesse l'una all'altra. Se cambiare è inevitabile, anche tentare di rimanere ancorati al passato lo è.
Dallo scontro di questi due mondi nasce una sorta di terremoto che l'autore racconta in maniera eccellente.
Il romanzo è pieno di personaggi molto vividi, partendo dal protagonista e arrivando fino alle semplici comparse.
Questa vivacità è dovuta ad un talento particolare di Howells nello scrivere dialoghi molto ironici.
L'ironia è parte fondamentale del romanzo; è un terreno di gioco su cui si scontrano interessi e amori. L'ironia si lega al dramma, alla commedia, riuscendo in un intreccio perfetto a raccontare i segreti che i personaggi non svelano in modo diretto. Il talento di uno scrittore sta anche nel fare intuire al lettore quello che sta succedendo, senza dirlo apertamente. Senz'altro William Dean Howells è un autore che riesce molto bene a sussurrare i segreti all'orecchio del lettore.
Nel corso del romanzo si trovano anche piccole perle meta letterarie; ad un certo punto i personaggi citano Howells stesso, ammettendo di conoscerlo come romanziere, e non solo: sostengono che potrebbero trovarsi in uno dei suoi scritti, piuttosto che in un romanzo di Henry James il quale è ritenuto troppo raffinato. Una trovata divertente.
Vengono anche citati altri autori che, palesemente, William Dean Howells apprezzava. Turgenev, ad esempio.
Per quanto riguarda la città di Firenze è effettivamente una protagonista del libro. Dona ad alcune scene una atmosfera magica, intensa, che ovviamente la storia non avrebbe posseduto se fosse stata ambientata altrove. Di particolare misticismo e fascino è la descrizione del Carnevale, con le sue maschere e i suoi balli.
Voglio anche accennare brevemente ai risvolti sociali. Viene fuori l'immagine di una Italia cosmopolita, che accoglie nei suoi salotti uomini e donne provenienti da varie parti d'Europa. E sopratutto molti americani. Questa società vivace e culturalmente aperta è senz'altro bella da osservare, anche se dalle pagine di un libro. Inoltre è interessante osservare il nostro paese dalla prospettiva di altre persone, altri viaggiatori, e scorrere così alcune pagine di storia.
La lettura risulta non solo coinvolgente e spiritosa, di gran compagnia, ma Indian summer è effettivamente un libro scritto molto bene e curato nei minimi particolari. A questo proposito trovo perfette le parole che Gore Vidal ha speso per il romanzo: "Per coloro che sono ancora capaci di leggere romanzi per puro piacere, Indian summer è un libro meraviglioso." Non potrei essere più d'accordo.
Theodore Colville, il protagonista, dopo aver lasciato la direzione del giornale da lui stesso fondato, si reca a Firenze. La città è stata teatro, negli anni della sua giovinezza, di una storia d'amore finita per lui in amara delusione. Cosa succederà, adesso che persone del suo passato torneranno a fargli compagnia?
In libri come questo non è la trama vera e propria a farla da padrone, non l'azione, ma lo spessore della prosa, la sottigliezza dei dialoghi, la costruzione dei rapporti e le sfumature psicologiche dei personaggi. Tutto questo è estremamente curato in Indian summer ed è il motivo per cui ne ho apprezzato moltissimo la lettura.
Il tema del romanzo è il cambiamento, la maturazione individuale della persona in rapporto a se stessa e in rapporto agli altri.
Questo tema da il via ad una serie di profonde riflessioni intersecate l'una nell'altra, profondamente connesse l'una all'altra. Se cambiare è inevitabile, anche tentare di rimanere ancorati al passato lo è.
Dallo scontro di questi due mondi nasce una sorta di terremoto che l'autore racconta in maniera eccellente.
Il romanzo è pieno di personaggi molto vividi, partendo dal protagonista e arrivando fino alle semplici comparse.
Questa vivacità è dovuta ad un talento particolare di Howells nello scrivere dialoghi molto ironici.
L'ironia è parte fondamentale del romanzo; è un terreno di gioco su cui si scontrano interessi e amori. L'ironia si lega al dramma, alla commedia, riuscendo in un intreccio perfetto a raccontare i segreti che i personaggi non svelano in modo diretto. Il talento di uno scrittore sta anche nel fare intuire al lettore quello che sta succedendo, senza dirlo apertamente. Senz'altro William Dean Howells è un autore che riesce molto bene a sussurrare i segreti all'orecchio del lettore.
Nel corso del romanzo si trovano anche piccole perle meta letterarie; ad un certo punto i personaggi citano Howells stesso, ammettendo di conoscerlo come romanziere, e non solo: sostengono che potrebbero trovarsi in uno dei suoi scritti, piuttosto che in un romanzo di Henry James il quale è ritenuto troppo raffinato. Una trovata divertente.
Vengono anche citati altri autori che, palesemente, William Dean Howells apprezzava. Turgenev, ad esempio.
Per quanto riguarda la città di Firenze è effettivamente una protagonista del libro. Dona ad alcune scene una atmosfera magica, intensa, che ovviamente la storia non avrebbe posseduto se fosse stata ambientata altrove. Di particolare misticismo e fascino è la descrizione del Carnevale, con le sue maschere e i suoi balli.
Voglio anche accennare brevemente ai risvolti sociali. Viene fuori l'immagine di una Italia cosmopolita, che accoglie nei suoi salotti uomini e donne provenienti da varie parti d'Europa. E sopratutto molti americani. Questa società vivace e culturalmente aperta è senz'altro bella da osservare, anche se dalle pagine di un libro. Inoltre è interessante osservare il nostro paese dalla prospettiva di altre persone, altri viaggiatori, e scorrere così alcune pagine di storia.
La lettura risulta non solo coinvolgente e spiritosa, di gran compagnia, ma Indian summer è effettivamente un libro scritto molto bene e curato nei minimi particolari. A questo proposito trovo perfette le parole che Gore Vidal ha speso per il romanzo: "Per coloro che sono ancora capaci di leggere romanzi per puro piacere, Indian summer è un libro meraviglioso." Non potrei essere più d'accordo.
July 10, 2014
There are books that stand the test of time. This is not one of them. Despite what you may have heard, 40 is not the new 30 or it wasn’t in 1886 when this anemic little novel was written – 40 was 75. Against a Florentine backdrop, American protagonist Theodore Colville, an absolute fossil at 41, finds himself the romantic target of 20 year old Imogene Graham with her misguided notions of love – namely that it requires equal measures of self-sacrifice and suffering. Absolute catnip in the more capable hands of a James or Wharton, Howells falls flat with overly mannered, unidimensional characters. And it’s not just my opinion, it’s his as evidenced by the following exchange between Colville and Mrs. Amsden:
”Oh, call us a passage from a modern novel,” suggested Colville, if you’re in the romantic mood. One of Mr. James’s.”
