Henry James

I've commented in earlier posts about how The Princess Casamassima is a terrible title for a novel that's largely about a working-class guy and his induction into a terrorist cell bent on overthrowing th British nobility. Who would surmise from this prissy title that the book is about the downtrodden and forgotten of 19th century London and the struggle of a young man to find his place in the world? If there's anything more inept about James's novel than it's title it would be James's preface - written some years later and seemingly designed to dissuade readers - fussy slow paced with the interminable late James sentences weighted down by leaden subordinate clauses. It is amusing to picture James walking the London streets and observing and slowly pulling together the characters of this novel. But his tortuous attempt to explain his thinking and his decisions are so self conscious as to be ludicrous - compare this intro of any of the one Conrad provided for his collected works and you'll see the striking difference. James wrote very well about the work of others but his only explication of his own works should be found in the works themselves

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