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june 2022
Turn of the Screw
Turn of the Screw
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Henry James: Complete Stories 1892–1898
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This Library of America volume is one of five that make available for the first time in new, complete, and authoritative editions the astonishing abundance of invention and unwavering intensity of the aesthetic vision of Henry James as displayed in more than one hundred world-famous stories ranging from brief anecdotes to richly developed novellas.
Equally adept at ironic comedy, muted tragedy, and supernatural fantasy, at lively social satire and nuanced portraiture, James in his shorter works explores a staggering variety of situations and emotions. Here are courtships and legacies; the worlds of literature, theatre, and the popular press; the paradoxes of temperament and the constraints of custom; the clash of conscience and desire. Stylistically, the stories allowed James to experiment with tones and devices quite different from his novels—dramatic plot twists and surprise endings, swift pacing and ebullient humor. The brilliance of his technical command allowed him to transform the tiniest of suggestions—a fleetingly observed gesture, an anecdote dropped at a dinner party—into fiction remarkable for its lambent surfaces and intricate psychological counterpoint.
The twenty-one stories in this volume represent James at the peak of his storytelling powers. Among them are “The Turn of the Screw,” one of his most popular works, and a terrifying exercise in psychological horror centering on the corruption of childhood innocence; “The Real Thing,” a playful consideration of the illusion of art and the paradoxes of authenticity; “The Figure in the Carpet,” “The Death of the Lion,” and “The Middle Years,” three very different expositions of the mysteries of authorship, embodying some of James’s most profound insights into the nature of his own art; “The Altar of the Dead,” a somber, ultimately wrenching meditation on the relation of the living to the dead; and “In the Cage,” an extended evocation of the inner life of a young woman trapped in a dehumanizing job at a postal-and-telegraph office.
Equally adept at ironic comedy, muted tragedy, and supernatural fantasy, at lively social satire and nuanced portraiture, James in his shorter works explores a staggering variety of situations and emotions. Here are courtships and legacies; the worlds of literature, theatre, and the popular press; the paradoxes of temperament and the constraints of custom; the clash of conscience and desire. Stylistically, the stories allowed James to experiment with tones and devices quite different from his novels—dramatic plot twists and surprise endings, swift pacing and ebullient humor. The brilliance of his technical command allowed him to transform the tiniest of suggestions—a fleetingly observed gesture, an anecdote dropped at a dinner party—into fiction remarkable for its lambent surfaces and intricate psychological counterpoint.
The twenty-one stories in this volume represent James at the peak of his storytelling powers. Among them are “The Turn of the Screw,” one of his most popular works, and a terrifying exercise in psychological horror centering on the corruption of childhood innocence; “The Real Thing,” a playful consideration of the illusion of art and the paradoxes of authenticity; “The Figure in the Carpet,” “The Death of the Lion,” and “The Middle Years,” three very different expositions of the mysteries of authorship, embodying some of James’s most profound insights into the nature of his own art; “The Altar of the Dead,” a somber, ultimately wrenching meditation on the relation of the living to the dead; and “In the Cage,” an extended evocation of the inner life of a young woman trapped in a dehumanizing job at a postal-and-telegraph office.
948 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1,1898
This edition
- Format
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948 pages, Hardcover
- Published
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January 1, 1996 by Library of America
- ISBN
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9781883011093
- ASIN
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1883011094
- Language
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English
About the author
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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."
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."
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Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 14 votes)
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14 reviews All reviews
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Once again, why use a simple adjective when a string of more "erudite" terms will prove the reputation?
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The stories on artists are especially good. I read this one in the series last year, currently reading his earliest stories in same series, but could not find it on the system. His style got more complex later, but the early stories are great fun. Some are maudlin, or just silly, but it's interesting to see how his style developed. I like his mature works better, though they can be troubling. Had a hard time falling asleep after reading them!
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Contains the stories:
Nona Vincent
The Real Thing - 4/5 - what to do with the unproductive British aristocracy in the modern age?
The Private Life
Lord Beaupre
The Visits
Sir Dominick Ferrand
Greville Fane
Collaboration
Owen Wingrave
The Wheel of Time
The Middle Years
The Death of the Lion
The Coxon Fund
The Altar of the Dead
The Next Time
Glasses
The Figure in the Carpet
The Way It Came
The Turn of the Screw
Covering End
In the Cage
Nona Vincent
The Real Thing - 4/5 - what to do with the unproductive British aristocracy in the modern age?
The Private Life
Lord Beaupre
The Visits
Sir Dominick Ferrand
Greville Fane
Collaboration
Owen Wingrave
The Wheel of Time
The Middle Years
The Death of the Lion
The Coxon Fund
The Altar of the Dead
The Next Time
Glasses
The Figure in the Carpet
The Way It Came
The Turn of the Screw
Covering End
In the Cage
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Henry James is a classic author and his short stories are stylized, but he creates his own world, and I get lost in it.