“Don’t you think we ought to be rather more of the great world for that? I hardly feel up to Mr. James. I should have said Howells. Only nothing happens in that case!”
My sentiments exactly. Next.
”Oh, call us a passage from a modern novel,” suggested Colville, if you’re in the romantic mood. One of Mr. James’s.”
“Don’t you think we ought to be rather more of the great world for that? I hardly feel up to Mr. James. I should have said Howells. Only nothing happens in that case!”
My sentiments exactly. Next.
December 9, 2012
Henry James with diabetes.
Lina, Effie, Imogene conflict a US bachelor abroad, 1880s. Why are the charming names wasted on diseases? Consider : Syphilis (Witherspoon), Catarrh (Taylor), Diptheria (Ford).
Lina, Effie, Imogene conflict a US bachelor abroad, 1880s. Why are the charming names wasted on diseases? Consider : Syphilis (Witherspoon), Catarrh (Taylor), Diptheria (Ford).
September 13, 2025
Reads like fanfiction! Love triangles, miscommunication, long conversations that circle the same unspoken things time and time again, big parties, self-loathing, etc— enjoyed this but never in a serious way, was amused but ready to be done by the end (more like a 3.5, probably)
UPDATE: I just starting reading The Portrait of a Lady by henry james and immediately like 30 pages in I knew I had to bump this one down to three stars lol
UPDATE: I just starting reading The Portrait of a Lady by henry james and immediately like 30 pages in I knew I had to bump this one down to three stars lol
November 2, 2011
La Florenta, ziaristul Colville, 41 de ani, se intilneste cu o prietena din tinerete, d-na Bowen. In casa acesteia o cunoaste pe tinara Imogen, care se indragosteste de el. Intre cele doua femei, Colville nu are puterea de a discerne. Il ajuta in cele din urma Imogen care, in urma unui accident pe care el il are, isi da seama ca nu-l iubeste. Colville se casatoreste cu d-na Bowen.
Colville: "Vreau sa spun ca indragim atit de mult supranaturalul incit nu ne putem increde in noi insine atunci cind avem impresia ca ni s-a intimplat ceva supranatural. De mi-ar aparea o fantoma i-as cere sa-mi dovedeasca autenticitatea cu cel putin doi martori de nadejde si dezinteresati, mai inainte sa dau crezare propriei versiuni a intimplarii." (p. 78)
D-l Waters: "Nu poti sti niciodata ce zace intr-o tinara fata. Firea ei depinde atit de mult de barbatul a carui soarta o impartaseste." (p. 103)
"Se prabusi in genunchi, cu bratele intinse pe pat - ca o efigie a dezolarii, acea dezolare ce pare sufletului tinar fara margini, dar despre care invata mai tirziu ca isi intinde granita cu mult sub norii negri ce ne ameninta statornic." (p. 167)
D-l Waters: "Dar nu poate exista nici un bine in afara unei vointe puternice. O vointa slaba inseamna nestatornicie. Chiar si cind intentioneaza sa faca binele, se opreste la jumatatea drumului, ceea ce este ingrozitor, deoarece in mod sigur va insela asteptarile cuiva care nadajduia intr-o implinire." (p. 188)
Colville: "Vreau sa spun ca indragim atit de mult supranaturalul incit nu ne putem increde in noi insine atunci cind avem impresia ca ni s-a intimplat ceva supranatural. De mi-ar aparea o fantoma i-as cere sa-mi dovedeasca autenticitatea cu cel putin doi martori de nadejde si dezinteresati, mai inainte sa dau crezare propriei versiuni a intimplarii." (p. 78)
D-l Waters: "Nu poti sti niciodata ce zace intr-o tinara fata. Firea ei depinde atit de mult de barbatul a carui soarta o impartaseste." (p. 103)
"Se prabusi in genunchi, cu bratele intinse pe pat - ca o efigie a dezolarii, acea dezolare ce pare sufletului tinar fara margini, dar despre care invata mai tirziu ca isi intinde granita cu mult sub norii negri ce ne ameninta statornic." (p. 167)
D-l Waters: "Dar nu poate exista nici un bine in afara unei vointe puternice. O vointa slaba inseamna nestatornicie. Chiar si cind intentioneaza sa faca binele, se opreste la jumatatea drumului, ceea ce este ingrozitor, deoarece in mod sigur va insela asteptarile cuiva care nadajduia intr-o implinire." (p. 188)
May 18, 2022
Indian Summer è un romanzo sviluppato in sostanza sul nulla ma che intrattiene piacevolmente il lettore grazie al suo stile molto accattivante e semplice.
Il libro segue un certo Theodore Colville in piena crisi di mezz'età nelle sue piccole avventure amorose ed esistenziali sullo sfondo di una Firenze splendente e luccicante. Il resto è solo una lunga chiacchierata dato che quest'opera ha un tono languido e ozioso ma affascinante al contempo, sebbene appunto la trama sia appoggiata mollemente e stiracchiata su questi morbidi ritmi.
A lettura ultimata, dopo gli ultimi capitoli un po' più sostenuti, si ha l'impressione di aver appena applicato un balsamo ristoratore alla mente, come se avessimo veramente passeggiato tra le caratteristiche ed assolate vie fiorentine insieme al protagonista.
Il libro segue un certo Theodore Colville in piena crisi di mezz'età nelle sue piccole avventure amorose ed esistenziali sullo sfondo di una Firenze splendente e luccicante. Il resto è solo una lunga chiacchierata dato che quest'opera ha un tono languido e ozioso ma affascinante al contempo, sebbene appunto la trama sia appoggiata mollemente e stiracchiata su questi morbidi ritmi.
A lettura ultimata, dopo gli ultimi capitoli un po' più sostenuti, si ha l'impressione di aver appena applicato un balsamo ristoratore alla mente, come se avessimo veramente passeggiato tra le caratteristiche ed assolate vie fiorentine insieme al protagonista.
September 11, 2014
I can see why people mention Henry James when reviewing this book - there is that similar setting down of the minute exchanges between characters, exchanges which seem to add to their misunderstandings rather than clarifying their positions. (I find it somewhat depressing. I'd like to think that talking brings us closer to understanding each other, instead of the reality that we are slathering the misrepresentations over miscommunications like peanut butter on jelly.)However depressing I find it, I actually think it's an important point, and it's made well here.
