John McDermott

AUTHORS! AUTHORS!

The Year of Henry James

By

Harvill Secker 320pp £18.99 order from our bookshop

I had intended to start with the old gag that you wait ages for a novel about Henry James, then along come four – all at once. But David Lodge got there before me, which is partly typical of the wry, self-deprecating humour that makes The Year of Henry James such a terrific read.

What is great, or even enjoyable, in Henry James has largely passed me by. Back me into a corner with a copy of The Princess Casamassima and I will mumble, ‘When is something going to happen?’; show me The Golden Bowl and you see a grown man weep.

Sign Up to our newsletter

Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.

Follow Literary Review on Twitter

  • Last Tweets

    • 'Seventy years on, the time we have left to gather such first-hand testimony is running out.' John Keay on the sig… ,
    • The author 'seethes with contemptuous indignation at the shiny junk that an unregulated construction industry dumps… ,
    • 'The physical courage he demonstrated as a young man [...] gave way to intellectual power; radical thought, gifted… ,
    • 'While Jane Austen didn’t perhaps achieve the full recognition that she deserved in her lifetime, even then she out… ,
    • 'All I have is a voice To undo the folded lie, The romantic lie in the brain Of the sensual man-in-the-street And t… ,
    • 'You are interested in a particular subject; basic research hardens this interest into an obsession, after which th… ,
    • 'Keynes predicted that future generations would enjoy such an improved standard of living that they might work just… ,
    Follow Us