In the Cage and Other Tales

by Henry James, Morton Dauwen Zabel (Editor)

This book is a collection of eight tales of Henry James's high maturity. The Author of Beltraffio.Brooksmith.The Altar of the Dead.The Figure in the Carpet.In The Cage.Broken Wings.The Great Good Place.The Jolly Corner.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics

353 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1908

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

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cage is the best story. Several others are also good. Even Jolly Corner, a ghost story, is just about OK.

[Richard Clay · Rating 4 out of 5]

All three of the pieces in this collection have something to offer though, in the cases of 'In the Cage' and , especially, 'Crapy Cornelia', it takes time for a living story to emerge from the unpleasant linguistic compost-heap of James' late-period prose. Unlike The Wings of the Dove or The Golden Bowl, I'd urge readers to persist with these two: you will be rewarded by the end. 'Cage' is one of the earliest fictional accounts of an obsessive celebrity crush - a sort of late-Victoria Play Misty for Me. But it's played for psychological insight, not for shock value; here is James at his most humane, even as his ability to structure a sentence was beginning to decay. 'Cornelia' is a touching story of mid-life romance/friendship (you decide!) that may be the last worthwhile thing James wrote. 'The Siege of London' is lighter fare but, as it's told in the tighter, more elegant prose of James' earlier years, it's engaging enough. Nothing here to quite match 'The Aspern Papers' or 'The Spoils of Poynton' but 'Cage' comes close.

[Robert Reinhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the seemingly precious but really masterful cadenced sentences is a luxury. Today a person might say that the arch landings of observations and point of view is a genius "throwing shade." In the Cage would also resonate today as foreshadowing the frenzy of instant messaging and social media drama, melodrama, stalking and cyber skulking. But also a sympathetic and finally liberating story of a fanciful woman narrator who emerges into reality and away from the social media trap. Based on what we know of his biography, a subtext of homosexual desire is present in The Author of Beltrafio. A great collection and worth following the long art of those words one after the other.

[John Rossington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many short srory collections this is a mixed bag. This has to be put in the context of Henry James being one of the great writers in the English language. The major work in this collection "In the Cage" is a splendid tale and can be best described as a novella. It is equal to his far more famous novels. Other stories in this collection are also to be valued. For this reader the stories that are the least convincing are the ones that focus on mankind's relationship to death. I find them self obsessive and lacks the setached intelligence of so much of his other writings.

[Clete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such wonderful and exquisite slices of life!

[Steve Clark]

Penguin (Non-Classics) (1983)