February 24, 2019
Written in 1886, this is a gentle novel of upper class Americans in Florence, similar to Henry James, who was a friend of Howells.
At the heart of the novel is a love triangle rife with misunderstandings. Theodore Colville is a 41 year old newspaper man who was forced to retire early by the sale of his paper. Unmarried after a broken heart in his 20's, he travels to Florence where he meets Mrs Bowen, an old friend from his youth, now a widow. She is the mother of a 12 year old and chaperone to a 20 year old American girl, Imogene, in Europe for 'finishing' (what a term!).
Colville becomes an intimate friend of the household, and Imogene develops a bit of a crush on the witty older man. He is flattered by the attention from a beautiful young girl, although he finds her shallow and unformed in her opinions. When she behaves imprudently (by standards of the day) he feels obliged to propose marriage to protect her reputation, believing her to be truly in love with him.
At the same time, Mrs Bowen is obviously (to the reader) in love with Colville herself. She starts behaving coldly to her ward and Colville, while waiting to hear from her parents whether they will allow the engagement. Imogene is distraught and confused about her feelings, thinking that she must hold to the engagement rather than breaking Colville's heart a second time. Colville was so afraid of hurting Imogene's feelings that he bends over backwards to act like a younger man, escorting Imogene to nightly social events when he would rather be at home quietly reading.
By today's standards, this could all have been quickly solved by a frank discussion. The situation goes on a little too long, but then is rapidly resolved when they have a carriage accident and he rescues Mrs Bowen and her daughter before Imogene. Imogene returns to America with her parents, who had traveled to Florence to inspect her choice of fiancee. Colville is injured and is nursed back to health by Mrs Bowen, whom he eventually marries.
I enjoyed the descriptions of life among the emigree community of Florence in the 1880's. One of the most endearing characters is an elderly pastor who retired to sunny Florence after many New England winters. He is insightful and gives good advice to Colville, while being slightly otherworldly in his researches about the life and legacy of the firebrand preacher Savanrola.
At the heart of the novel is a love triangle rife with misunderstandings. Theodore Colville is a 41 year old newspaper man who was forced to retire early by the sale of his paper. Unmarried after a broken heart in his 20's, he travels to Florence where he meets Mrs Bowen, an old friend from his youth, now a widow. She is the mother of a 12 year old and chaperone to a 20 year old American girl, Imogene, in Europe for 'finishing' (what a term!).
Colville becomes an intimate friend of the household, and Imogene develops a bit of a crush on the witty older man. He is flattered by the attention from a beautiful young girl, although he finds her shallow and unformed in her opinions. When she behaves imprudently (by standards of the day) he feels obliged to propose marriage to protect her reputation, believing her to be truly in love with him.
At the same time, Mrs Bowen is obviously (to the reader) in love with Colville herself. She starts behaving coldly to her ward and Colville, while waiting to hear from her parents whether they will allow the engagement. Imogene is distraught and confused about her feelings, thinking that she must hold to the engagement rather than breaking Colville's heart a second time. Colville was so afraid of hurting Imogene's feelings that he bends over backwards to act like a younger man, escorting Imogene to nightly social events when he would rather be at home quietly reading.
By today's standards, this could all have been quickly solved by a frank discussion. The situation goes on a little too long, but then is rapidly resolved when they have a carriage accident and he rescues Mrs Bowen and her daughter before Imogene. Imogene returns to America with her parents, who had traveled to Florence to inspect her choice of fiancee. Colville is injured and is nursed back to health by Mrs Bowen, whom he eventually marries.
I enjoyed the descriptions of life among the emigree community of Florence in the 1880's. One of the most endearing characters is an elderly pastor who retired to sunny Florence after many New England winters. He is insightful and gives good advice to Colville, while being slightly otherworldly in his researches about the life and legacy of the firebrand preacher Savanrola.
October 15, 2011
William Dean Howells was way famous back in the day as a writer, magazine editor, literary critic, and best buddy of Mark Twain. He termed himself a realist, which as far as I can make out, means that he was against melodrama of the heaving bosom variety. This is a charming book (and actually does include a couple of heaving bosoms), with real insights into people's flaws and delusions. Howells is an accurate observer - I guess that's where the realism comes in; I had several instances where I recognized a feeling or a situation from my own life described so well that it seemed Howells was speaking directly to me.
The fellow who wrote the introduction in my edition mentioned a certain lack of urgency in Howell's writing, and it's true that the writing can feel leisurely, but in this particular book, it's perfectly suited to the story. Characters drift complacently along, bon mots and witty nonsense at the ready, and Howells lightly ironic writing drifts right along with them. It doesn't have the sturm and drang seriousness of a late Henry James, but I like it all the better for that.
The fellow who wrote the introduction in my edition mentioned a certain lack of urgency in Howell's writing, and it's true that the writing can feel leisurely, but in this particular book, it's perfectly suited to the story. Characters drift complacently along, bon mots and witty nonsense at the ready, and Howells lightly ironic writing drifts right along with them. It doesn't have the sturm and drang seriousness of a late Henry James, but I like it all the better for that.
January 22, 2020
Indian Summer is an 1886 novel by William Dean Howells. Though it was published after The Rise of Silas Lapham, it was written before The Rise of Silas Lapham. The setting for this novel was inspired by a trip Howells had recently taken with his family to Europe. In 1890 Howells called Indian Summer his greatest novel, lots of people seem to agree, these are some of the things I've read about the book:
"One of the most charming and memorable romantic comedies in American literature...... a mellow but realistic story........An exquisite interlude.......Howells keeps you on the hook until the end. Very satisfying."
See, everyone loves this book. Except me of course. Oh it's not that it's a one star book, it would have to be really boring for that, and it wasn't boring (well, ok sometimes it was), my problem with it was that it was...annoying. According to Howells he wanted to create characters who were " honest, ordinary people, as he might find in his strata of society, flawed and well-meaning, good-hearted and self-effacing, bound by the conventions and the restrictions of their day but quietly dreaming of a little local heroism in their souls.” Now I say, if he accomplished what he set out to accomplish, if his characters in this book were ordinary people, then there aren't many ordinary people around that I like much.
