Le dernier des Valerii/The Last of the Valerii

by Henry James

Comte italien, le "dernier des Valerii" épouse une jeune et riche Américaine aussi éprise de sa beauté virile que de son patrimoine, dont les vestiges - statues et sarcophages rongés de moisissures - ornent les jardins de sa villa romaine. Mais le jour où l'on déterre une statue de Junon, la vie du comte est bouleversée...

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Classics, Gothic, Short Stories

160 pages, Pocket Book

First published January 1, 1874

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

[Lee Foust · Rating 4 out of 5]

This early Henry James classic is a story that I frequently teach in my Gothic or Foreign Writers in Italy courses. I gave it a reread yesterday in preparation for class discussion and was struck by how smooth and clever it is. While generally lighthearted, it even has one rather chilling little moment--more powerful, I think, because of the jaunty narrator's approach to the rest of the narrative. (It even has a first-person narrator, making it seem more of a modernist than a mid-Victorian tale, which it actually is.) I love the Roman setting (which was pretty much the only thing my students seemed to enjoy about it yesterday.) And its avowed American bigotry and attitudes toward Europeans--a perfect topic in a study abroad course. Also, I marveled, this time through, how smooth and perfect is the form of this tale; it's a longish short story not really divided up into acts or scenes, but flowing straight through the narrative the way a novel, and even often a short story just doesn't do, usually resorting to the three or five act convention coming from theater.

Also interesting is the Freudian return of the repressed theme here, which, in the first wave of the Gothic revival, is usually a representation of Italy which, in my opinion, is a form of England's repressed medieval Catholic past as something to be feared. Here, quite interestingly, the repressed past is Roman, the brutality of a culture of slavery and violence, far more like our Neo-classical modern nation-state of today than the sustainable non-slavery-based and politically decentralized Early Medieval world of the so-called "Dark" Ages. I think James is right on with this. It's kind of lovely in fact. It's well worth a read if you're interested in any of these topics.

[Angela Mahon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely descriptions of Rome, a longish short story, of a seemingly dysfunctional marriage where the Italian husband was infatuated with a marble figure ~ Juno- from Greek mythology the Roman goddess of love and marriage, Subsequently a Borderline comedy!

[MH · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 🌟

[GҽɱɱαSM · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*
Una atípica història gòtica de fantasmes malgrat que, potser, no és tant una història de fantasmes com una història sobre uns antics déus pagans que encara ens encisen. Com és habitual en James, es tracta d'una història que no només et dóna que pensar sinó que, a més, és emocionalment colpidora, amb l'acostumat estudi del comportament humà i el funcionament, conscient o inconscient, de la ment, de l'autor.

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd and something to do with loving statues..?

[mish · Rating 5 out of 5]

So maybe I was a little harsh last time whoops but I ADORED this!!

[Sergi Oset · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un nou encert de la col·lecció “L’Arcà”, d’Editorial Laertes. Un relat deliciós en tot just seixanta-nou pàgines que serveixen per desenvolupar quasi mitja dotzena de personatges ben definits i una obsessió capaç de trastocar-los la vida. No estic gaire d’acord amb la sinopsi del llibre: sí que hi ha una certa filiació amb el món sobrenatural, però d’aquí a titllar-ho de relat de fantasmes em sembla una mica exagerat (almenys pel que entenc jo per relat de fantasmes). L’elecció de la il·lustració de coberta (amb corb inclòs) també reforça aquesta idea de conte de fantasmes amb casa encantada donant una idea equivocada del relat i crec que està lluny del que seria una “vil·la dintre de les muralles de Roma caiguda en la més ombrívola ruïna”.
Per la resta, tot bé amb Laertes: obres originals traduïdes al català, amb edició correcte i a un preu més que ajustat.

[Elsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

El conde Valeri se casa con una inocente y encantadora joven por lo que se mudan a una villa deteriorada, siendo el deseo de su esposa limpiarla y contratar un equipo de excavadores.

Al inicio de su matrimonio todo marcha muy bien hasta que un día encuentran una escultura de Juno.

"Encontramos al conde de pie ante la diosa resucitada, contemplándola inmóvil, con los brazos cruzados. Parecía haberse recobrado de la impresión causada por su sueño, pero pensé que su rostro delataba una emoción todavía más profunda"

[Shaneen Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed in this tale as a ghost/horror story (which was what the collection I read it in marketed it as). It was more of a tense family drama, with a slight supernatural element. The writing style wasn't my thing and was a bit difficult to get into.

