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Watch and Ward
The rare original version of 'Watch and Ward' by acclaimed author, Henry James, as it appeared in The Atlantic Monthly from August to December of 1871. A book version was later published in 1878, in which James made hundreds of revisions. Henry James is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.
Wealthy Roger Lawrence adopts twelve-year-old Nora Lambert after her father kills himself in the hotel room next to Lawrence's. Roger had refused financial assistance to the man, and he feels remorse. Nora is not a pretty child but she soon starts to develop, as does Roger's idea of eventually marrying her.
Unfortunately for Roger, once Nora matures into a beautiful young woman, she is attracted to two other men: worthless George Fenton and the somewhat hypocritical minister, Hubert Lawrence (Roger's cousin).
After various adventures Nora winds up in the clutches of Fenton in New York...
A poignant story of unfulfilled lives and lost love!
Wealthy Roger Lawrence adopts twelve-year-old Nora Lambert after her father kills himself in the hotel room next to Lawrence's. Roger had refused financial assistance to the man, and he feels remorse. Nora is not a pretty child but she soon starts to develop, as does Roger's idea of eventually marrying her.
Unfortunately for Roger, once Nora matures into a beautiful young woman, she is attracted to two other men: worthless George Fenton and the somewhat hypocritical minister, Hubert Lawrence (Roger's cousin).
After various adventures Nora winds up in the clutches of Fenton in New York...
A poignant story of unfulfilled lives and lost love!
207 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1871
15 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Henry James
4,583 books3,952 followersHenry 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."
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."
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December 21, 2023
Free download available at Project Gutenberg
“Watch and Ward” first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in the year 1871. It has now been minutely revised, and has received many verbal alterations.
April, 1878.
4* Daisy Miller
3* Novels 1881–1886: Washington Square / The Portrait of a Lady / The Bostonians
3* Washington Square
4* The Ambassadors
4* The Turn of the Screw
4* The Wings of the Dove
4* The Portrait of a Lady
2* The Bostonians
2* The Real Thing
4* The Aspern Papers
4* The Turn of the Screw
3* What Maisie Knew
4* A Little Tour in France
3* The Madonna of the Future
2* Lady Barbarina and Other Tales
4* The Beast in the Jungle
3* The Jolly Corner
3* The Art of Fiction
3* Roderick Hudson
3* Henry James: A Life in Letters
4* The American
3* The Ivory Tower
4* The Sense of the Past
4* The private life
4* Gabrielle de Bergerac
4* A landscape painter
4* Portraits of Places
4* Watch and Ward
TR The Golden Bowl
TR The Italian Hours
TR The Princess Casamassima
About Henry James:
4* Henry James at Work - The Hogarth Essays by Theodora Bosanquet
3* The Real Henry James by Phillip Horne
TR Henry James by Rebecca West
“Watch and Ward” first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in the year 1871. It has now been minutely revised, and has received many verbal alterations.
April, 1878.
4* Daisy Miller
3* Novels 1881–1886: Washington Square / The Portrait of a Lady / The Bostonians
3* Washington Square
4* The Ambassadors
4* The Turn of the Screw
4* The Wings of the Dove
4* The Portrait of a Lady
2* The Bostonians
2* The Real Thing
4* The Aspern Papers
4* The Turn of the Screw
3* What Maisie Knew
4* A Little Tour in France
3* The Madonna of the Future
2* Lady Barbarina and Other Tales
4* The Beast in the Jungle
3* The Jolly Corner
3* The Art of Fiction
3* Roderick Hudson
3* Henry James: A Life in Letters
4* The American
3* The Ivory Tower
4* The Sense of the Past
4* The private life
4* Gabrielle de Bergerac
4* A landscape painter
4* Portraits of Places
4* Watch and Ward
TR The Golden Bowl
TR The Italian Hours
TR The Princess Casamassima
About Henry James:
4* Henry James at Work - The Hogarth Essays by Theodora Bosanquet
3* The Real Henry James by Phillip Horne
TR Henry James by Rebecca West
May 3, 2017
I am enjoying reading first novels by some of my favorite authors and of course Henry James is one of many. I find it interesting especially if you have read later novels by an author, how their first novel compares to the later ones. Some mention that this does seem like his style but it seemed like Henry James to me. I read the Delphi collection edition which is the first edition book published in 1878, but it came out as a serial in 1871 via The Atlantic Monthly. He revised it many times over the years. Nora's journey through life reminds me of Edith Wharton's Summer with similar issues of a young girl being brought up by an older man not their natural father. It seems quite strange to modern day readers of older men and younger girls but the times were different and also the sexuality was not present but more of companionship. I am once again looking at this as a great read for readers who love classic stories especially a Henry James fan but by many reviews I am in the minority of giving this 5 stars but I loved it nonetheless. If interested in my public beta highlights and notes it is under the Delphi collections.
March 14, 2021
Fairly sure this is the 2nd edition
(the first can be found in a deMarque James complete collection.) The presentation is excellent, the work’s basic idea/driving plot is disturbing and I do not mean that as a compliment- but I was warned of this by Kaplan in his James biography. That said, if you can compartmentalize some, there’s more than enough to enjoy in the detail, the characterization, in reading what in many ways is a fairly good first novel by a very good author. So...
(the first can be found in a deMarque James complete collection.) The presentation is excellent, the work’s basic idea/driving plot is disturbing and I do not mean that as a compliment- but I was warned of this by Kaplan in his James biography. That said, if you can compartmentalize some, there’s more than enough to enjoy in the detail, the characterization, in reading what in many ways is a fairly good first novel by a very good author. So...
June 18, 2012
When reading Henry James’s first novel, one might be ready to compare the main character Roger to that other Roger from Trollope’s The Way We Live Now. In some ways, both Rogers are similar in the fact that both are in love with much younger girls. However, I think that is also where the similarities end. Trollope’s Roger is an insipid character—dull and morose, someone who ultimately does what he can for the good of others through an act of personal sacrifice. From what I remember, Trollope himself stated that Roger’s character should not be regarded as a main interest for his story...that a true reader’s focus should be centered on those self-centered roguish types, like Melmotte and Sir Felix, who try their best to make a gain from a corrupt society.