Our main character, Theodore Colville is supposed to be all of these things. At the beginning of the novel Theodore Colville has just returned to a scene, Florence, Italy, that played an important part in his life when he was a young man. Keep the words "young man" in mind you'll hear them often enough, either that or "old man". It was here in Florence twenty years ago that he first fell in love, however he suffered a sudden and harsh rejection. He left Florence when his love rejected him and spent the next twenty years in Des Vaches, Indiana, as the editor of the Democratic-Republican, which he bought from his brother. After a bad political move he sells his newspaper and decides to take a long vacation in Italy. Now back in Florence he runs into a person he never thought he would see again: Mrs. Bowen. Mrs. Bowen, whom he once knew as Lina Ridgely, was best friends with the girl who broke Colville’s heart 20 years ago. Mrs. Bowen is now a widow living in Florence with her daughter Effie, and her young ward, 20 year old Imogene Graham.
Colville quickly becomes a favorite with Effie and Imogene, and soon is a regular guest in the home of Mrs. Bowen. Imogene hears the story of how his heart was broken when he was a young man, and she becomes determined to make up for what happened to him. She wants to give him his youth back. Now we have an emotional triangle develop, we have Imogene spending way too much time trying to restore the life of this older man, she talks and acts like the heroine in a romance novel, which perhaps she is. Colville does absolutely nothing to discourage her, he just seems to go along with whatever idea she comes up with next, and Mrs. Bowen is stuck in the middle.
The whole thing is silly. This guy when he was young lived in Florence and fell in love, then when that didn't work out he went to America and lived absolutely alone with no need of female companionship at all until the minute he arrives back in Florence twenty years later, now he has two women in love with him all in the first few chapters? Why can this guy only fall in love in Italy? I also get really tired of hearing how old or young everybody is, especially Coville himself. Of Mrs. Bowen we have:
"She was herself in that moment of life when, to the middle-aged observer, at least, a woman's looks have a charm which is wanting to her earlier bloom. By that time her character has wrought itself more clearly out in her face, and her heart and mind confront you more directly there. It is the youth of her spirit which has come to the surface."
"I never can believe in the lapse of time when I get back to Italy; it always makes me feel as young as when I left it last."
And of Colville:
""You are very kind," said Colville. "I didn't know that I had preserved my youthful beauty to that degree."
"He suppressed a sigh for the inevitable change, but rejoiced that his own youth had fallen in the earlier time"
"He felt a little twinge of rheumatism in his shoulder when he got into his room....."
"Yes; when I was young," he added, catching the gleam in her eye. "When I was twenty-four. A great while ago."
"She has kept me waiting from the beginning of time. So that I have grown grey on my way up to you," he added, by an inspiration. "I was a comparatively young man when Mrs. Bowen first told me she was going to introduce me."
" If I were going to write a novel, I should take an old person for a hero--thirty-five or forty." She looked at Colville, and blushing a little, hastened to add, "I don't believe that they begin to be interesting much before that time."
All this before page 30 of the copy I have, and that's to say almost nothing of how young Imogene is, what a child she is, nothing of the young minister, or the old pastor, and on and on. And Colville, who you would think is absolutely ancient the way he talks is.....41.
Moving on from the age of everyone though, here are some of the most memorable passages to me:
" Do you ever have prophetic dreams?"
"Yes; but they never come true. When they do, I know that I didn't have them."
"I like people to be outspoken--to say everything they think," said the girl, regarding him with a puzzled look.
"Then I foresee that I shall become a favourite," answered Colville. "I say a great deal more than I think."
"Oh, call us a passage from a modern novel," suggested Colville, "if you're in the romantic mood. One of Mr. James's."
"Don't you think we ought to be rather more of the great world for that? I hardly feel up to Mr. James. I should have said Howells. Only nothing happens in that case!"
"Oh, very well; that's the most comfortable way. If it's only Howells, there's no reason why I shouldn't go with Miss Graham to show her the view of Florence from the cypress grove up yonder."
Ok, I'm done, you now have an idea of what the book is about, so go ahead and read it. You're almost certain to like it better than I did. However, I do usually enjoy Howells novels, and as soon as I'm done with this review I'm on to "A Hazard Of New Fortunes", and still looking forward to it, Colville or no Colville.
"One of the most charming and memorable romantic comedies in American literature...... a mellow but realistic story........An exquisite interlude.......Howells keeps you on the hook until the end. Very satisfying."
See, everyone loves this book. Except me of course. Oh it's not that it's a one star book, it would have to be really boring for that, and it wasn't boring (well, ok sometimes it was), my problem with it was that it was...annoying. According to Howells he wanted to create characters who were " honest, ordinary people, as he might find in his strata of society, flawed and well-meaning, good-hearted and self-effacing, bound by the conventions and the restrictions of their day but quietly dreaming of a little local heroism in their souls.” Now I say, if he accomplished what he set out to accomplish, if his characters in this book were ordinary people, then there aren't many ordinary people around that I like much.
Our main character, Theodore Colville is supposed to be all of these things. At the beginning of the novel Theodore Colville has just returned to a scene, Florence, Italy, that played an important part in his life when he was a young man. Keep the words "young man" in mind you'll hear them often enough, either that or "old man". It was here in Florence twenty years ago that he first fell in love, however he suffered a sudden and harsh rejection. He left Florence when his love rejected him and spent the next twenty years in Des Vaches, Indiana, as the editor of the Democratic-Republican, which he bought from his brother. After a bad political move he sells his newspaper and decides to take a long vacation in Italy. Now back in Florence he runs into a person he never thought he would see again: Mrs. Bowen. Mrs. Bowen, whom he once knew as Lina Ridgely, was best friends with the girl who broke Colville’s heart 20 years ago. Mrs. Bowen is now a widow living in Florence with her daughter Effie, and her young ward, 20 year old Imogene Graham.
Colville quickly becomes a favorite with Effie and Imogene, and soon is a regular guest in the home of Mrs. Bowen. Imogene hears the story of how his heart was broken when he was a young man, and she becomes determined to make up for what happened to him. She wants to give him his youth back. Now we have an emotional triangle develop, we have Imogene spending way too much time trying to restore the life of this older man, she talks and acts like the heroine in a romance novel, which perhaps she is. Colville does absolutely nothing to discourage her, he just seems to go along with whatever idea she comes up with next, and Mrs. Bowen is stuck in the middle.
