The awkward age A NOVEL By Henry James World Classics Henry James 9781533267832 Books
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The Awkward Age is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in Harper's Weekly in 1898-1899 and then as a book later in 1899. Originally conceived as a brief, light story about the complications created in her family's social set by a young girl coming of age, the novel expanded into a general treatment of decadence and corruption in English fin de siècle life. James presents the novel almost entirely in dialogue, an experiment that adds to the immediacy of the scenes but also creates serious ambiguities about characters and their motives.Mr. and Mrs. Edward Brookenham host an effete, rather corrupt social circle. They are the parents of worthless Harold and sweet but knowledgeable Nanda (age eighteen). Mr. Longdon attends one of their social functions and is amazed at how much Nanda resembles her grandmother, his long-ago love who married another man. Vanderbank, a young civil servant with little money, admires both Mrs. Brookenham (nicknamed "Mrs. Brook") and Nanda. Mrs. Brook seems to want an affair with "Van" but he appears more interested in Nanda. Mr. Longdon promises him a dowry if he marries Nanda. Mrs. Brook is instead trying to get her daughter married to Mitchy, a very rich but rather naive member of her social circle. But Nanda urges Mitchy to marry Aggie, the supposedly sheltered step-niece of one of Mrs. Brook's friends (the Duchess). Mitchy follows the advice, then watches helplessly as Aggie kicks over the traces and starts playing around on him. Van constantly hesitates about proposing to Nanda. She finally tells him and Mitchy to be kind to her mother, then prepares to stay at Mr. Longdon's country home as a kind of surrogate daughter.
The awkward age A NOVEL By Henry James World Classics Henry James 9781533267832 Books
"Do I have any sense of what is going on?" "Can I believe any of the characters?" "What in the world is this about?" "I've read that sentence ten times and I still don't have a clue what it says." "Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?"Normally those kinds of questions will cause one to put down a book after only a few pages. Not "The Awkward Age." Mainly dialogue and observers' comments, the book is tantalizing. One senses that something interesting is going on, but one can't really figure that it is on a first read. The questions one asks oneself only propel the reader to the next chapter. The characters are not transparent, but behave in the actual complex, honest, dishonest, open, and closed ways we all respond to different situations and different people. Being lost in trying to understand the characters is exactly a representation of what it feels like in relationships. We search for a simple formula or a few words to nail down what we think will be the "real" person, but our efforts to describe are never complete or final.
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Tags : The awkward age : A NOVEL By: Henry James (World's Classics) [Henry James] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Awkward Age is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in Harper's Weekly in 1898-1899 and then as a book later in 1899. Originally conceived as a brief,Henry James,The awkward age : A NOVEL By: Henry James (World's Classics),CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1533267839,General,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction General,FictionGeneral
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The awkward age A NOVEL By Henry James World Classics Henry James 9781533267832 Books Reviews
I couldn't even finish it. It went on and on for several pages pouring out meaningless drivel that has nothing whatsoever to do with the story. Fielding does this in a funny way. This guy's not funny. Even now I'm still shaking my head. My curiosity for this author is completely gone. I will not read another of his works.
Great read. It is very descriptive and I love the storyline of this book. Can't wait to read others like it.
THE FONT SIZE IS SOOOO TINY on this particular edition that I CAN'T READ IT. (('m not 90 either, I'm under 30)
Still reading and enjoying this.
Not an easy read! I would recommend it to advanced literature majors only!
Thank you for the book.
When Nanda Brookenham "comes out" in her mother's salon, one question is immediately which of its male members she will marry--and soon. The urgency is partly financial Nanda's parents seem to live almost beyond their means and she has no dowry. It is also moral Given the salon's racy talk and unconcealed sexual intrigues, how can Nanda long continue to present an image of the "pure young girl" it was assumed most men would want to marry? And finally, it may be familial Does Mrs. Brookenham really want a younger female competitor sitting with her daily?
Nanda's choices seem limited to three The handsome, clever, conceited Vanderbank, who she prefers, but who is not that well off and who may be attached to her mother. The ugly, awkward, but rich and kind Mitchy, who prefers her. And possibly, the elderly, conventional, but rich and kind Mr. Longdon, who was in love with her dead grandmother and who may turn out to be either a benefactor or a suitor.
Nanda's mother is highly manipulative, not only in trying to arrange her daughter's marriage but in meddling with all her friends' affairs. The grandmother to whom Mr. Longdon always compares Nanda was the eptiome of old-fashioned purity and reticence. The other central question of the novel is Which role model will Nanda choose?
In the hands of a less verbose writer, The Awkward Age could have been action-packed, clever, and even moving in depicting the limitations of its characters' choices. As it is, James's hesitations, qualifications, and reluctance to fully disclose his characters' motivations partly spoil it. We know (as much as James will ever tell) which suitor Nanda chose. But we are unable to gauge whether she has been manipulative, and acted from cynical financial and social calculation, or whether she has been "pure," and acted from real emotional impulse. That is, we never quite know which role model she chose (though I have my guess).
The novel is written mostly in dialog and reads in places like a play. Personally, I'd like to see it turned it into a play or film script. Simply cutting out a lot of verbosity could give it a clear meaning and a real ending. I even think I know what she'd do with her life after the novel ended.
"Do I have any sense of what is going on?" "Can I believe any of the characters?" "What in the world is this about?" "I've read that sentence ten times and I still don't have a clue what it says." "Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?"
Normally those kinds of questions will cause one to put down a book after only a few pages. Not "The Awkward Age." Mainly dialogue and observers' comments, the book is tantalizing. One senses that something interesting is going on, but one can't really figure that it is on a first read. The questions one asks oneself only propel the reader to the next chapter. The characters are not transparent, but behave in the actual complex, honest, dishonest, open, and closed ways we all respond to different situations and different people. Being lost in trying to understand the characters is exactly a representation of what it feels like in relationships. We search for a simple formula or a few words to nail down what we think will be the "real" person, but our efforts to describe are never complete or final.
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