On the other hand, Henry James’ Roger is actually rather interesting as a character. James provides Roger with a strong backbone, ready to weather any storm that may come his way and adapt accordingly. Yes, his heart and his mind are grounded upon his own desires and future outcomes, yet he is not portrayed as an immoral, corrupt or clingy individual. His interests are genuine, without appearing self-centered. Roger cares for his ward and wants the best for her, whatever fate she may choose. Unlike Trollope’s Roger, James’ Roger won’t be making a martyr’s sacrifice. James’ Roger lays out his cards and patiently waits for the outcome.
James also provides an interesting take on the ward’s story. Nora’s story is akin to the ugly duckling tale. Our plain and awkward duck becomes a beautiful swan, who is ready to become initiated into society. However, it is society that ultimately helps Nora decide her fate. As Trollope illustrated in his later novel, Henry James, here, portrays society as a corrupt entity—a place where only the strongest are able to successfully play society’s games.
Even though this is a relatively short work, I ultimately think that for James’ first novel, Watch and Ward is a very good book and one that I really enjoyed reading.
On the other hand, Henry James’ Roger is actually rather interesting as a character. James provides Roger with a strong backbone, ready to weather any storm that may come his way and adapt accordingly. Yes, his heart and his mind are grounded upon his own desires and future outcomes, yet he is not portrayed as an immoral, corrupt or clingy individual. His interests are genuine, without appearing self-centered. Roger cares for his ward and wants the best for her, whatever fate she may choose. Unlike Trollope’s Roger, James’ Roger won’t be making a martyr’s sacrifice. James’ Roger lays out his cards and patiently waits for the outcome.
James also provides an interesting take on the ward’s story. Nora’s story is akin to the ugly duckling tale. Our plain and awkward duck becomes a beautiful swan, who is ready to become initiated into society. However, it is society that ultimately helps Nora decide her fate. As Trollope illustrated in his later novel, Henry James, here, portrays society as a corrupt entity—a place where only the strongest are able to successfully play society’s games.
Even though this is a relatively short work, I ultimately think that for James’ first novel, Watch and Ward is a very good book and one that I really enjoyed reading.
August 1, 2021
Henry James first published and later disowned novel is, as first novels go, a fascinating mishmash, a starting point that allows the reader to understand how far James later developed as a writer.
For our times, its premise is extremely disquieting, a twenty five year old rich gentleman of leisure takes a twelve year old orphan as a ward and future wife to be, just after her father blows his brains out holding her by his side. Its disturbing freudian and borderline paedophile implications and its reflection of late nineteenth century gender imbalances would be perverse in other hands, but there is an unreal fairy-tale like substratum to the novel which helps the reader steer clear of looking very closely at what in our times is more pyschopathology than quaint bygone mores. The novel brings out echoes of the Pygmalion and Galatea myth, but it is not a statue that comes to life but a helpless, orphan child that is deliberately molded during six or ten years to become a perfect society wife for her "protector"; in our times it is hard to see this as other than an unforgivable and monstruous male conceit. The fairy-tale echoes include a three possible suitors plot set-up, two of which ultimately represent different kinds of "smiling villains", whose initially attractive facades hide pits of hypocrisy, weakness, shallowness on the one hand, and vulgarity and crassness and egotism on the other.
I would recommend reading this novel only after you have developed an appreciation for more mature Henry James novels and simply out of curiosity to see James' beginnings as a writer, or if you happen to like somewhat modest and relatively controlled Victorian melodrama.
For our times, its premise is extremely disquieting, a twenty five year old rich gentleman of leisure takes a twelve year old orphan as a ward and future wife to be, just after her father blows his brains out holding her by his side. Its disturbing freudian and borderline paedophile implications and its reflection of late nineteenth century gender imbalances would be perverse in other hands, but there is an unreal fairy-tale like substratum to the novel which helps the reader steer clear of looking very closely at what in our times is more pyschopathology than quaint bygone mores. The novel brings out echoes of the Pygmalion and Galatea myth, but it is not a statue that comes to life but a helpless, orphan child that is deliberately molded during six or ten years to become a perfect society wife for her "protector"; in our times it is hard to see this as other than an unforgivable and monstruous male conceit. The fairy-tale echoes include a three possible suitors plot set-up, two of which ultimately represent different kinds of "smiling villains", whose initially attractive facades hide pits of hypocrisy, weakness, shallowness on the one hand, and vulgarity and crassness and egotism on the other.
I would recommend reading this novel only after you have developed an appreciation for more mature Henry James novels and simply out of curiosity to see James' beginnings as a writer, or if you happen to like somewhat modest and relatively controlled Victorian melodrama.
September 9, 2012
This is Henry James' first novel, a work which he subsequently disowned, asserting that Roderick Hudson was his first novel. It's hard to understand why he would distance himself from Watch and Ward, as it is a perfectly fine work which already displays his subject matter and writing style effectively.
Staying at a hotel in 1870s America, Roger Lawrence refuses to assist a stranger's pleas for financial assistance. The stranger, Lambert subsequently commits suicide in his hotel room, leaving his daughter Nora an orphan. Lawrence feels a moral obligation to raise the child and conceives the notion that he could ultimately marry her, with her agreement, when she has grown up. The consequences of this notion form the dramatic backbone of the book.
I never find Henry James easy to read, even his purportedly simpler early works. His writing style demands great concentration, but the efforts are always rewarded with great literature.
Staying at a hotel in 1870s America, Roger Lawrence refuses to assist a stranger's pleas for financial assistance. The stranger, Lambert subsequently commits suicide in his hotel room, leaving his daughter Nora an orphan. Lawrence feels a moral obligation to raise the child and conceives the notion that he could ultimately marry her, with her agreement, when she has grown up. The consequences of this notion form the dramatic backbone of the book.