The whole thing is silly. This guy when he was young lived in Florence and fell in love, then when that didn't work out he went to America and lived absolutely alone with no need of female companionship at all until the minute he arrives back in Florence twenty years later, now he has two women in love with him all in the first few chapters? Why can this guy only fall in love in Italy? I also get really tired of hearing how old or young everybody is, especially Coville himself. Of Mrs. Bowen we have:
"She was herself in that moment of life when, to the middle-aged observer, at least, a woman's looks have a charm which is wanting to her earlier bloom. By that time her character has wrought itself more clearly out in her face, and her heart and mind confront you more directly there. It is the youth of her spirit which has come to the surface."
"I never can believe in the lapse of time when I get back to Italy; it always makes me feel as young as when I left it last."
And of Colville:
""You are very kind," said Colville. "I didn't know that I had preserved my youthful beauty to that degree."
"He suppressed a sigh for the inevitable change, but rejoiced that his own youth had fallen in the earlier time"
"He felt a little twinge of rheumatism in his shoulder when he got into his room....."
"Yes; when I was young," he added, catching the gleam in her eye. "When I was twenty-four. A great while ago."
"She has kept me waiting from the beginning of time. So that I have grown grey on my way up to you," he added, by an inspiration. "I was a comparatively young man when Mrs. Bowen first told me she was going to introduce me."
" If I were going to write a novel, I should take an old person for a hero--thirty-five or forty." She looked at Colville, and blushing a little, hastened to add, "I don't believe that they begin to be interesting much before that time."
All this before page 30 of the copy I have, and that's to say almost nothing of how young Imogene is, what a child she is, nothing of the young minister, or the old pastor, and on and on. And Colville, who you would think is absolutely ancient the way he talks is.....41.
Moving on from the age of everyone though, here are some of the most memorable passages to me:
" Do you ever have prophetic dreams?"
"Yes; but they never come true. When they do, I know that I didn't have them."
"I like people to be outspoken--to say everything they think," said the girl, regarding him with a puzzled look.
"Then I foresee that I shall become a favourite," answered Colville. "I say a great deal more than I think."
"Oh, call us a passage from a modern novel," suggested Colville, "if you're in the romantic mood. One of Mr. James's."
"Don't you think we ought to be rather more of the great world for that? I hardly feel up to Mr. James. I should have said Howells. Only nothing happens in that case!"
"Oh, very well; that's the most comfortable way. If it's only Howells, there's no reason why I shouldn't go with Miss Graham to show her the view of Florence from the cypress grove up yonder."
Ok, I'm done, you now have an idea of what the book is about, so go ahead and read it. You're almost certain to like it better than I did. However, I do usually enjoy Howells novels, and as soon as I'm done with this review I'm on to "A Hazard Of New Fortunes", and still looking forward to it, Colville or no Colville.
January 15, 2018
I wanted to like this book, but I didn't very much.
... SPOILERS ...
Well.
What can I say? It was ALMOST satisfactory. It came so close, but then at the final hour, it failed.
I didn't like the characters much, aside from Mrs. Bowen.
And I rejoiced for her strength I refusing Coleville's proposal despite being in love with him. But then she changed her mind because HER DAUGHTER didn't want him to leave?!
I'm sorry, Howells, but Coleville's WAS "too much of a mixture," and a far better work off literature would have found Lina Bowen heartbroken but brave and alone at the end, because he didn't deserve her. He did nothing to prove his affection. Rather he had everything handed to him after making an idiot of himself by accidentally getting engaged to another woman whom he didn't love, and who didn't love him. Everything happens to him. Nothing is purposeful. A woman wants to be shown that she's loved--chosen and invested in.
Ugh. No.
I'd like to see a version of this fully from Lina's point of view and with the ending altered.
... SPOILERS ...
Well.
What can I say? It was ALMOST satisfactory. It came so close, but then at the final hour, it failed.
I didn't like the characters much, aside from Mrs. Bowen.
And I rejoiced for her strength I refusing Coleville's proposal despite being in love with him. But then she changed her mind because HER DAUGHTER didn't want him to leave?!
I'm sorry, Howells, but Coleville's WAS "too much of a mixture," and a far better work off literature would have found Lina Bowen heartbroken but brave and alone at the end, because he didn't deserve her. He did nothing to prove his affection. Rather he had everything handed to him after making an idiot of himself by accidentally getting engaged to another woman whom he didn't love, and who didn't love him. Everything happens to him. Nothing is purposeful. A woman wants to be shown that she's loved--chosen and invested in.
Ugh. No.
I'd like to see a version of this fully from Lina's point of view and with the ending altered.
September 30, 2020
(My ranking of Howells' best novels: https://azleslie.com/posts/howells-ra...)
It would be a tempting but ultimately misleading shorthand to call this "Howells' Jamesian novel" - not least because Howells had been writing about Americans in Europe for over a decade already, because the most appropriate Jamesian analogue wouldn't follow for over a decade, and because Indian Summer represents an important development in Howells style, a kind of swan song for his early period before wholly entering the middle period that began with A Modern Instance. The real reason is that, aside from superficial similarities of scenario, Indian Summer has different interests in different themes than James'. Indian Summer is a novel about change over time, in the lives of its characters and in the passage of its plot, and how this impacts commitments made. Its sentence-to-sentence writing is some of Howells' sharpest, even if it doesn't contain the driving purpose of an underlying moral questions that makes his great novels really shine. But, finally, it's also simply an engaging read - dare I say even a page-turner.
It would be a tempting but ultimately misleading shorthand to call this "Howells' Jamesian novel" - not least because Howells had been writing about Americans in Europe for over a decade already, because the most appropriate Jamesian analogue wouldn't follow for over a decade, and because Indian Summer represents an important development in Howells style, a kind of swan song for his early period before wholly entering the middle period that began with A Modern Instance. The real reason is that, aside from superficial similarities of scenario, Indian Summer has different interests in different themes than James'. Indian Summer is a novel about change over time, in the lives of its characters and in the passage of its plot, and how this impacts commitments made. Its sentence-to-sentence writing is some of Howells' sharpest, even if it doesn't contain the driving purpose of an underlying moral questions that makes his great novels really shine. But, finally, it's also simply an engaging read - dare I say even a page-turner.
August 27, 2016
When I worked in my university's rare book library in college, they had lots of books and papers of an author I had never heard of -- William Dean Howells. I guess Howells must have been big in his time, but he is largely forgotten today. I have thought for years that I should read some of his books so that I could decide for myself whether his works were forgotten classics or rightfully consigned to the dustbins of literary history. My conclusion after reading this book is that the answer is somewhere in between. This was a pretty good book. The characters and their motivations are real and well drawn. Coleville is a good man, who is smart and well-intentioned, but also clumsy, awkward and a little bit lost. The setting in Florence is charming and adds to the story. But the writing lacks the psychological depth of Henry James or Edith Wharton or Theodore Dreiser, and the basic story is a little bit trite. Howells is a decent writer, but when you stand him next to his more talented contemporaries, he looks them in the naval.
