Collected Stories: Volume 1 (1866-1891)

by Henry James, John Bayley (Introduction)

(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed)
Contents of Volume 1
A Landscape-Painter
A Light Man
A Passionate Pilgrim
The Madonna of the Future
Madame de Mauves
Benvolio
Daisy Miller: A Study
An International Episode
The Pension Beaurepas
The Point of View
The Siege of London
Lady Barberina
The Author of "Beltraffio"
Louisa Pallant
The Aspern Papers
The Liar
The Lesson of the Master
The Patagonia
The Pupil
The Marriages
The Chaperon
Sir Edmund Orme

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, American, 19th Century, Literature, Classics

1280 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1891

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

[Captain Sir Roddy, R.N. (Ret.) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simply terrific collection of short stories by Henry James. What I love about this two volume collection of James's shorts is that they are all presented chronologically in the order in which they were written. This really lends itself to seeing how James--the author--matured over the years. This has turned into a summer of the short story collections; as I am now reading two volumes of Edith Wharton's shorts and still have the second volume of James's short stories waiting for me. Fun stuff!

[Gerard Woodward · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most enriching and rewarding experiences you can have - reading these stories in turn. The world of these stories is so alive, feels so fresh that I began to think I was actually living in a pensione somewhere on the shores of a French lake, or that I was growing flowers in a Venetian garden for an ageing muse, or that I was flirting in dappled sunshine with all sorts of forward women with parasols. Hard to believe a single imagination could have produced all this.

[Pgchuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read much Henry James (I keep trying to read 'The Ambassadors', but I can't get past the first page - I simply can't understand it) and I don't usually enjoy short stories, but I found these compelling. To be fair, some are actually longer novellas.

In some ways they were quite same-y: Americans in England, English people in America, English and American people in Europe, but I never felt the same plots were being re-used. Some I enjoyed more than others (e.g. ' The Liar', 'The Patagonia'), and I found 'The Lesson of the Master' dull. The final story was a ghost story - I had understood that his ghost stories were collected separately, but this one had snuck in.

My favourite line (from 'The Chaperon'): '[their father] was charming and vague; he was like a clever actor who often didn't come to rehearsal'.

[josé almeida · Rating 5 out of 5]

por fim presente nas estantes caseiras esta monumental edição (mais de duas mil páginas) dos contos e novelas curtas de james. no primeiro volume (1866-1891) já li “a lanscape painter”, reli “daisy miller: a study” e deleitei-me com “the pupil” e sobretudo com “the aspern papers”, que alguém disse ser uma obra-prima - e não se enganou.

[Natacha Pavlov · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Enjoyed the select stories I read <3

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

préférées :

- A light man

[Dylan Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of Henry James complete stories spanning over 30 years of his life.

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

A Landscape-Painter (1866)
A Light Man (1869)
A Passionate Pilgrim (1871)--1
*The Madonna of the Future (1873)
*Madame de Mauves (1874)
Benvolio (1875)
Daisy Miller: A Study (1878)--3
*An International Episode (1878)
*The Pension Beaurepas (1879)
The Point of View (1882)
The Siege of London (1883)
Lady Barberina (1884)
*The Author of "Beltraffio" (1884)
Louisa Pallant (1888)
The Aspern Papers (1888)--2
*The Liar (1888)
*The Lesson of the Master (1888)
The Patagonia (1888)
*The Pupil (1891)
*The Marriages (1891)
The Chaperon (1891)
*Sir Edmund Orme (1891)
***
*The Story of a Year (1865)
*My Friend Bingham (1867)
The Romance of Certain Old Clothes (1868)--3
*The Ghostly Rental (1876)
*Brooksmith (1891)