I never find Henry James easy to read, even his purportedly simpler early works. His writing style demands great concentration, but the efforts are always rewarded with great literature.
March 7, 2014
James's first novel is quite obviously a first novel. It reads through the first half like two or three short stories patched imperfectly together; by the time the novel winds up it has turned into a rather silly melodrama (with kind of a creepy edge to it, by today's standards: a young man bringing up an orphan with the express intention of making her his wife when she grows up? Eww...). It's entertaining enough, but it often shows the influence of William Dean Howells, James's friend and publisher at _The Atlantic_. This would make a rather good Howells novel, but it isn't one of James's best.
December 6, 2020
James’s Lolita/Pygmalion novel. Bizarre little story centered on the quasi-incestuous, semi-pedophiliac relationship between a young girl and the man who adopts her (who also happens to be partially responsible for the death of the girl’s father). Clumsy prose and laughably melodramatic set ups. I’m as big a James fan as anyone but, man, this one was a tough go.
December 29, 2014
"Are you using me simply as a vulgar tool? Don't you care for me the least little bit? Let me suggest that for a girl in your-your ambiguous position, you are too proud, by several shades. Don't go back to Roger in a hurry! You're not the unspotted maiden you were but two short days ago. Who am I, what am I, to the people whose opinion you care for? A very low fellow, madam; and yet with me you've gone far to cast your lot. If you're not prepared to do more, you should have done less.
Nora, Nora," he went on, breaking into a vein none the less revolting for being more ardent, "I confess I don't understand you! But the more you puzzle me the more you fascinate me; and the less you like me the more I love you. What has there been between you and Lawrence? Hang me if I can understand! Are you an angel of purity, or are you the most audacious of flirts?" Chapter 11, p.152.
Nora, Nora," he went on, breaking into a vein none the less revolting for being more ardent, "I confess I don't understand you! But the more you puzzle me the more you fascinate me; and the less you like me the more I love you. What has there been between you and Lawrence? Hang me if I can understand! Are you an angel of purity, or are you the most audacious of flirts?" Chapter 11, p.152.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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October 28, 2021Reminds me of the second- and third-tier Wilkie Collins novels I've read in that it feels extremely stage-bound, with two characters talking to each other about something that has happened off stage. You can see some of James's later powers of characterization at work in spite of that. There, I have written two sentences about this novel without talking about the totally wild plot.
One sentence about the specifics of the totally wild plot: James weirdly seems more concerned about what's going on than any of his characters, and very intentionally but not necessarily successfully contrives a situation by which the "ward" part of the novel is separated from the ending.
One other sentence: Very funny that James chose to end this one happily ever after considering how infrequently he goes that route in more conventional circumstances.
One sentence about the specifics of the totally wild plot: James weirdly seems more concerned about what's going on than any of his characters, and very intentionally but not necessarily successfully contrives a situation by which the "ward" part of the novel is separated from the ending.
One other sentence: Very funny that James chose to end this one happily ever after considering how infrequently he goes that route in more conventional circumstances.
August 30, 2019
Poor Nora is the poster child for the way patriarchal society crushed the soul of women. In our times, Nora would have a proper education, be able to have a job and support herself. None of this oddly creepy drama would've ensued.
I am sorry for Roger, but the not-so-faint smell of pedophilia bothered me so much that I nearly gave this book up. Besides, he's weak, cowardly, manipulating and needy. And that is the BEST man in the entire story. So, I guess that tells you all you need to know.
On a positive note, I enjoyed the writing, even if it was clunky at times. My edition had lots of typos, for some reason, but that was merely a distraction.
I am sorry for Roger, but the not-so-faint smell of pedophilia bothered me so much that I nearly gave this book up. Besides, he's weak, cowardly, manipulating and needy. And that is the BEST man in the entire story. So, I guess that tells you all you need to know.
On a positive note, I enjoyed the writing, even if it was clunky at times. My edition had lots of typos, for some reason, but that was merely a distraction.
March 11, 2024
This novel is, from today's perspective, quite disturbing. First of all, its plot revolves around what is now called grooming and which has become a right-wing bugaboo associated with what they call the gay life-stye in a hilarious blending of misunderstood words on their part. Well, stop the presses! According to old Henry James--and he outta know!--grooming is more rightly the habit of rich white men. Hannity will be so relieved. He will think it's ok then, sweetly paternal and all that.
Still, those of us with brains will continue to be disturbed, especially because the novel's end signals that it's all okay since the man in questions is a really good guy in every way except for this one slight peccadillo--that he adopted a little orphan girl and raised her up to be the (his!) ideal wife. Ever the critical thinker, let me pause to consider this anew to see if I'm not simply falling into prejudice here. What's wrong with the scenario? Roger is less than a decade older than Nora, so it's not at all an unknown or uncommon age difference after all. Plus experience tells me that we do grow fond of people we have known a long time, thus a protector/guardian/friendship relationship of this kind might indeed be a kind of love, no? Sure, but there's also power and paternity, chains that shackle us to certain societal rules--fathers are fathers, husbands are different. thus, no matter how sweet or kind Roger is, the facts are he acts as Nora's surrogate father (or big brother at the very least) and then expects her to be able to somehow shift him from that category to the husband category when she comes of age. This is pretty much heinous by any standard I can think of and I'm angry at the editors of this novel who feel they can simply ascribe such things to another time. I'd betcha a bundle of loot there were plenty of (middle and working class) people around who saw this kind of rich person BS for what it was at the time and called it out.
So, is James's novel calling it out, you ask? Is he writing an anti-grooming novel?
Interestingly, I can't really say that he is, the novel's tone heavily implies that he is not. While this is certainly, to me, a moral failing of the text, it could also easily be flipped to praise James's realism. The novel's narration is detached enough to simply present the story. However, as I said above, the seemingly happy ending would seem to condone Roger's heinous plan on the grounds that a) He's such a good man he'd make any women a great husband--which is a little bit like condoning royalty because the king might be a good guy (God help us if he's the usual psychopath though) and b) All of the other men in the novel (all of the other men whom Nora might marry are, in their various ways, despicable. Roger, in the end, is the best she can do.