Read
March 3, 2025He sort of did a reverse Woody Allen situation…
Overall this is fine. I was engaged by it and it was easy to read. Colville’s interiority is likable enough, but what passes for his playful dialogue is hard to get through, especially in his first few encounters with Imogene. Hard for James not to be at the forefront of one’s mind when reading this so it’s a nice touch that the characters are conscious of their own lives being Jamesian (“‘call us a passage from a modern novel… one of Mr. James’s….’ ‘Don’t you think we ought to be rather more of the great world for that? I hardly feel up to Mr. James. I should have said Howells. Only nothing happens in that case!’”), but that doesn’t prevent one from wishing they were reading a more interesting writer. I think the constantly turning plot is well-conceived enough and had me invested, but the uninspired prose doesn’t impress one all that much.
There’s a few really interesting passages I’d like to return to, such as the ruminations on American expat enclaves recreating America in a colonial fashion and the instance of Morton illustrating his copy of Marble Faun with pictures of Rome (how cliche yet forward thinking, given James’ reissue of his novels nearly twenty years later!), so at least I’ve gotten that out of this.
Overall this is fine. I was engaged by it and it was easy to read. Colville’s interiority is likable enough, but what passes for his playful dialogue is hard to get through, especially in his first few encounters with Imogene. Hard for James not to be at the forefront of one’s mind when reading this so it’s a nice touch that the characters are conscious of their own lives being Jamesian (“‘call us a passage from a modern novel… one of Mr. James’s….’ ‘Don’t you think we ought to be rather more of the great world for that? I hardly feel up to Mr. James. I should have said Howells. Only nothing happens in that case!’”), but that doesn’t prevent one from wishing they were reading a more interesting writer. I think the constantly turning plot is well-conceived enough and had me invested, but the uninspired prose doesn’t impress one all that much.
There’s a few really interesting passages I’d like to return to, such as the ruminations on American expat enclaves recreating America in a colonial fashion and the instance of Morton illustrating his copy of Marble Faun with pictures of Rome (how cliche yet forward thinking, given James’ reissue of his novels nearly twenty years later!), so at least I’ve gotten that out of this.
August 23, 2023
Ho adorato questo romanzo che è giaciuto, intoccato, per un bel po’ nella mia pila dei libri da leggere.
(E quando dico pila intendo più piramide tipo Giza).
È una storia leggera estremamente ben scritta, piena di dialoghi arguti, personaggi deliziosi, e una città, la Firenze degli expat di fine 800, meravigliosa.
Una storia d’amore si, ma anche di crescita personale e affermazione di sé.
(E quando dico pila intendo più piramide tipo Giza).
È una storia leggera estremamente ben scritta, piena di dialoghi arguti, personaggi deliziosi, e una città, la Firenze degli expat di fine 800, meravigliosa.
Una storia d’amore si, ma anche di crescita personale e affermazione di sé.
August 29, 2018
Delightful is a good adjective to describe Howells’ Indian Summer. Here is a lovingly dated novel that, evoking images of past James Ivory’s movies, truly delights and enchants the reader. Howells is not as well known today as he used to be, it seems. It is a pity – and a mistake. If only because of this book, he certainly deserves to be reappraised. A sophisticated, witty, bittersweet exploration of the complications of romance for the middle-age set, and of the forever appealing world of American expats in Italy more than a century ago, this eminently literate, yet light and deliciously refreshing tale, is a perfect summery but fulfilling read, an irresistible comedy of manners. Indian Summer retraces the often funny (but also slightly pathetic) romantic entanglements of Corville, an American man in his forties who has returned to Florence, where in his youth he got his heart broken, and who now gets mixed up, almost despite himself, in a new love affair with a naively impulsive young woman: it is a relationship that he cannot really control and that stops him from realizing who is his real love interest. The reader, naturally, knows better. Indian Summer is brilliantly written by an author who revels in lively dialogues (he’s very good at it) and in shining a light on the complicated emotions that an aging man, who’s not a dupe, may have felt at a time when the rules of society and respectfulness were quite rigid. It is also a sensual, lush evocation of the Italian world and Italian landscape, as Americans journeying through Europe experimented it many decades ago. It is impossible, of course, not to think of the works of E.M. Foster, Edith Wharton, or Henry James, and Howells, who’s got a good sense of humor, knows it: at some point, two of his characters debate if they’re out of a James novel… or a Howells novel! Their exchange is quite funny. James’ book on more or less similar subjects are certainly much deeper, complex, and darker, and James’ mastery of the English language remains unmatched, but that doesn’t take away from Indian Summer’s intelligence, beauty, and grace. Howells’ elaborate writing is absolutely of its time, and may seem contrived to some, but it’s actually quite gorgeous. It also – deliberately or not – underlines some aspects of the predominant culture of its era: a certain sexism in the way men – highly educated men, in fact - think about women, the exhausting requirements of a prude society where fear of sex, scandal, and social faux pas is suffocating, the deeply alluring myth of Italy’s exoticism and eroticism. Florence is almost, in Howell’s book, a paradisiac and necessary escape from the constraints of America, a place of such esthetical and historical importance, of such inherent sensuality and beauty, that anyone who wants to live, really live, needs to come spend some time there, either momentarily or permanently. Howells is not naïve, though: his descriptions of the world of expatriates in the famed city is quite right on target. Indian Summer has so far never been adapted into a movie, but one can see it as one reads the book: a great version would definitely holds its place among previous adaptations of A Room With a View, Angels Fear to Trade, Portrait of a Lady, or Enchanted April.
April 29, 2015
When you think of chroniclers of love, life and American society during the Gilded Age, you automatically think of Henry James and Edith Wharton.
But while W.D. Howells never quite reached their levels of prominence, his similar works are full of quiet introspection and evocative, vivid prose reminiscent of Wharton at her best. And "Indian Summer" is one of his better works -- a lush, colorful exploration of 19th-century Florence, and a love triangle of Americans who are taking a prolonged vacation there.
After a disastrous career loss, Theodore Colville is vacationing in Florence, and promptly begins a massive midlife crisis. But he perks up after encountering Lina Bowen, a widowed ex-flame of his who is also staying in Florence with her young daughter Effie. And at a party that evening, Lina introduces him to the young, vivacious Imogene Graham.
