Writing the self : Henry James and America / by Peter Collister.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Collister, Peter, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

James, Henry, 1843-1916--Criticism and interpretation.

James, Henry.

James, Henry, 1843-1916--Travel--North America.

Identity (Psychology) in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vii, 259 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

London : Pickering & Chatto, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This exciting and original monograph re-evaluates the final decade of Henry James' creative life. In 1904-5, the elderly expatriate made an extensive tour of North America, an experience which both dismayed and liberated him. Through close literary analysis of his later writing, Peter Collister recovers James' American identity. Collister examines the narrative of <i>The American Scene</i>, the autobiographical writing, a number of short stories and two fascinating incomplete novels: works which offer contrasting notations of the self. A revised version of the novelist emerges, accommodated within national, familial and personal histories.

Contents:

Letting yourself go: James arrives in twentieth-century America

Surrendering to the messages of New York

Boston and Cambridge: initiations from the past

Asking 'as few questions as possible' in Arcadian New England

Hearing the voices of the South

'Unwritten history': the romance of James's Civil War stories

'Doing something' for the soldiers of the Civil War

Life-writing for the man of letters

'An influence beyond my notation': the self-reflexive figures of 'The jolly corner'

Opening doors into The sense of the past

'A round of visits': effects achieved 'without the aid of the ladies'

Waking up to 'some pretty big things' in The Ivory tower.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 243-253) and index.

ISBN:

1-315-64928-4

1-317-30354-7

1-281-12497-4

9786611124977

1-85196-551-3

9781315649283

OCLC:

476125224