Still, is this novel worth reading for things that James probably had no idea he was writing? Yes! Whether or not the narratives condones or damns grooming we are left to read it as we please so I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to think about grooming while reading a novel's depiction of it. When I first heard the Hannity crowd complaining about this gay practice I tweeted something along the lines of it sounded absurd to me that someone would invest years of effort on the off chance that they might get laid like a decade down the line. Of course I was attacked by my fellow liberals who claim it happens all the time--but mostly to women. Obviously it's sex that's not about sex per se (which shows how short sighted and hedonistic I am I guess), or even pedophilia, but rather a mentality that seeks to somehow blend paternalism, power and influence with a dedicated sex servant/partner. I happy such thing was beyond my imagining, but I guess I sort of get it now. If Roger then were to be an example of such a mentality, the novel fails as, as has been stressed here and by the novel itself, other than this one idea he's otherwise, as one character says, "The only good man in the world." Thus the novel redeems him. I don't, thus the happy ending was for me a tragedy of sorts--which leads me to the Marxist aspects of the novel, which are also fascinating!
This novel is so bourgeois it depicts poverty as a very scary and tawdry place indeed! Nora, when she finally understands the social experiment that's been her whole life, reacts understandably with horror and flees her guardian. Into a world of normal working people who can only terrify this orphan raised to the manner by a wealthy Bostonian who's spent the last year being presented in Rome. All of the poor people here--from out of work men sitting in a shelter for heat to a slatternly landlady--make the young woman cringe. What choice does she have other than to return to and wed her guardian once the only two other men she's ever known well turn out to be utter scoundrels, one for money the other because of an inflated ego? None at all.
Again, the novel was, to me, a tragedy. In this it reminded me of Machiavelli's La Mandragola, in which the seduction of the heroine is supposed to be lighthearted and funny since everyone in the world sees it as just and proper that she should betray her decrepit husband with the handsome young suitor. But the fact that her honor is more important to her than the sex, her capitulation--although by all natural law just and more normal than her phony marriage--I can only see it as non-consensual and self-image destroying. How we construct our own behavior (our moral compass or code of ethics) matters to us at least as much as sexual pleasure. Poor Nora in this novel has agency only through a path of near self-destruction and she is raised in a such a way as to have no tools at all to undertake the struggle that path through poverty would entail. She is helpless to avoid her fate, and that is sad indeed--even if that fate is to marry a good man. Would you rather marry a good man because you had no other option or choose to marry a man who might not be good at all? I think you would prefer to chose, anyone would. We hate it when things are forced upon us, no matter how good they appear to be from the outside.
Still, those of us with brains will continue to be disturbed, especially because the novel's end signals that it's all okay since the man in questions is a really good guy in every way except for this one slight peccadillo--that he adopted a little orphan girl and raised her up to be the (his!) ideal wife. Ever the critical thinker, let me pause to consider this anew to see if I'm not simply falling into prejudice here. What's wrong with the scenario? Roger is less than a decade older than Nora, so it's not at all an unknown or uncommon age difference after all. Plus experience tells me that we do grow fond of people we have known a long time, thus a protector/guardian/friendship relationship of this kind might indeed be a kind of love, no? Sure, but there's also power and paternity, chains that shackle us to certain societal rules--fathers are fathers, husbands are different. thus, no matter how sweet or kind Roger is, the facts are he acts as Nora's surrogate father (or big brother at the very least) and then expects her to be able to somehow shift him from that category to the husband category when she comes of age. This is pretty much heinous by any standard I can think of and I'm angry at the editors of this novel who feel they can simply ascribe such things to another time. I'd betcha a bundle of loot there were plenty of (middle and working class) people around who saw this kind of rich person BS for what it was at the time and called it out.
So, is James's novel calling it out, you ask? Is he writing an anti-grooming novel?
Interestingly, I can't really say that he is, the novel's tone heavily implies that he is not. While this is certainly, to me, a moral failing of the text, it could also easily be flipped to praise James's realism. The novel's narration is detached enough to simply present the story. However, as I said above, the seemingly happy ending would seem to condone Roger's heinous plan on the grounds that a) He's such a good man he'd make any women a great husband--which is a little bit like condoning royalty because the king might be a good guy (God help us if he's the usual psychopath though) and b) All of the other men in the novel (all of the other men whom Nora might marry are, in their various ways, despicable. Roger, in the end, is the best she can do.
Still, is this novel worth reading for things that James probably had no idea he was writing? Yes! Whether or not the narratives condones or damns grooming we are left to read it as we please so I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to think about grooming while reading a novel's depiction of it. When I first heard the Hannity crowd complaining about this gay practice I tweeted something along the lines of it sounded absurd to me that someone would invest years of effort on the off chance that they might get laid like a decade down the line. Of course I was attacked by my fellow liberals who claim it happens all the time--but mostly to women. Obviously it's sex that's not about sex per se (which shows how short sighted and hedonistic I am I guess), or even pedophilia, but rather a mentality that seeks to somehow blend paternalism, power and influence with a dedicated sex servant/partner. I happy such thing was beyond my imagining, but I guess I sort of get it now. If Roger then were to be an example of such a mentality, the novel fails as, as has been stressed here and by the novel itself, other than this one idea he's otherwise, as one character says, "The only good man in the world." Thus the novel redeems him. I don't, thus the happy ending was for me a tragedy of sorts--which leads me to the Marxist aspects of the novel, which are also fascinating!
This novel is so bourgeois it depicts poverty as a very scary and tawdry place indeed! Nora, when she finally understands the social experiment that's been her whole life, reacts understandably with horror and flees her guardian. Into a world of normal working people who can only terrify this orphan raised to the manner by a wealthy Bostonian who's spent the last year being presented in Rome. All of the poor people here--from out of work men sitting in a shelter for heat to a slatternly landlady--make the young woman cringe. What choice does she have other than to return to and wed her guardian once the only two other men she's ever known well turn out to be utter scoundrels, one for money the other because of an inflated ego? None at all.
