The Coxon Fund

by Henry James

Henry James examines one of his favorite topics—the artist’s place in society—by profiling a “genius” who just can’t seem to support himself. A dazzling intellectual and brilliant speaker, Mr. Saltram has become the most sought-after houseguest in England. But, as his intellectual labors slacken, it beomes harder and harder to get him to leave.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Novella, Literature, British Literature, American, English Literature

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1894

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

[Joe Mastracchio · Rating 5 out of 5]

hell yeah big dawg HJ absolutely killed it with this

[Justin Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

An odd choice for Melville House to drag out of irrelevance: James has oodles of novella length short stories that they could have made available. The Coxon Fund might be good for teaching, I guess. It would allow Professor (e.g.) Evans to yammer on about the relationship between money and the life of the mind, or to disquisite on the difficulty of working out whether someone is an authentic genius or a fraud. Unfortunately, James was never as good at first person narratives, and he runs into extra difficulties here, since he chose to make the narrator so stupid. One could interpret the book differently of course, by saying that the narrator isn't stupid, and Saltram really is a genius philosopher, but he certainly doesn't strike me as such. It seems clear from the start that he's a sophist, and the narrator is too dull to realize as much. But that limits James himself to the dull narrator. This is kind of like saying to Lebron James, yes, King, you can play basketball... but you can only take shots from half-court. You can't dribble or pass. And you can't play defense. Henry James being the Lebron James of the novel, more or less.

All of which would be fine if the prose was as charming as his earlier work or as rewardingly difficult as Late James. But it's not.

[Moreninha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Esta ha sido la primera novela de Henry James que no me ha gustado. Quizá me haya faltado contexto, pero no me he enterado muy bien a qué se dedicaba el narrador ni, a decir verdad, siquiera tampoco el señor Saltram, más allá de insinuar algún tipo de parasitismo basado en vender humo verbal.
En fin, no todo puede ser bueno.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An artist and society.

[AticoLibros · Rating 5 out of 5]

En "El fondo Coxon", Henry James examina uno de sus temas predilectos: el papel del artista en la sociedad. Para ello, cuenta la historia de un «genio» que, al parecer, es incapaz de conseguir sustento por sí mismo. El señor Saltram, un conversador brillante y gran intelectual, se ha convertido en uno de los invitados más buscados de Inglaterra. Pero cuando su labor intelectual disminuye, resulta cada vez más complicado hacer que se marche. Sin embargo, Saltram pronto traba amistad con la idealista heredera de la fortuna de los Coxon, y la vida social londinense se verá agitada por el inesperado desenlace.

La publicación de "El fondo Coxon" se enmarca en el lanzamiento de una nueva colección, los Breves del Ático, que tiene como objetivo recuperar grandes joyas de la literatura breve que se encuentren inéditas o descatalogadas. Con un diseño característico y un precio moderado, la colección arranca con tres títulos en el mes de septiembre de 2010, dos de ellos inéditos en España.

[Thom Swennes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young, attractive and very wealthy woman is touring England. She meets and falls in love with an Englishman… what could be more beautiful? What could possibly go wrong? Henry James has the uncanny ability to produce a very engrossing story in a relatively short literary work. When a financial crisis reduces the poor lady’s fortunes, the only thing left is a philanthropic fund set up by her father. This is the Coxon fund. Does she follow her heart or trust in fate? What does she do? I enjoyed this novella and recommend it to people looking for pure romance or a great example of Victorian prose.

[Melville House Publishing · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautifully packaged series of classic novellas includes the works of Anton Chekhov, Colette, Henry James, Herman Melville, and Leo Tolstoy. These collectible editions are the first single-volume publications of these classic tales, offering a closer look at this underappreciated literary form and providing a fresh take on the world's most celebrated authors.

[Fenixbird SandS]

A comedy...."the artist's place in society-by profiling a "genius" who just can't seem to support himself. A dazzling intellectual and brilliant speaker, Mr. Saltram has become the most sought-after houseguest in England. As the society ladies compete to see who can host him more lavishly, Saltram warms to the many comforts of English country house living..."

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sort of comedy of social mores? Very dense prose with occasional wicked perceptions e.g. “She often appeared at my chambers to talk over his lapses; for if, as she declared, she had washed her hands of him, she had carefully preserved the water of this ablution, which she handed about for analysis.” Otherwise pretty unremarkable.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this ditty immediately after finishing a book of obscure, previously unknown short stories from a young Henry James. The Coxon Fun was written long after. While he's more seasoned at the craft of composing his scene and threshing out some characters, his themes remain: class (calculated, cultivated and otherwise), societal impressions, and above all, money.

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is no real pleasant way of saying this, but I could have done without ever reading this novella. I just could not connect with the story about a con-artist even thought I liked the writing style.

[tout · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this randomly, taking a risk, and ended up finding this almost incomprehensible, bourgeois banter. Why did I read this?

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cox...