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The fourth of five volumes of the complete works of fiction at short story or novella length does not disappoint. Here James evolves into his late phrase of writing, where the narrative is more elusive and more fluid to discern than in most traditional fiction, especially until his time.
If you think of how the Impressionist movement in painting mystified traditional artwork with suggestiveness rather than concrete answers, you will understand the point of what James is striving to achieve here. Whereas many great short stories end with an emphatic point that reinforces the themes and changes within the main character, and James himself often does the same, in this volume the questions raised by the denouement of the narrative are often enigmatic and cause for much deeper thought. While James's characters always spur discussion past the ending of their narrative, here the stories seem to demand repeat reading in order to glean new details. In other words, whereas James seems to leave clues as to the arc of his characters until sometime in the mid 1880s, by the end of this volume those endings are open ended and much more enigmatic, sometimes open ended to the point of an unlimited debate.
As usual, James is primarily preoccupied with the dance of marriage suitability as well as the mystery of artistry itself, and continues those obsessions here. "The Turn of the Screw" appears in this volume, though I personally am shockingly cold to that story, having read it three times now in my life and still not overly impressed. Perhaps the treatment of the supernatural is what doesn't quite connect with me. However, there are plenty of other superb studies of human behavior and psychology and character gleaned through the testing grounds of money, interpersonal suitability, social standing, and defects of character that impinge on happiness. There's a reason he is called the master. As I have written before, his syntax is very much at high level so it takes a little bit of training or a high reading level to arrive at a fluid discernment of his intricacies. But there is a reason he was nicknamed "The Master" and each one of these stories proves it time and again. Superb and cultivated prose with exquisite character insight. Highest recommendation especially for those with the patience to stick with sentences of complicated length that say much more than they appear to at first.
How many people and how much concentration must he have had to illustrate so many different human types? His powers of observation must have been right up there with Shakespeare's.
If you think of how the Impressionist movement in painting mystified traditional artwork with suggestiveness rather than concrete answers, you will understand the point of what James is striving to achieve here. Whereas many great short stories end with an emphatic point that reinforces the themes and changes within the main character, and James himself often does the same, in this volume the questions raised by the denouement of the narrative are often enigmatic and cause for much deeper thought. While James's characters always spur discussion past the ending of their narrative, here the stories seem to demand repeat reading in order to glean new details. In other words, whereas James seems to leave clues as to the arc of his characters until sometime in the mid 1880s, by the end of this volume those endings are open ended and much more enigmatic, sometimes open ended to the point of an unlimited debate.
As usual, James is primarily preoccupied with the dance of marriage suitability as well as the mystery of artistry itself, and continues those obsessions here. "The Turn of the Screw" appears in this volume, though I personally am shockingly cold to that story, having read it three times now in my life and still not overly impressed. Perhaps the treatment of the supernatural is what doesn't quite connect with me. However, there are plenty of other superb studies of human behavior and psychology and character gleaned through the testing grounds of money, interpersonal suitability, social standing, and defects of character that impinge on happiness. There's a reason he is called the master. As I have written before, his syntax is very much at high level so it takes a little bit of training or a high reading level to arrive at a fluid discernment of his intricacies. But there is a reason he was nicknamed "The Master" and each one of these stories proves it time and again. Superb and cultivated prose with exquisite character insight. Highest recommendation especially for those with the patience to stick with sentences of complicated length that say much more than they appear to at first.
How many people and how much concentration must he have had to illustrate so many different human types? His powers of observation must have been right up there with Shakespeare's.
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Mobilizes the English language with the precision of a surgeon... The stories exhibit a common tendency to balloon in tension as the plots advance; paradoxically, they are plots where little happens... rather, James works subtly with the various levers of human circumstance and situation, adding and subtracting slightly here and there--showing that, ultimately, it is the space, the tentacular complexity of relations between people that--rather than the essences of individuals themselves--underscore the meaning-giving activity of human living.
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The Turn of the Screw ***** 5 Jul 21
The Death of the Lion ***** 25 Jul 21
The Middle Years ***** 6 Jul 23
The novelist Dencombe achieves his best work as he succumbs to mortal illness while still hoping for an "extension" to do more, appreciated and witnessed by Doctor Hugh. Source of the great manifesto: "We work in the dark– we do what we can – we give what we have."
The Death of the Lion ***** 25 Jul 21
The Middle Years ***** 6 Jul 23
The novelist Dencombe achieves his best work as he succumbs to mortal illness while still hoping for an "extension" to do more, appreciated and witnessed by Doctor Hugh. Source of the great manifesto: "We work in the dark– we do what we can – we give what we have."
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