Again, the novel was, to me, a tragedy. In this it reminded me of Machiavelli's La Mandragola, in which the seduction of the heroine is supposed to be lighthearted and funny since everyone in the world sees it as just and proper that she should betray her decrepit husband with the handsome young suitor. But the fact that her honor is more important to her than the sex, her capitulation--although by all natural law just and more normal than her phony marriage--I can only see it as non-consensual and self-image destroying. How we construct our own behavior (our moral compass or code of ethics) matters to us at least as much as sexual pleasure. Poor Nora in this novel has agency only through a path of near self-destruction and she is raised in a such a way as to have no tools at all to undertake the struggle that path through poverty would entail. She is helpless to avoid her fate, and that is sad indeed--even if that fate is to marry a good man. Would you rather marry a good man because you had no other option or choose to marry a man who might not be good at all? I think you would prefer to chose, anyone would. We hate it when things are forced upon us, no matter how good they appear to be from the outside.
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October 31, 2024James disowned the novel after writing it, which I think was wise. The plot: can you not find a wife? Have you considered adopting a 10-year-old girl and raising her to be your wife? There is also a random 15 page field trip to Peru for literally no reason.
June 17, 2018
Not bad, but pretty far from good. His first novel, which he later refused to acknowledge.
November 29, 2021
Något så ovanligt som en positiv version av hustruskolan.
Den är väldigt välskriven, med en fantastisk engelska, och söta karaktärer.
Den är väldigt välskriven, med en fantastisk engelska, och söta karaktärer.
February 5, 2022
Interesting primarily as a first novel that is missing pretty much all of the Jamesian trademarks. Not much depth of character or interiority, a melodramatic plot, a *literal* mustache-twirling villain, and a plot that will strike a modern reader as, well, grotesque. Still, there are shades of the far superior work, interests, and themes to come.
January 1, 2018
Oh my - I guess there were good reasons not to include this novel in major editions of James's oeuvre. The plot is full of constructed coincidence, for example: the female protagonist has an epiphany, sudden and implausible, about her fate - wife and mother - when she sees a woman pushing a baby carriage. Mind you, up to this point she's disliked the man who had adopted her in order to educate her into his future wife. Yes, it's unsavory, and there is disgusting Detail. In one scene, the young ward, already in her nightgown, comes into the study where several young men, among them her guardian, have assembled, fully clothed, of course. The young men are either related to her or her guardian. She wants one of them to rewind her watch, but - alas - the key of her guardian proves to be too small. But, as stated above, she does finally take to him when she sees the baby carriage. It's something to be grateful for that James was more prudish in his later novels.
July 2, 2013
Of course James disowned this book. I don't think there was a single conversation in it where the characters circled around a subject with vagaries, never coming to the point. They didn't finish each others sentences, pretending to know exactly what the other was going to say, when neither of them were actually saying anything. There wasn't a single moral monster in sight. And the words "hang fire" appeared only once in the book. But for all these failings, I thought this book was quite good.
It's basically a reworking of Pygmailon. The main character adopts an orphaned twelve year old girl and resolves to turn her into his wife. James tells the story simply and directly. The characters are interesting and fully developed. The book moves along at a brisk pace, and the ending is both charming and believable.
It's basically a reworking of Pygmailon. The main character adopts an orphaned twelve year old girl and resolves to turn her into his wife. James tells the story simply and directly. The characters are interesting and fully developed. The book moves along at a brisk pace, and the ending is both charming and believable.
February 8, 2017
Empiezo este año a leer obras de Henry James y ya tengo un lío mental en cuanto a él. Los personajes no me gustaron, quizás me gustó más Roger al final, comencé odiándolo por su idea cruel de adoptar y educar una huérfana a su gusto, y agradecí que luego se diera cuenta de que si la amaba la quería libre y feliz de decidir...pero luego se contradice enfadándose cuando ella le dice que no y va paseándose por todas partes como un zombie, en fin, siendo justo es una reacción humana habitual. Después está Nora, no sé si es tonta de remate por todo lo que hace a lo largo de la historia o una víctima ignorante de su destino.
Cuando Nora se entera de todo demuestra un poquito de determinación en irse de la casa, pero se contradice también como Roger, ya que en la nota le dice a dónde se va, o es tonta o en realidad quería que fuera a buscarla. Además, Nora a la mínima que le suceden cosas malas actúa como un animal perdido que siempre ha estado encerrado y en la calle no sabe por dónde tirar, por lo tanto acaba refugiándose en los brazos de su "dueño", para mí eso no es amor, lo que ella sentía es cariño por Roger.
Desde mi humilde punto de vista, Nora acaba aceptando a Roger por miedo al mundo, por comodidad, por deber y por cariño, amarlo no. En cuanto a Roger, bueno, no lo odié tanto repito, me reí con cosas que deberían haber resultado dramáticas, ¿cómo puedo sentir pena por un irresponsable que se enferma a causa de empeñarse en dormir en un sótano lleno de humedad y frío teniendo una habitación cómoda y limpia a su disposición?, y luego el numero de tirar dinero al fuego para demostrar que le sobraba, es que no paraba de reírme por cada tontería de este hombre.
Otra cosa que me molestó y que casi olvido es como trataban a Nora de pequeña, parece que hablaban de una yegua por la que estaba invirtiendo mucho dinero en sus cuidados, insistiendo en su fealdad y analfabetismo, que debía "florecer y madurar", en esos momentos deseaba que una Nora adulta se vengara en el futuro y se le revirara a Roger, pero no.
Conclusión, sin conocer a Henry James capté esto, insistiendo que es mi punto de vista:
-El amor se hace, no surge espontáneamente.
-La contradicción de sentimientos.
-Satiriza el ambiente de su época, además de las decisiones impulsivas y los arrebatos de sentimientos.
