Why Henry James?
He gets me. It’s that simple.
I stumbled on The Portrait of a Lady when I was a teenager and haven’t looked back since. How does he get me? That’s more complicated. Over the past 40+ years, I’ve come to understand the man and his work better, because he explores the psychology of women and relationships so fearlessly in a way that connects to me personally.
It is, at times, frightening to find oneself in the mirrors he crafts, as if unwillingly conjured. Facing the unknown within you, or the known you wish to hide, can be a necessary nightmare.
Falling into the fictional worlds of Henry James, as well as his captivating travel works and autobiographical pieces, has led me to interests in the American literature of his time, including his influences and friends, and the business of publishing at the turn of the century.
My PhD dissertation, The Prince of Agents: James Brand Pinker and Henry James, brought me even closer to James the man and writer, his strengths and weaknesses as well as to his agent, J.B. Pinker, without whom so many writers would not have been published. We know so little of him and yet, he was so influential and important.
And these photos? This bromide print by Marie Leon from the early 1900s is one of my favorite images of Henry James. He and his brother William were close, and the way James leans in to be physically near William is so natural, as if he is adjusting his distance without a thought.
In another photo of the two I love, taken around the same time as the one above, William drapes his arm around Henry as Henry tilts in with his shoulders and head, with William’s hand firm on his younger brother’s shoulder. They are clearly so fond of each other, and it reminds me that these two brilliant minds were flesh and blood men, brothers and sons, with abiding affections for those they loved.
I’d love to know what brought you to James, or what keeps you away from him. Thank you for reading.
A middle aged author declining in popularity. An up and coming literary agent with an eye for genius. A partnership that would forge a prodigious legacy in American literature. Read An Eye for Genius today.
I don’t drink coffee anymore but I adore matcha. You can buy me one here or just click over for random photos and a free black cat lined notebook page PDF to print or use with any PDF annotation app.
Hey, in answer to your question about what drew me to James is interesting.
I guess there are two main answers, and lots of little subsidiary ones. I think it’s mainly that when I read him I rest away from the world, and live on the page, become engrossed in the world he creates, and in the way he writes that world.
Importantly, he’s also a writer with a very queer sensibility.
It’s the complex combination of art and psychology, of the inner world of his characters and the outer world of the stories that he writes for them to inhabit.
I stumbled onto a collection of James’s short stories while shelving books at the library part-time in college. Checked it out, read “Brooksmith,” and have been a big fan ever since. Read Ambassadors two years ago; still have much to look forward to.