I have to admit it: I put aside john Updike's The Poorhousr Fair and moved on in this cAse to Henry james. Nothing wrong w Poorhouse but by halfway thru I just wasn't that excited by it or moved by the story which seemed quaint and antique - impressive and unusual as a first novel but the kind of work that would not be published today, which says something about publishing. Also the kind of work that we have moved beyond - Updike himself certainly did so quickly in his 2nd novel - so today the main reason to read it is curiosity about how Updike began. My curiosity is satisfied. So I moved on to a collection of Henry James short stories, not so short really, and began w The Aspern Papers, which starts off great the typical James lonely protagonist in this case a literary biographer in pursuit of info abt the writer Aspern, modeled it seems on Keats?, and the protagonist seeks out the women who supposedly hold never-seen letters fro Aspern. We'll see what kids of deals and entanglements and moral or ethical compromises ensue as he bargains for access to the letters.
Sent from my iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.