-Pedofilia. Lo siento pero un hombre normal no se le ocurre ni por asomo adoptar a una niña de 12 años con esa idea retorcida.
No me entusiasmó esta historia, pero tampoco me aburrí, así que le doy un poco más de puntuación.
Cuando Nora se entera de todo demuestra un poquito de determinación en irse de la casa, pero se contradice también como Roger, ya que en la nota le dice a dónde se va, o es tonta o en realidad quería que fuera a buscarla. Además, Nora a la mínima que le suceden cosas malas actúa como un animal perdido que siempre ha estado encerrado y en la calle no sabe por dónde tirar, por lo tanto acaba refugiándose en los brazos de su "dueño", para mí eso no es amor, lo que ella sentía es cariño por Roger.
Desde mi humilde punto de vista, Nora acaba aceptando a Roger por miedo al mundo, por comodidad, por deber y por cariño, amarlo no. En cuanto a Roger, bueno, no lo odié tanto repito, me reí con cosas que deberían haber resultado dramáticas, ¿cómo puedo sentir pena por un irresponsable que se enferma a causa de empeñarse en dormir en un sótano lleno de humedad y frío teniendo una habitación cómoda y limpia a su disposición?, y luego el numero de tirar dinero al fuego para demostrar que le sobraba, es que no paraba de reírme por cada tontería de este hombre.
Otra cosa que me molestó y que casi olvido es como trataban a Nora de pequeña, parece que hablaban de una yegua por la que estaba invirtiendo mucho dinero en sus cuidados, insistiendo en su fealdad y analfabetismo, que debía "florecer y madurar", en esos momentos deseaba que una Nora adulta se vengara en el futuro y se le revirara a Roger, pero no.
Conclusión, sin conocer a Henry James capté esto, insistiendo que es mi punto de vista:
-El amor se hace, no surge espontáneamente.
-La contradicción de sentimientos.
-Satiriza el ambiente de su época, además de las decisiones impulsivas y los arrebatos de sentimientos.
-Pedofilia. Lo siento pero un hombre normal no se le ocurre ni por asomo adoptar a una niña de 12 años con esa idea retorcida.
No me entusiasmó esta historia, pero tampoco me aburrí, así que le doy un poco más de puntuación.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 16, 2019
Henry James was one of those writers whose books bored me to tears in college literature classes. I thought his style overly complicated, his plotting glacial, and his insights into human behavior were too nuanced for my 20-year-old brain. To me, he is a prime example of someone whose writing is wasted on the young. I’ve become something of a James fan in my late middle age, and found this, his first novel, a delight. It starts with a bang, literally, with the suicide of a stranger. For James, this is an extraordinary sensational plot device, but it works and helps draw the reader into the story (much more successfully than in some of his later works).
Watch and Ward concerns the consequences of that suicide on young Nora, a Western orphan, left in the care of a rich and idle Bostonian. The plot involves a Victorian practice that will repulse modern audiences—the grooming of a little girl to be her ward’s wife. To James’ credit, he sees the queerness of this and gives Nora a great deal of courage to reject this well thought out plan. Once she realizes what her ward has in store for her, she escapes the home, knowing that she is not the recipient of selfless, loving charity, as she thought. Some of James’ most direct writing follows with Nora’s flight to NY on a night train and the gritty sites that greet her as she wonders the city, truly alone for the first time. It makes me wonder what kind of a novelist James would have become had he been more fascinated by this world than the Brahmans of Boston!
Nora has spunk (perhaps from her Western origins) and is determined to make it on her own. In fact, all of James’ women (esp. Mrs. Keith) in this book are real flesh and blood, complete with temper tantrums and tongue lashings for those who misbehave. If not for the completely conventional and unbelievable ending, I would almost brand this a feminist novel.
Besides exploring the theme of Victorian women as pawns, this novel has plenty of other interesting ideas floating around: East Coast civilization vs. Western vulgarity, how we are molded into our class, male vanity, and spiritual humbuggery. While the story collapses in the final pages, Watch and Ward is still an extraordinary book. Part of what makes it so is that James seems not quite yet to have his guard up (perhaps this was why he later dismissed the novel). I can’t help but think that here we are getting a rare chance to spy on James’ own fantasies and frustrations and the introductions of themes that he would return to again and again.
Watch and Ward concerns the consequences of that suicide on young Nora, a Western orphan, left in the care of a rich and idle Bostonian. The plot involves a Victorian practice that will repulse modern audiences—the grooming of a little girl to be her ward’s wife. To James’ credit, he sees the queerness of this and gives Nora a great deal of courage to reject this well thought out plan. Once she realizes what her ward has in store for her, she escapes the home, knowing that she is not the recipient of selfless, loving charity, as she thought. Some of James’ most direct writing follows with Nora’s flight to NY on a night train and the gritty sites that greet her as she wonders the city, truly alone for the first time. It makes me wonder what kind of a novelist James would have become had he been more fascinated by this world than the Brahmans of Boston!
Nora has spunk (perhaps from her Western origins) and is determined to make it on her own. In fact, all of James’ women (esp. Mrs. Keith) in this book are real flesh and blood, complete with temper tantrums and tongue lashings for those who misbehave. If not for the completely conventional and unbelievable ending, I would almost brand this a feminist novel.
Besides exploring the theme of Victorian women as pawns, this novel has plenty of other interesting ideas floating around: East Coast civilization vs. Western vulgarity, how we are molded into our class, male vanity, and spiritual humbuggery. While the story collapses in the final pages, Watch and Ward is still an extraordinary book. Part of what makes it so is that James seems not quite yet to have his guard up (perhaps this was why he later dismissed the novel). I can’t help but think that here we are getting a rare chance to spy on James’ own fantasies and frustrations and the introductions of themes that he would return to again and again.