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like other of James' work it's unclear his purpose in this work. Is James a horror author (as they've described him Or something else). What's the horror in obsession? And of what? A Statue? I was concerned Poe and James were not contemporaries but James wrote of his dislike for Poe after and then recalling his liking the poetry and story-telling of Edgar Allen... James called (at his height of arrogance) stories for adolescents. OK, perhaps there's synergy there. But as I've said in other reviews of James, he lack directness and development of motive/plot so much as to make him incompetent. Maybe James (like a poor comedian) just takes explanation?

[Tony Arles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good and enjoyable writing, however the actual story feels somewhat shallow and although the premise is interesting, I did not really emotionally resonate it, although the ideas of obsession, the supernatural and religion are well executed, it simply is not interesting enough for me to say that it is anything better than above average at best.

[Luis Alv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este relato confronta modernidad con el arcaísmo anímico de los seres humanos. Me gusta el relato, pero hay algo que siento lejano, tal vez la necesidad del narrador de entrometerse para hurgar en las emociones de los personajes, o lo refinado en el lenguaje tan característico de James.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars (liked it)

[David P · Rating 2 out of 5]

Breve relato que reúne la cultura clásica con la forma de escribir de James. Sin más. No tiene un clímax o un giro destacable como otros relatos breves que he leído hasta ahora de James.

[Laila Kazemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasant read!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another really interesting short story by Henry James, I've been enjoying his works so far, and really enjoyed the different view points in this story!

[iness · Rating 3 out of 5]

"do you want to hang yourself for the trouble you've stood sponsor to?" mister henry is a comedian! and he was so gay for the Count

[Kira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever and fun to read

[• Domeniko • · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.15

[Fatima Alhmaidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

henry james is kinda boring but I also kinda like that about him

[Leah-Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

the only ghost in this story is me because i’ve died of boredom

[Sîana · Rating 2 out of 5]

★★☆☆☆ - 2 stars

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook--Librivox, read by the late, great Nicolas Clifford

[Jefferson Fortner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry James, one of the great realists, was an American writer of the late 19th and early 20th century. He was quite prolific and had the astounding accomplishment of remaining a vital force throughout his career without diminishment in his later years. In addition to his power in producing works of pure realism, he produced many tales of the supernatural. This story ranks as one of his supernatural tales. James had the ability to mix his considerable strengths as a realist with his interest in such stories, and he did this by focusing on the psychology of the characters. Almost always, there is a question as to whether the story portrayed is the work of spirits (or other supernatural elements), or is it a story better explained by the inner conflicts of the characters. “The Last of the Valerii” is in this nature. This is just one story from the collection entitled, A Passionate Pilgrim (1875). I did not read the collection; I listened to an audio recording of this one story on Librivox.org. Not to provide too much detail (or spoilers) from the tale, it involves the final living descendant of a noble family of Rome, a young man who is a count and the owner of a run-down villa in the city. He has a rich young American bride, and they have been hosting her middle-aged American godfather, an expatriate painter who, like any good American painter of the era, excels at landscapes with antiquated ruins. The godfather narrates the story. The rich wife wants to act like an archeologist and excavate areas in the grounds of the villa. They find an impressive antique statue of Juno. Earlier, we had learned that the count has always been a very indifferent Catholic, but upon glimpsing the statue of an earlier pagan goddess of his people, he changes character and begins to act obsessively towards the religious artifact. Is he possessed by the goddess, or transformed by fixation? You decide, but the wife of the count acts to put an end to it.

[Aucadellibres · Rating 3 out of 5]

Breu relat que transcorre a Roma. No és pròpiament una història de fantasmes ,més aviat és l'obsessió malaltissa d'un Compte per una estatua grega trobada al seu jardí. Prosa sutil de Henry James, erudit i clàssic, personatges ben definits.

Per cert, ja al segle XIX es desproticava per la presència de massa turistes a Roma.

[Scott Sperling · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Italian count becomes entranced by an ancient statue, dug up in his yard.

[Austin Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know what I like, and I know what I don't like. And the writing of Henry James just doesn't do it for me. He needs to learn the art of the 5-sentence paragraph.

[Yoshin van Hek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story really makes me wonder what would've happened had this been a full novel. There are some really interesting possibilities.