Soon Colville is squiring Effie and Imogene around Florence, and even taking all three women out to the carnival. Naturally, Imogene develops a crush on the kind, cynical Colville -- but her innocent liking alarms Lina, who still is carrying a flame for him, and Imogene's well-intentioned errors tie her in society's web. Noow Colville must decide what he wants most, and which woman truly loves him.
At heart, "Indian Summer" is basically an exploration of a love triangle between an older man, a slightly younger woman, and a girl young enough to be his daughter. That's a delicate situation at the best of times, but this was also the Gilded Age -- codes of conduct were strict, and feelings were expressed in a dance of words and gestures rather than outward displays.
But to frame the story, Howells creates an elaborate portrait of how wealthy Americans lived and saw Europe. In between parties and meditative conversations, there are vivid looks at the Florence of the time -- he fills it with dusty chapels, quiet hostels, walks in the rain, meditations in cafes, gorgeous old buildings and a wildly indulgent carnival full of masked flirtations.
And all this is painted with a lush, detailed style that walks the fine line between sensuality and propriety. Like Imogene, it's full of passion and beauty, but not enough to get swept away. But also through the book is a sense of autumnal regret about youth's passage and the question of what happens after that.
Most of that midlife crisis angst comes from Colville, who has just suffered a public humiliation and had to sell the paper he once ran. So unsurprisingly he's a bit depressed, and ends up being inadvertently torn between the affections of two women -- one is his equal in every way, and the other makes him feel old, yet he likes her youthful vibrancy. Lina is a fairly solid character, but Imogene's naive delight in Florence and in an older man's friendship is excellent.
"Indian Summer" in Florence is apparently a pretty nice time to be there, unless you are locked in a love triangle of manners and hidden feelings. A lushly-written look back to a much more complicated time.
But while W.D. Howells never quite reached their levels of prominence, his similar works are full of quiet introspection and evocative, vivid prose reminiscent of Wharton at her best. And "Indian Summer" is one of his better works -- a lush, colorful exploration of 19th-century Florence, and a love triangle of Americans who are taking a prolonged vacation there.
After a disastrous career loss, Theodore Colville is vacationing in Florence, and promptly begins a massive midlife crisis. But he perks up after encountering Lina Bowen, a widowed ex-flame of his who is also staying in Florence with her young daughter Effie. And at a party that evening, Lina introduces him to the young, vivacious Imogene Graham.
Soon Colville is squiring Effie and Imogene around Florence, and even taking all three women out to the carnival. Naturally, Imogene develops a crush on the kind, cynical Colville -- but her innocent liking alarms Lina, who still is carrying a flame for him, and Imogene's well-intentioned errors tie her in society's web. Noow Colville must decide what he wants most, and which woman truly loves him.
At heart, "Indian Summer" is basically an exploration of a love triangle between an older man, a slightly younger woman, and a girl young enough to be his daughter. That's a delicate situation at the best of times, but this was also the Gilded Age -- codes of conduct were strict, and feelings were expressed in a dance of words and gestures rather than outward displays.
But to frame the story, Howells creates an elaborate portrait of how wealthy Americans lived and saw Europe. In between parties and meditative conversations, there are vivid looks at the Florence of the time -- he fills it with dusty chapels, quiet hostels, walks in the rain, meditations in cafes, gorgeous old buildings and a wildly indulgent carnival full of masked flirtations.
And all this is painted with a lush, detailed style that walks the fine line between sensuality and propriety. Like Imogene, it's full of passion and beauty, but not enough to get swept away. But also through the book is a sense of autumnal regret about youth's passage and the question of what happens after that.
Most of that midlife crisis angst comes from Colville, who has just suffered a public humiliation and had to sell the paper he once ran. So unsurprisingly he's a bit depressed, and ends up being inadvertently torn between the affections of two women -- one is his equal in every way, and the other makes him feel old, yet he likes her youthful vibrancy. Lina is a fairly solid character, but Imogene's naive delight in Florence and in an older man's friendship is excellent.
"Indian Summer" in Florence is apparently a pretty nice time to be there, unless you are locked in a love triangle of manners and hidden feelings. A lushly-written look back to a much more complicated time.
September 16, 2007
The destination is quite discernible early on, but that does not mean that the journey cannot be enjoyable.
I had never heard of Howell prior to coming across this book, but apparently, as a contemporary of James, he was quite well know. He is not widely read anymore, which is a shame for his story his charming and his prose is lively.
The book is a romantic comedy of errors, misguided actions by well-meaning people, heaps of misunderstandings, stiff conventions of the time forcing people's hands -- and finally: a long-overdue happy ending a good thirty years in the making. It makes for a bit of handwringing personally; several times throughout the story I felt like shouting: "no, you idiot, don't be such a martyr", "just talk to each other", "you are blind" and the ever popular "oh for crying out loud". (Coincidentally, a friend of mine had the same reaction.)
And than there is Florence. The setting is as much a protagonist and romantic player as Theodore, Lina and Imogene. Having visited Florence myself, I enjoyed following them along on their strolls through the streets and gardens of Florence. More than a century have passed and yet so much is still recognizable.
It is not as good as E.M Forster's 'Room With a View', but Forster's book also happens to be one of my all-time favorites (and one of the view instances, where the movie perfectly captures the charm and intensity of the book), and many a story would find it difficult to live up to it.
I had never heard of Howell prior to coming across this book, but apparently, as a contemporary of James, he was quite well know. He is not widely read anymore, which is a shame for his story his charming and his prose is lively.
The book is a romantic comedy of errors, misguided actions by well-meaning people, heaps of misunderstandings, stiff conventions of the time forcing people's hands -- and finally: a long-overdue happy ending a good thirty years in the making. It makes for a bit of handwringing personally; several times throughout the story I felt like shouting: "no, you idiot, don't be such a martyr", "just talk to each other", "you are blind" and the ever popular "oh for crying out loud". (Coincidentally, a friend of mine had the same reaction.)
And than there is Florence. The setting is as much a protagonist and romantic player as Theodore, Lina and Imogene. Having visited Florence myself, I enjoyed following them along on their strolls through the streets and gardens of Florence. More than a century have passed and yet so much is still recognizable.
It is not as good as E.M Forster's 'Room With a View', but Forster's book also happens to be one of my all-time favorites (and one of the view instances, where the movie perfectly captures the charm and intensity of the book), and many a story would find it difficult to live up to it.