June 12, 2023
What a weird little book. I often feel like I haven't read enough high-toned fiction. Henry James is described in his wikipedia page as one of the "greatest novelists in the English language", so when I saw a compilation of his first five novels for sale at a subway station I picked it up. James apparently disowned this book, which was initially published in various forms in the 1870s. He may have done so because he was embarrassed by the form or the writing or something, but contemporary admirers have got to hope it's because of the deeply disturbing content.
Watch and Ward is a story about a rich young man who can't find a wife, so he adopts a 12 year old, and generously raises and educates her for the purpose of marrying her. That's... really gross. But it's depicted in the novel as a kind of cute, if tempestuous romance. The past really is a different country. If you can get over the weirdness of the premise, the book does offer some pleasures. Descriptions of mid-1800s life in New York and Boston are always interesting. I imagined I could see a great writer struggling against the forms of Victorian-era novel writing. He often fails, there's a lot of useless wordiness, but there are definitely weird spots of brilliance, both in a clever sentence or two, and in ways the plot occasionally leaps forward in more modern ways. I'll probably read another Henry James book, but wow was this one strange.
Watch and Ward is a story about a rich young man who can't find a wife, so he adopts a 12 year old, and generously raises and educates her for the purpose of marrying her. That's... really gross. But it's depicted in the novel as a kind of cute, if tempestuous romance. The past really is a different country. If you can get over the weirdness of the premise, the book does offer some pleasures. Descriptions of mid-1800s life in New York and Boston are always interesting. I imagined I could see a great writer struggling against the forms of Victorian-era novel writing. He often fails, there's a lot of useless wordiness, but there are definitely weird spots of brilliance, both in a clever sentence or two, and in ways the plot occasionally leaps forward in more modern ways. I'll probably read another Henry James book, but wow was this one strange.
December 25, 2017
I rate this book a 3.5. I think if I lived during the time this book was written I would of rated it higher, but being that I'm reading it in 2017, the English language has changed drastically since then. At times I did not understand exactly what was thought or felt with the characters. I got the gist of the story, so I got the overall picture, but the details were fuzzy, due to the language barrier. Classic English language is a another reading skill all together that takes time to learn, and some of the stories I get, but this one was a challenge for me to understand at times.
The story itself was great though. I think this day and age there would be some people who would be appalled by the main character, "Roger's" behavior. Basically you have an older man who falls for a very young girl in her early teens. But I am a very open person when it comes to matters of the heart. Things like this happen quite often, even in this day and age. Some people may say it's immoral, but at least the author waits until the young girl is mature and of age before the relationship goes serious. Anyways, this was quite an enjoyable read. An emotional roller coaster of a ride for that day and age.
The story itself was great though. I think this day and age there would be some people who would be appalled by the main character, "Roger's" behavior. Basically you have an older man who falls for a very young girl in her early teens. But I am a very open person when it comes to matters of the heart. Things like this happen quite often, even in this day and age. Some people may say it's immoral, but at least the author waits until the young girl is mature and of age before the relationship goes serious. Anyways, this was quite an enjoyable read. An emotional roller coaster of a ride for that day and age.
November 8, 2022
This book reminds me of a Daughter of the Snows - it has a strong female character that develops in such a way that people start falling for her, even though, objectively speaking, in both the stories all the woman has (if anyhting) is entirely owed to men's generosity. Nora becomes, as Fenton cleverly says, several shades too proud, goes through a number of rejections and in the end marries Roger only after failing miserably at living idependently preceded by her childish reactions. Truly, she got what she deserved.
And yet at the same time, Roger is, despite the author's call for sympathy, a rather creepy character. Perhaps more good-willed than most on the scene, he strikes me as a rather manipulative, demanding figure. I mean, what did he expect from Nora? If he treasured her so much, he should not have: (a) let her go with his previous love interest; (b) impose himself on his ward in the most cruel way.
I struggle to make complete and resolute decision, sort of definitive look at this novel, but it is certainly written with such characters purposefully, which makes it slightly better than most, though, not as good as The Turn of the Screw, so often called upon in the reviews.
And yet at the same time, Roger is, despite the author's call for sympathy, a rather creepy character. Perhaps more good-willed than most on the scene, he strikes me as a rather manipulative, demanding figure. I mean, what did he expect from Nora? If he treasured her so much, he should not have: (a) let her go with his previous love interest; (b) impose himself on his ward in the most cruel way.
I struggle to make complete and resolute decision, sort of definitive look at this novel, but it is certainly written with such characters purposefully, which makes it slightly better than most, though, not as good as The Turn of the Screw, so often called upon in the reviews.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2019
James refused to acknowledge "Watch and Ward" as his first novel, later crediting the title to Roderick Hudson, so naturally I was interested in the work. What could have caused such a great author to have discredited his first work?
Sadly, that question was better left unanswered as this work was a hot mess. The first chapter has our protagonist, Roger Lawrence, being begged for money by a complete stranger. Hours after refusing the man the money, Roger finds the man's body after he had committed suicide. Out of "guilt" for the man, Roger takes in his daughter, a comely twelve-year-old who is scarred by the death of her father. While this story has echoes of his later works that I rather enjoyed including "What Maisie Knew" and "The Awkward Age," it quickly slips into a "twice-told-tale" as it becomes a flawed rendition of Pygmalion. Roger finds himself falling in love with the young lady, and despite there being no blood relations between the two, it is evident that the story is flawed. James, being no fan of melodrama, realized this work was not the Balzac-ian tale that he desired and "retconned" his own canon by forgetting about this work.
Stars 2/5.
Sadly, that question was better left unanswered as this work was a hot mess. The first chapter has our protagonist, Roger Lawrence, being begged for money by a complete stranger. Hours after refusing the man the money, Roger finds the man's body after he had committed suicide. Out of "guilt" for the man, Roger takes in his daughter, a comely twelve-year-old who is scarred by the death of her father. While this story has echoes of his later works that I rather enjoyed including "What Maisie Knew" and "The Awkward Age," it quickly slips into a "twice-told-tale" as it becomes a flawed rendition of Pygmalion. Roger finds himself falling in love with the young lady, and despite there being no blood relations between the two, it is evident that the story is flawed. James, being no fan of melodrama, realized this work was not the Balzac-ian tale that he desired and "retconned" his own canon by forgetting about this work.
