El retrato de una dama (El libro de bolsillo - Literatura)

by Henry James, María Luisa Balseiro (translator)

Considerada una de las obras maestras de Henry James (1843-1916), El retrato de una dama -una «historia sencilla»- gira en torno a la joven e inteligente, a la vez que presuntuosa, Isabel Archer, quien se ve obligada a trasladarse a Inglaterra desde su Estados Unidos natal. Una vez allí, establece distintas relaciones con otros americanos trasplantados, así como con la sociedad británica. La belleza y distinción de las que hace gala no pasan inadvertidas y son varios y de distinta laya los que la pretenden. Su elección final la llevará, paradójicamente, a poner de manifiesto toda su grandeza. La armonía y ligereza de la composición, la corriente soterrada de misterio y el carácter atractivo de la historia que se cuenta hacen de esta obra uno de los grandes monumentos literarios de la narrativa anglosajona.

Traducción y notas de María Luisa Balseiro

802 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 14, 2023

About the author

Henry James was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.
He is best known for his novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, the English, and continental Europeans, such as The Portrait of a Lady. His later works, such as The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character's psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his late works have been compared to Impressionist painting.
His novella The Turn of the Screw has garnered a reputation as the most analysed and ambiguous ghost story in the English language and remains his most widely adapted work in other media. He wrote other highly regarded ghost stories, such as "The Jolly Corner".
James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, James largely relocated to Europe as a young man, and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, a year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916. Jorge Luis Borges said "I have visited some literatures of East and West; I have compiled an encyclopedic compendium of fantastic literature; I have translated Kafka, Melville, and Bloy; I know of no stranger work than that of Henry James."

Reviews

[Claracristela · Rating 4 out of 5]

La protagonista, Isabel Archer, es una joven americana culta, con poco dinero y una alta consideración de sí misma. Ella quiere vivir su vida, quiere ser libre e independiente, no necesita consejo de nadie… pero cuando inesperadamente recibe la herencia de su tío acaba por tomar la decisión más errónea que cabía esperar, ante la mirada horrorizada de los que realmente la aprecian. Todo ello enmarcado por una serie de personajes bastante irritantes, pero muy representativos de esa clase alta que en el s.XIX recorría Europa para ilustrarse, viviendo de rentas y sin dar un palo al agua. Aparte de la evolución de la propia Isabel es destacable el cambio que a los ojos del lector se produce en otras dos de las mujeres que la rodean: Henrietta Stackpole, que pasa de presentársenos como una periodista americana deslenguada y maleducada a ser el palo al que se agarran tanto Isabel como Ralph al final de la novela, y Madame Merle, que de ser la dama perfecta se convierte en epítome del cálculo y la falsedad. Muy buena la traducción y las notas de María Luisa Balseiro. Y ese final que no es final…