September 18, 2014
Interesting letter from Mark Twain included in Tony Tanner introduction:
When Mark Twain had finished reading the second installment of Indian Summer, he wrote to his old friend, William Dean Howells.
"You are my only author; I am restricted to you; I wouldn’t give a damn for the rest…I have just read Part II of Indian Summer, & to my mind there isn’t a waste line it, or one that could be improved. I read it yesterday, ending with that opinion; and read it again today, ending with the same opinion emphasized …It is a beautiful story & makes a body laugh all the time, & cry inside, & feel so old, & so forlorn; and gives him gracious glimpses of his lost youth that fill him with a measureless regret, & build up in him a cloudy sense of having been a prince, once, in some enchanted far-off land, & being in exile now, & desolate—& lord, no chance ever to get back there again! That is the thing that hurts. Well, you have done it with marvelous facility—and you make all the motives & feelings perfectly clear without analyzing the guts out of them, the way George Eliot does."
When Mark Twain had finished reading the second installment of Indian Summer, he wrote to his old friend, William Dean Howells.
"You are my only author; I am restricted to you; I wouldn’t give a damn for the rest…I have just read Part II of Indian Summer, & to my mind there isn’t a waste line it, or one that could be improved. I read it yesterday, ending with that opinion; and read it again today, ending with the same opinion emphasized …It is a beautiful story & makes a body laugh all the time, & cry inside, & feel so old, & so forlorn; and gives him gracious glimpses of his lost youth that fill him with a measureless regret, & build up in him a cloudy sense of having been a prince, once, in some enchanted far-off land, & being in exile now, & desolate—& lord, no chance ever to get back there again! That is the thing that hurts. Well, you have done it with marvelous facility—and you make all the motives & feelings perfectly clear without analyzing the guts out of them, the way George Eliot does."
September 1, 2010
I had a little difficulty getting into this comedy of manners and middle age, as it has a slow start, but once in I thoroughly enjoyed it. Wordy like Henry James but more witty and in some cases out and out funny. Somehow though, not quite the quality of James, although I can't put my finger on why. I like his middle-aged main character, a man returning to Florence in the 1890s, after spending years in the midwest US publishing a newspaper. In Florence, he re-establishes a friendship with the best friend of the woman who had jilted him in Florence 20 years earlier. She is now a widow and a society matron, educating her little girl abroad. And she has a charge, a young woman visiting Florence for her first time, earnest and starry-eyed. The three of them form a mannerly but flirtatious triangle that keeps Florence's English-speaking society guessing.
February 6, 2013
This is a terrific novel. Compared to some of Howells's other work (_A Modern Instance_, _The Rise of Silas Lapham_) the level of satire is almost nonexistent. This book is clearly an attempt to create a James-ian novel and, while he is not nearly as talented as Henry James, Howells does a very good job of creating a realistic work that succeeds largely because of the moral complexity of the problems encountered by the characters, the interest of the situation, and the psychology that drives the characters in their actions (most of the success of this latter reason is due to the author leaving motivations relatively unconscious and thus unstated in his text). This novel was a great surprise to me, and I would imagine it is relatively underrated in the critical evaluation of Howells's works.
September 21, 2016
Poor Colville, at 41 when the Indian Summer of his years should have been the most fulfilling, everything seems to be going wrong--he ruins his successful newspaper career and while traveling through Florence Italy, the site where once his youthful heart had been so broken that he never again had a romantic relationship, he finds himself with two extraordinary women in love with him. What begins as three Americans meeting in Italy and having a great time together deteriorates, when love enters the equation, into quarreling and misery and then he finds himself trapped in an engagement with the wrong one! What to do? This can't end well for anyone and everything this poor bungler does seems to make matters worse! Although slow-starting and slow-moving, this old-time romance filled with humor, beauty, heartache, and witty dialogue ended up proving itself an utter delight.
August 29, 2017
I would definitely call this a summer reading.
It is soft, and it is quiet, and it gives you time to know the characters, to like them. Not too many things happen, the action is not very dynamic, and every gesture, every though is so peacefully explained and analyzed.
All characters are " good persons" and you cannot not like them. Colville is weak I think, or he does not know himself well enough, he hardly ever sees what is right for him, even when others are pointing it out, but you understand him and live with him .
The rhythm of the action and the classic traits of the characters made me feel I was reading an old story, about old and nice times.
It did not amaze me, it did not make me think too much about it once the book was closed, but I knew every time I open the book I will slip into that relaxed state and everything around will be moving a little bit slower.
It is soft, and it is quiet, and it gives you time to know the characters, to like them. Not too many things happen, the action is not very dynamic, and every gesture, every though is so peacefully explained and analyzed.
All characters are " good persons" and you cannot not like them. Colville is weak I think, or he does not know himself well enough, he hardly ever sees what is right for him, even when others are pointing it out, but you understand him and live with him .
The rhythm of the action and the classic traits of the characters made me feel I was reading an old story, about old and nice times.
It did not amaze me, it did not make me think too much about it once the book was closed, but I knew every time I open the book I will slip into that relaxed state and everything around will be moving a little bit slower.
January 26, 2011
Charming late 19th century romance of errors, set in Florence where a 41 year old American bachelor has come to revisit the scene of his earlier disappointment in love and have his midlife crisis. He finds himself torn between the the wrong girl and the right woman and will the characters make use of their circumstances to grow up? Contemporaries Henry James and Edith Wharton have reputations that tower over Howells, but Indian Summer is a sweet, reflective and delicately observed novel, worth reading on its own merits.
June 21, 2017
Oh Mr. Coville, what will you do? William Dean Howells' beautifully written 'Indian Summer' makes me jealous that I never visited Florence in my 40's. Well, maybe not jealous but it sounds amazing. Howells places the reader in this setting and period with such ease and beauty that one is transfixed. Did I see the ending coming? Honestly, no. But I was moved by the comedy, the real ness that each of these characters convey and this place. It reads like an amazing adventure.
October 13, 2010
Indian Summer is the first book I read which was recommended by Noel Perrin. It is set in Florence in the late 19th century, and is about an American man going through a mid-life crisis and torn between two women. It is a wonderfully diverting comedy of manners, much on the order of Jane Austen. After I read this book, I decided that I would try nearly everything Perrin recommends.
September 5, 2011
A fine romance and comedy by Howells, set in Florence, that makes me think of my own middle-age (and wish to be half as clever as the character Colville). It is good that romances do not all involve twenty year olds, though one complicates this story immensely. From Noel Perrin's recommendation in A Reader's Delight.
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