Stars 2/5.
December 8, 2022
It is difficult to say whether James' decision to disown Watch and Ward was justified. On the one hand, it is clear that James was unsatisfied with the novel and believed it did not represent his best work. On the other hand, many critics have praised Watch and Ward for accurately portraying New England society and its exploration of moral and ethical issues.
While the plot leaves some to be desired (there's no misconstruing how reprehensible Nora's arrangement was both then and now), I believe the value of this work lies in its themes.
1. The consequence of secret sin: the devastating consequences for their perpetrator and society.
2. The tension between personal freedom and social responsibility: obligation to oneself and one's membership in society.
3. The difficulty in moral decision-making: how our own biases and prejudices can cloud our ability to see the truth.
4. The nature of love and loyalty: how are each tested and challenged when confronted by the requests of friends, lovers, teachers, and religion?
Overall, the book gets a 3/5 from me. I was excited to read some early James, and I was not let down as much as he was.
While the plot leaves some to be desired (there's no misconstruing how reprehensible Nora's arrangement was both then and now), I believe the value of this work lies in its themes.
1. The consequence of secret sin: the devastating consequences for their perpetrator and society.
2. The tension between personal freedom and social responsibility: obligation to oneself and one's membership in society.
3. The difficulty in moral decision-making: how our own biases and prejudices can cloud our ability to see the truth.
4. The nature of love and loyalty: how are each tested and challenged when confronted by the requests of friends, lovers, teachers, and religion?
Overall, the book gets a 3/5 from me. I was excited to read some early James, and I was not let down as much as he was.
January 15, 2022
Henry James' first novel as revised in 1878, but later he left it out of his collected works.
Watch and Ward is a melodramatic story of a young girl orphaned by the suicide of her father and raised, but not legally adopted, by the middle-aged man, Roger, in the adjacent room who earlier had refused the father $100.
The odd, Pygmalion/Lolita plot is that Roger who wanted to get married, but had been refused, early on decides to raise Nora to be the perfect wife, hoping to eventually marry her. He doesn't tell Nora this, but writes of his plan to the woman who had rejected him and married another. Roger wants it both ways: he wants Nora to be grateful, but he wants her to freely choose to marry him.
James portrays alternate suitors, but tips the scale by making them far less noble and rich than Roger. James became much more subtle in his later works.
Watch and Ward is a melodramatic story of a young girl orphaned by the suicide of her father and raised, but not legally adopted, by the middle-aged man, Roger, in the adjacent room who earlier had refused the father $100.
The odd, Pygmalion/Lolita plot is that Roger who wanted to get married, but had been refused, early on decides to raise Nora to be the perfect wife, hoping to eventually marry her. He doesn't tell Nora this, but writes of his plan to the woman who had rejected him and married another. Roger wants it both ways: he wants Nora to be grateful, but he wants her to freely choose to marry him.
James portrays alternate suitors, but tips the scale by making them far less noble and rich than Roger. James became much more subtle in his later works.
June 3, 2025
This is an odd one. A man adopts a child, then decides he wants to marry her so waits till she’s old enough and then breaks it to her. What happens next is for you to find out if you read it.
This is not a story about abuse of any kind, in my view, and putting it into a 19th-century context, it most certainly isn’t. If he hadn’t adopted her, she’d have died in a gutter. And he’s a kind man.
So I don’t see it as ‘disturbing’ as some do. But it’s odd. I found myself wondering why he chose this for his subject matter. It’s about control and authority, I guess, which is a theme he goes on to develop in the magnificent Washington Square. This story by contrast is not fully developed. It was his first novel though.
I’ll continue to read them all in order, at least until the point where I no longer understand what I’m reading! He gets mighty obscure at some point.
This is not a story about abuse of any kind, in my view, and putting it into a 19th-century context, it most certainly isn’t. If he hadn’t adopted her, she’d have died in a gutter. And he’s a kind man.
So I don’t see it as ‘disturbing’ as some do. But it’s odd. I found myself wondering why he chose this for his subject matter. It’s about control and authority, I guess, which is a theme he goes on to develop in the magnificent Washington Square. This story by contrast is not fully developed. It was his first novel though.
I’ll continue to read them all in order, at least until the point where I no longer understand what I’m reading! He gets mighty obscure at some point.
July 30, 2017
Despite the understandable intrusion of a certain degree of creepiness, I found myself rooting for poor Lawrence as he pursues the woman he loves - a woman he adopted at twelve and moulded to be his perfect wife. I wonder if Nabokov read Watch and Ward? In addition to the subject matter, there is a character in James' first novel that has a name similar to the hero of Nabokov's book. Probably just a coincidence. Enjoyable and well-written fluff.
August 18, 2021
Divertida, interesante y atrapante. Guarda y tutela es la historia de un hombre que cría a una niña para ser su esposa y que, ya esta de adulta, debe enfrentarle a las consecuencias de haber ocultado tan extraño plan. Me costo dejarla cada día para ir a dormir. Si bien podria decirse que no es la obra magna de James, al menos es de mis favoritas. Todos los giro que da la trama me dejaron al pendiente hasta el final. Totalmente recomendada
August 27, 2022
Mi primera novela de James
11 largos capítulos de una maestría en la pluma.
Aunque la historia se me hizo forzada, donde mantuvo a la protagonista cautiva de un destino prescrito, donde toda la ventaja la tuvo el protagonista masculino.
A pesar de esa trama, donde el final se me hizo insípido, la maestría de la escritura gana por muchos goles
11 largos capítulos de una maestría en la pluma.
Aunque la historia se me hizo forzada, donde mantuvo a la protagonista cautiva de un destino prescrito, donde toda la ventaja la tuvo el protagonista masculino.
A pesar de esa trama, donde el final se me hizo insípido, la maestría de la escritura gana por muchos goles
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews