Exploring the relationship between Henry James's ethical vision and his densely metaphorical style, his experiments with narrative time, and his radical reimagining of perspective, this book argues that the moral issues raised by a work of fiction are as much a product of its form as of its content.

"Exploring the relationship between Henry James's ethical vision and his densely metaphorical style, his experiments with narrative time, and his radical reimagining of perspective, this book argues that the moral issues raised by a work of fiction are as much a product of its form as of its content"--

Henry James and the Morality of Fiction explores what James terms in the criticism, expresses in his letters and Notebooks, and represents in character relations as the morality of fiction. Based on an analysis of figures of speech which recur throughout James' non-fiction writing at moments when moral issues come sharply into focus, Henry James and the Morality of Fiction investigates those figures as elements of characterization in six novels from Roderick Hudson to The Golden Bowl. Each novel is seen as representative of a distinct phase of James' career through the way it expresses his attitudes on the relation of ethical responsibility to the individual and society through character. Overall, the study is both aesthetic and social: its aesthetic component lies in its analysis of James' style; its social component flows from a definition of the ethical perspective expressed by the style.

Henry James led a wandering life, which took him far from his native shores, but he continued to think of New York City, where his family had settled for several years during his childhood, as his hometown. Here Colm Tóibín, the author of the Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel The Master, a portrait of Henry James, brings together for the first time all the stories that James set in New York City. Written over the course of James’s career and ranging from the deliciously tart comedy of the early “An International Episode” to the surreal and haunted corridors of “The Jolly Corner,” and including “Washington Square,” the poignant novella considered by many (though not, as it happens, by the author himself) to be one of James’s finest achievements, the nine fictions gathered here reflect James’s varied talents and interests as well as the deep and abiding preoccupations of his imagination. And throughout the book, as Tóibín’s fascinating introduction demonstrates, we see James struggling to make sense of a city in whose rapidly changing outlines he discerned both much that he remembered and held dear as well as everything about America and its future that he dreaded most. Stories included: The Story of a Masterpiece A Most Extraordinary Case Crawford’s Consistency An International Episode The Impressions of a Cousin The Jolly Corner Washington Square Crapy Cornelia A Round of Visits

Presents critical analyses of five novels by Henry James, each with a plot summary and list of characters, and includes a biography of James, and an index of themes and ideas.

The Art of Fiction Henry James - World-renowned novelist and short story author Henry James offers practical advice and considerable insight on what makes quality fiction, and how good writers can create it.A common theme seen in Henry James' works is contrasting the naivete and untrammeled freedom of the New World with the knowledgeable but corrupt nature of Europe and the Old World. Beginning with short stories while in his 20s, James quickly gained a reputation as a skilled wordsmith and compelling narrator. His innovative style was emblematic of new forms of penmanship which partly displaced and partly accentuated the prevalent Romantic and Victorian literary forms.Much of Henry James teaching contains his opinions on the nature and purpose of fiction. His theories about what a novel should present - as entertainment, as art, and as a reflection upon the author - offer readers thoughtful and informed analysis of creative writing. What roles that characters should take, and how description should reflect such characters and their surroundings and doings, are also considered.In differentiating how people tell stories to one another day-to-day, and how a professional storyteller should put his tale to paper, James offers a distinctive and valuable opinion on the subject. While aspects of his thought belong to their time, the view of an experienced and lauded author on the subject of writing good stories both short and long holds certain value to aspiring authors and enthusiastic readers to this day.