The Turn of the Screw

The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
read: 2016
Guardian 1000 Novels

Man, the ending is so weird and abrupt, and left me with a lot of unanswered questions. Why does Miles die? Is Flora spared his fate because she leaves Bly? Does the governess fail Miles in some way? Why did Miss Grose not see Miss Jessel while the governess does? Are the children being possessed by the ghosts or just manipulated? What is the master's role in all of this? Why did Miss Jessel die? Was the governess' death, only alluded to in the frame story, also premature and unnatural? Why have the frame story at all?

The Wings of the Dove

The Wings of the Dove
by Henry James
read: 2015
Modern Library #26, Guardian 1000 Novels

I often enjoy quiet novels about interpersonal relationships, events, and attitudes, but I essentially slept through much of my reading of The Wings of the Dove. James kept expounding for page after page on a minute shift in one character's perception of another and the novel might have been more readable if some of that was omitted.

James changes perspectives in the narration. The reader sees the first few chapters from the perspective of Kate, establishing her motivations to soften James setting her up, ultimately, as the story's villain. Much of the rest of the first volume focuses on Milly, but the second volume zeroes in on Densher and his moral dilemma. Despite struggling with the prose, I did find the story compelling, with James keeping me in suspense until the very end.

The Ambassadors

The Ambassadors
by Henry James
read: circa 2001
Modern Library #27, Guardian 1000 Novels

I took one English class in college (American Fiction 1900 - 1940).  The Ambassadors was the first book we had to read for class.  Our Professor was big on the idea that our writing should have a natural voice, like we were speaking.  I think we might have had an exercise where we had to read our papers aloud to another student.  One thing he told us was that Henry James dictated this novel to a secretary rather than writing it down himself.  This gives it that natural voice.

I remember little about the novel itself.