The Critical Muse: Selected Literary Criticism

by Henry James

'The critic, in his conception, was not the narrow lawgiver or the rigid censor that he is often assumed to be; he was the student, the inquirer, the interpreter, the taker of notes, the active, restless commentator...' James's words on Sainte-Beuve could very easily be applied to himself. The pleasures of his own criticism - wit and urbanity, metaphorical artistry, his way of stalking and teasing out his subject - always lift his essays from the merely instructive to the delightful.

Genres: Literary Criticism

623 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1914

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

[Armin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seit einiger Zeit mein Ersatz fürs Feuilleton, überholte Dummheiten oder Moralvorstellungen nimmt man gelassener hin als die aktuellen Verirrungen des Zeitgeists.
Die brauchbaren Einsichten über die Literatur des 19. Jahrhunderts sind aber klar in der Überzahl. Für meinen Geschmack spielt Henry James zu sehr sein gereiftes Urteil aus, gibt sich zu erwachsen. Robert Louis Stevenson, mit dem es ja eine Fehlde gab, an deren Ende sich der Amerikaner zu einem präziseren, aber noch vernichtenderen Urteil korrigieren musste, kann die Faszination des Erstkontakts besser mit späteren Lebens- und vertieften Leseerfahrungen verbinden.
Mein E-Book enthält das komplette kritische Schaffen, aber ich halte es wie mit einer Tageszeitung, nicht alles ist (auf Anhieb) interessant, manches in jeder Hinsicht überholt. So manches Juwel habe ich aber über die Kritiken von James ausfindig gemacht.

[Mohamed · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book is a very bad one. Henry James I think has had no critical insights or acumen. He dislikes Whitman's poetry and disparages the genius of some of the most acknowledged giants of poesy such as Baudelaire. I think it is not even worth the pains of perusal.